By Lori Emerson Santa Monica
As a frequent writer to the opinion section of the SMDP, usually complaining about the vagrancy problem and the City Council’s refusal to do anything meaningful to resolve it, I wanted to let SMDP readers and our community know that a breath of fresh air has arrived.
Her name is Jenna Linnekens and she is running for one of the three available City Council seats. Finally, we have a candidate for City Council that has a vested stake in this community as a property owner, has experienced first-hand the fear that overcomes us while walking on our streets and truly cares about the residents and businesses paying and generating tax revenue to have a quality of life that just doesn’t exist right now.
The No. 1 problem plaguing our community is vagrancy, followed by traffic, followed by the high cost of renting and/or property ownership, followed by the drop in tourism/convention bookings because of the unsafe and unsanitary conditions of our streets, beaches and shopping areas.
Jenna has many new ideas for changing our community for the better. Her “meet and greet”on Wednesday, Aug. 9 at Panera re-stated what we all know. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that residents want vagrancy laws enforced. It doesn’t take a Ph.D. to figure out that traffic lights need to be timed and the bus lane debacle has downtown at a standstill. What Jenna and her supporters also touched on is the significance and importance of tourism dollars.Let’s face it — as a tourist,if you come here and are assaulted on the Promenade and sickened by the stench, you won’t come back. I know I wouldn’t.
Jenna touched on something else that really interested me. The need for moderate-income housing. Not low income, not high income — moderate income. Moderately-priced units, built by developers who would probably welcome the idea of selling, renting or leasing first to our emergency services personnel, like firefighters, police, medical staff or the many employees of the media-type businesses that have brought so much more commerce and tax revenues to our community. What a concept Jenna has. To work and live in the same place. Now, that’s what I call traffic calming.
Clearly, our city needs a major overhaul, and as Jenna said in one of her columns, we need to blaze a path to reclamation. We have a new city manager, a new police chief coming onboard and a highly-paid homeless czar. We have a new “homeless court” starting up that is supposed to be good for our community. Time will tell. We need new blood, new ideas and a fresh perspective. We need change for the better and Jenna Linnekens will be a major asset to our new team of leadership.
Santa Monicans For Renter’s Rights (SMRR) supporting incumbents are yesterday’s news and cannot possibly better our community. Track records speak for themselves. SMRR has made their name and position in this community by frightening low-income residents, telling them if they don’t vote for SMRR-endorsed candidates they will lose their homes. SMRR does not control the rental market, eviction proceedings, or the laws — Los Angeles County does. No one can be evicted without just cause and the legal procedures that go along with eviction laws. Rental rate increases are based on the county’s limits — SMRR justifies their existence by claiming power that they truly do not have.
Our City Council needs to change. Conflicts of interest and members without a vested stake in anything shouldn’t be making decisions for me, my family or my business. The reputation of our current City Council is anything but respectable. Jenna Linnekens is going to be a great replacement to ineffective, self-promoting individuals who have overstayed their welcome.
Jenna admits that our city’s problems will not be fixed overnight, but I know first-hand that the incumbents sitting in the council seats have not accomplished anything that has made my quality of life better. I am ready to try something and someone new. Jenna is someone who can sympathize, empathize and truly knows how hopeless most of us feel about vagrancy and other issues.
I intend to give Jenna my time, my full support and my financial support in her quest to make our community a better place to live, work and breathe.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 22, 2006. Read the original PDF.