By Greg Thomas Santa Monica
Holy mother of God. Let me get this straight regarding the Monday, March 31 SMDP issue.
Ms. Patricia Hoffman, Bayside board member, says she isn’t impressed with the Promenade’s so-called competitors and she believes downtown offers something different. I agree. It isn’t just anywhere you can see a homeless man taking a dump on a tree within full view of passers-by and even those trying to eat.
Care for a little dessert with your meal, Ms. Hoffman? Ms. Hoffman, did you hear John Warfel’s comments? How is this acceptable to you? Tell me.
She goes on to say that the Promenade’s other quirky features prevent it from becoming completely sterile. As a citizen of Santa Monica, I welcome sterility at the current cesspool of humanity you call the Promenade. I would embrace a little bit of sterility, if homeless people evacuating their bowels, in public, along your main shopping district is “quirky” behavior to you. One is left to wonder what could possibly be “quirkier,” in your mind. A man on fire? Two miserable, dirty, smelling homeless people having sex in public... or would you consider that “performance art?”
And you have the audacity to proclaim you find The Grove and Pasadena as “unpleasant” and non-competitors? Have you lost all semblance of your mind ma’am? What planet do you reside on where you “can’t imagine they compete with” your beloved Promenade?
Pull your head out of your arse and believe this: They DO compete with the Promenade and do it quite well. I can assure you, they are getting all of my shopping/dining dollars on a regular basis, just for the simple reason that I don't have to be “blessed” with your idea of “quirkiness” while I eat/shop. And you know what? There are plenty more just like me. Just ask the merchants in the Promenade.
I have asked this before, and I’ll ask it yet again. At what point will this city and Bayside District stand up and force the miserable homeless to eek out their remaining miserable existence somewhere else?
When local businesses suffer? No. When the city has an abundance of empty buildings for rent downtown? Nahhh... How about when the locals shout that something be done? Nope... not yet. What about when it’s a health issue? Apparently not. What about when they consistently drive away your tax base, day in and day out to other areas of the surrounding cities and towns, while contributing nothing and holding their collective hands out for yet more? Nope, not quite yet.
The city and the Bayside District has to be able to see the direct correlation by this point. One truly wonders when they will decide to act. Your citizens are (still) waiting.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 4, 2003. Read the original PDF.