By Kenneth McCrae Santa Monica
In his letter, Steven Jankowski (SMDP, July 13, page 4) rants that the rights of city taxpayers should take precedence over those of the homeless he loves to hate.
Mr. Jankowski, concerning your narrative concerning the person relieving himself in your alley — are you sure he was homeless, not just someone who needed to go? Where would you have him go? In your front yard? On your front porch? Perhaps you might invite him in to use your restroom. Blaming him because the city does not see fit to provide reasonable sanitary facilities is an exercise in futility.
Guess what? The homeless pay taxes, too — perhaps even more, percentage-wise than you do. Unlike you, they cannot hop in their cars and drive to Beverly Hills or Los Angeles to take advantage of a bargain when making a purchase. They are local shoppers whose sales taxes go to support the local economy.
Perhaps they don’t want to go to Los Angeles to get whatever services you imagine they can find there — among the other nearly 90,000 homeless in Los Angeles County — because they’re smart enough to enjoy the lower temperature and the smog-free ocean air here in Santa Monica?
Suppose you lived in LA? Wouldn’t you want the homeless to leave your city and move to Santa Monica? Mr. Jankowski, Santa Monica does have vagrancy laws and most homeless obey them. That’s why they’re here to stay — until society recognizes their plight and moves to provide a way up.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 15, 2005. Read the original PDF.