> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Heard you the first time - URL: https://www.smdp.com/heard-you-the-first-time/ - Published: 2005-11-11T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T08:08:26.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica Airport, #archive-import, Homeless, Homelessness Santa Monica city government prides itself on the opportunities it gives to citizens for public discourse. Residents are encouraged to be involved in local issues and over the years, they have taken advantage of their ability to be engaged in public debate — almost to a fault. One only needs to look at the most recent City Council meeting to realize that citizens here are lacking common sense when it comes to speaking their minds. Hours of public testimony on one issue is commonplace in City Council chambers, where dozens of people line up to say the same thing over and over again just to ensure their point got across. The result is that the rest of the public is stuck listening to the same argument being made time and time again. And after awhile, people stop listening, including the City Council. Meanwhile, those who show up for other issues on the City Council agenda are left waiting — sometimes well into the early morning hours — to engage themselves in local government. This week, several important items were postponed as a result of nearly four hours of discussion over parking issues at Santa Monica College’s airport campus, an issue that has been going on since this summer and at this point, should be hashed out between staff on both sides. In eight hours, the City Council only hit upon five topics. The biggest agenda item gone from Tuesday’s meeting was the annual report from city staff on how effective its homeless social services have been this past year. Shelving the homelessness issue, which has been residents’ No. 1 concern for the past several years, doesn’t make us feel confident that elected leaders are listening to their constituents. The City Council needs to start listening more and not talking to just hear themselves speak, for which most of its members are notorious. And a lot more of the public’s business would get done if residents kept their comments relevant and not redundant. What good is public discussion if it doesn’t lead to something that is actionable? Then there are the gadflies who show up to every public meeting to opine about whatever is on the agenda. We respect their thoughts and interest in local government, but oftentimes they too are speaking publicly just to hear themselves speak. People stopped listening to them a long time ago. We value public debate, but only if it is done thoughtfully. Call it mindful citizenship. People who want to speak in front of the City Council on a particular issue ought to get together beforehand and plan who will make their various points, thus reducing redundancy. If citizens can’t edit themselves, then the City Council should limit the number of speakers for each issue. Ceremonies are being staged across the country today in honor of our war veterans — men and women who gave up their comfortable lives in the U.S. to fight for freedom around the world. We are forever indebted to their sacrifices. But our appreciation is not enough — especially considering there are tens of thousands of vets sleeping on the streets every night in Los Angeles County. Many of them suffer from physical and mental challenges, and a result, many are chemically dependent on drugs and alcohol. It’s most likely not the life they envisioned when our government told them to go off to war and it would take care of them when they returned. Instead, our government has ignored our vets, turned its back on them. That’s certainly the case at the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration property, where the majority of the land and facilities sit empty. One local politician — Bobby Shriver — is trying to answer the needs of our down-and-out vets. Shriver is calling for the VA campus to be redeveloped into a long-term therapeutic supportive housing facility for American servicemen and women who are without shelter. The project would accommodate as many as 300 to 500 chronically homeless veterans, as well as those with other needs, such as those dealing with mental illness or are suffering from substance abuse. The new housing would give veterans access to the many successful rehabilitative programs the VA already has in place on the West LA campus, Shriver said. We couldn’t agree more when Shriver said, “In the lobby of the West LA VA hospital, a sign reads, ‘The cost of war is visible here.’ The cost of war is also visible on our city streets.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 11, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/111105.pdf?ref=smdp.com)