By Franceye Smith Santa Monica
Sometimes I wonder why it is that so many letter writers to your pages refuse to move to the legendary Chelm, where they would be much more at home than they appear to be here in Santa Monica. A case in point is this: Nonsensical diatribe from a person who claims to be a Santa Monica resident, yet who believes that there are only two people responsible for developing multi-family low-income housing in the Pico neighborhood (SMDP, Feb. 21, page 4).
In fact, sir, our name is legion. I myself am on the governing board of Community Corp. of Santa Monica, which was formed not by two, but by a huge coalition of Santa Monica residents in order to provide housing for people being forced out of our neighborhoods (please note the plural — I refer not only to the Pico neighborhood, where I first lived in 1970, but also to Ocean Park, Mid-City, North of Montana and Sunset Park... In fact, to every neighborhood in our city) by runaway development a few decades ago.
I myself live in a CCSM building. Several of my neighbors are also on our board and have no intention of moving away from CCSM buildings which, in fact, contrary to these allegations, enhance our neighborhood in every way.
I have never in my 81 years felt safer than I do here. I don’t live in a “project,” by the way. There are no projects at all in Santa Monica of the type referred to by your misguided letter writers — the studies they cite were helpful to CCSM as it began to work to house poor people, in letting us know what not to do, and we don’t do it. We provide attractive, human-scale homes that enhance the neighborhoods they’re built in.
Please take note, too, silly letter writers and all who are interested in these matters: CCSM does build new housing, but much of the housing it operates consists of buildings we bought and rehabilitated. These buildings are already occupied and we don’t throw the previous residents out and start fresh — we improve living for the people already there. Of course, we have no control over who they are and are forbidden by law to oust them because of unsavory records.
When I hear about “bad neighborhoods,” I always remember my friend David who is paralyzed for life because of having been shot in the back and left for dead by a burglar. This happened in Brentwood.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 28, 2004. Read the original PDF.