(Editor’s note: Someone else besides Bill Bauer apparently likes the newspaper column title of “As I See it” as the Daily Press learned on Thursday that it’s federally trademarked by — as coincidence would have it — another Santa Monica resident. It is for this reason, Bauer has changed the name of his column to “My Write.”)
I’m fed up with sanctimonious advocates for the down-and-out who complain that Santa Monica doesn't do enough for the homeless.
I see red when a bleeding heart says “shame on Santa Monica” because its citizens don’t like being overrun by vagrants.
I resent homeless advocates who use the courts as bully pulpits to force their agendas on us while ignoring those cities who do nothing but send transients here.
Last week, the National Lawyers Guild, a homeless advocacy organization, filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Santa Monica to stop enforcement of an ordinance that would severely restrict public feedings on city property.
The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of recently enacted municipal codes that would require persons or groups conducting public feedings to meet Los Angeles County health and safety code requirements for handling and serving food as well as obtain a city event permit if they are feeding 150 people or more.
Each week, approximately 40 groups — most of them are from outside the community — distribute free food, primarily in Palisades Park. It’s widely accepted that this practice attracts and maintains large numbers of transients in our community.
Last Friday, James Lafferty, executive director of the NLG’s Los Angeles chapter, said, “Santa Monica, to its everlasting shame, has made an immoral bargain with the devil.”
Former city attorney Robert Myers (fired in 1992 for refusing to write an anti-camping in public ordinance) worked on the lawsuit. Both Myers and his attorney/wife, Linda Sullivan, had warned of legal challenges when the ordinance was passed by the City Council a couple months ago. Sullivan is the chairperson of the city’s Pier Restoration Corp. and a member of the Santa Monicans for Renters Rights steering committee.
Another NLG attorney, Paul L. Mills, represents homeless activist David Busch and the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness — plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against the city, last April. The suit alleges Busch’s civil rights were violated when he was arrested for violating a municipal code that prohibits camping on public property.
The National Lawyers Guild supports “Helping Other People Eat,” a westside food distribution program that hands out meals to the homeless. HOPE volunteer Paul M. Gymkowski was quoted in the Jan. 4, 2003, Daily Press, saying “... the council is collecting a whole lot of bad karma that could be devastating to the city at some point.”
Say what?
The City of Santa Monica spends $2 million in city funds — our tax money — directly on 10 homeless service agencies. It also solicits millions more in funding grants from county, state and federal sources.
Tens of millions of dollars are spent annually on law enforcement, legal and medical costs incurred by the transients on our streets. Yet it seems as though homeless advocates continually carp, complain or file lawsuits when they feel we aren’t being hospitable enough.
This is all a kick in the teeth to a community that’s done more for the homeless than any other municipality in the state, and probably the country. We are so successful at providing services, we have an international reputation for being friendly to homeless and are literally overwhelmed by those seeking a hand and a handout.
Many residents feel the situation is out of control and want to see services and the number of transients trimmed to a manageable level, but pro-homeless advocates seem to disagree and demand that the status quo be maintained and the rest of us be damned.
Most area communities such as Manhattan Beach, El Segundo, Fullerton, Mission Viejo, etc., do little or nothing for the homeless and don’t endure the complaints or get sued like we do. Many of those municipalities advise transients to leave town and go to Santa Monica where the services are.
I guess that’s not a violation of anyone’s civil rights or worth suing over.
I don’t like do-gooders such as James Lafferty, Paul Mills, Robert Myers and the others who ignore me and my neighbor’s right to a quiet, peaceable community without the potentially dangerous component of a large transient population.
The courts will decide the merits of the NLG and Busch lawsuits. If they lose, then I hope the city goes after the plaintiffs and seeks reimbursement for legal expenses and damages of its own. Then, maybe homeless advocates will pick on some other deserving city for a change.
Bill Bauer is a longtime Santa Monica resident and regular columnist.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 10, 2003. Read the original PDF.