By JOSIE GROSSI Daily Planet Slave
In an effort for the to city clean up its act, the City Council has started a public bathing program on the Promenot.
Between 5 and 6 a.m. Santa Monica officials fill the dinosaur fountains on the Promenot with bubble bath for the homeless to bathe.
City Councilmember Tom Olbrook said the policy helps promote cleanliness.
“We want the homeless to have that clean, fresh feeling,” he said as a police officer placed a parking ticket on his car.
On a typical weekday morning, approximately 10-15 homeless people can be seen waiting in line at each fountain to bathe together.
Penny Less, a 26-year-old homeless woman who usually sleeps in parking structure number 5 on 4th Street, said he decided to move to Santa Monica because of all the amenties offered to the homeless.
“I can pick up a meal a day for free,” he said, “And the city also helps me to keep clean, providing sweet, smelling bubble bath and soft, pink drying towels.”
Less said that sometimes she has to wait in line for up to 20 minutes before he can take his bath since the tubs have a capacity of 15 people. Less said the fountain closest to the Santa Monica is the Place Mall is the most comfortable, offering the best place to sit and the most leg room.
Officials estimate that the baths are costing the city millions of dollars.
Water, line monitors, shampoo and laundry costs for the towels are some of the expenses, said Santa Monica Police Chief Harry Butts Sr. High costs also are associated with an extensive filtering system that cleans the tubs 24 hours a day.
According to Butts, donations from Promenot and Santa Monica is the Place Mall stores helped lower bath expenses.
“This is truly a progressive concept,” he said. “No where else in the country has this been done. Cities all over the nation will look to us when they do similar projects.”
Clear and Clean Works donated the bubble bath and Cleaniness Is Next to Godliness Department Store donated the pink towels, he said.
Sweet Smelling Santa Monica, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the smell of the city called the baths a step in the right direction.
“Strawberry bubble bath smells a lot better than trash,” said Truthie Flak, a spokesperson for the organization.
Ann E. Homeowner said she was not aware of the city’s policy, but she fully supports it.
“I own a store on Main Street and I routinely let the homeless spend the night in the store’s front door,” she said as a police officer wrote her a parking ticket. “It’s good for business. Customers are attracted to the strawberry smelling stuff.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 1, 2003. Read the original PDF.