By Jeffrey Weinstein
It’s about time! I got a kick out of reading the “Pico Boulevard motel owner arrested for pimping” cover story in your Aug. 6 newspaper. I didn’t even have to read the article to know which hotel you were talking about. I had lived and owned property in the immediate area since 1988 and witnessed prostitutes strutting their stuff around the corner of 14th and Pico since that time. Which about coincides with the time Mr. Farzam, the owner of the motel, has owned the property. I’m no prude, but prostitution in residential neighborhoods, and across the street from the YMCA, is a bit much. Those “handful of neighbors” insisting “that problems at the Holiday Motel have existed for years” are not exaggerating. What gets me is that it took the city at least 15 years to take effective action to correct the situation. In the meantime, I wonder how many people have mistakenly reserved a room here, instead of at Santa Monica’s Holiday Inn!
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 8, 2003. Read the original PDF.