By Krista Grossman Santa Monica
Isn’t anyone else outraged over the apparent gross misuse of funds being used to pay for the new Santa Monica library? $77 million seems like an irresponsible amount to be spending on any one building — even if Santa Monica was not already in a serious financial crisis.
How can city officials keep a straight face when authorizing tens of millions to fund a new library while at the same time increasing parcel and sales taxes and parking meter rates to ease the financial burden of our “cash-strapped” city? Who is minding the till? I have to wonder who is getting rich off this project — it certainly isn’t the residents of Santa Monica.
Will this grand new library contain luxury suites where the homeless can live? If not, why not take care of the much more pressing issue of men and women in this city who do not have a roof over their heads before casually spending $77 million on a better roof for some books?
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 31, 2003. Read the original PDF.