Reading your newspaper and other local newspapers disgusts me — not for the good public service you provide but for the disgusting news items concerning political corruption in Santa Monica you thankfully report.
City politicians making back room deals for the city to give nearly $8 million to an agency for a homeless shelter and then letting the public in on it only after it’s a done deal and too late for citizens to take any meaningful action.
City building inspectors taking bribes from the public after threatening to file false charges against city residents and business owners.
City planning commissioners and a city councilmember illegally conspiring in private to deny applicants their legal rights.
A City Councilmember being investigated for fraud. Have other Councilmembers and Commissioners conspired with their cronies to deny unsuspecting citizens their rights? What other corruption has gone on that we don’t yet know about?
If the city had gone after its own corrupt politicians with the same vigor it has with landlords, the ATM industry and wedding photographers, would any of this have happened?
It’s time for the City Manager to step up to the plate and clean out City Hall. The City Manager needs to appoint an independent commission consisting of respected civic leaders representing all political groups to investigate the corruption committed by city councilmembers and city commissioners.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 25, 2003. Read the original PDF.