THE DOORWAYS OF THE RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES. In the latest effort to be all things to all people, the city council has proposed an ordinance to allow the homeless to sleep in only certain doorways. The proposed ordinance creates a “No Sleeping Zone,” defined as south of Wilshire, east of Ocean, west of Lincoln and north of Pico where it will be unlawful for individuals to sit or lie down in the doorways of a building between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.
The problem with this ordinance is that it allows ALL BUILDINGS not in the zone, to be used for sitting or lying down. This will have the unintended consequences of pushing the homeless, who are the main users of doorways for sitting and lying down (a nice euphemism for sleeping !) into the surrounding areas, thus increasing the filth, trash, vermin and unsanitary conditions ( WHICH ARE THE STATED REA- SONS FOR LIMITING THE USE OF DOORWAYS IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA) into the residential districts adjacent to the downtown area.
As a resident for the last seven years I have walked over and around literally hundreds of bodies of the "Great Unwashed" as La Rouchefoucald would say. I have been accosted for years by men who are in a drunken stupor begging for money. I have been insulted, accosted, and belittled by those selfsame men when I politely refused their offers for charity.
Now the City Council wants to create a "No Sleeping Zone," WHICH I FULLY AND COMPLETELY SUPPORT, however, it should be a citywide ordinance. The problem is city wide and the solution should be city wide. The City Council has the opportunity to make significant improvements in the living conditions of the residents, and I would urge them to take this opportunity and make Santa Monica the quality place to live it should be.
The introductory language of the ordinance states that the sleeping in doorways is a health and safety hazard due to a lack of sanitary facilities, violence between and among the homeless. This is not an issue that is site specific. It is not only in the downtown zone. The problems faced by the homeless, and to which they are a contributing cause are city wide, we need a city wide solution.
The problem with the homeless, is not that they are homeless. It is that they do not live by the same laws as the rest of society. They are allowed to urinate in public, I'm not. They are allowed to leave their trash wherever they feel like it, I'm not. They are allowed to spit on the sidewalk, I'm not.
This ordinance is a great ordinance, it is well written and clear enough that the Police and the city attorneys office can easily and fairly enforce it without concern for ambiguity. BUT IT DOES NOT GO FAR ENOUGH.
By creating a “No Sleeping Zone,” the City Council is forcing the concentration of the health and safety problems into the surrounding neighborhoods. My neighborhood and yours. It is only going to increase the health and safety issues already faced by local businesses and residents. The city council cannot be allowed to play a shell game with the problems, they must be made to face the problem as a whole.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 24, 2002. Read the original PDF.