This week’s Q-Line question asks: If you were on the DP’s staff, what quesiton would you just love to pose to the citizens of our fine city? Keep in mind that your answers should include both a question and your reason for wanting it asked.
Here are your responses: “I WOULD HONESTLY LIKE TO KNOW why the citizens of this community keep voting into office incompetent, near-sighted, self-seeking individuals year after year? We have lots of window dressing projects going on, but the core problems that affect our everyday living like homelessness, traffic congestion, parking problems and polluted oceans and beaches go on and on.”
“I DO NOT WISH TO POSE A QUESTION, but I predict my fellow readers of the excellent Santa Monica Daily Press will pose the following questions regarding: The homeless situation, rent control, tenant harassment, under-building of reasonable housing, over-building of reasonable housing, traffic congestion, vehicle parking woes, horrible elected officials and horrible city service employees... and the beat goes on.”
“WHY DO YOU KEEP COMPLAINING about the bum problem? You keep electing the same people on the City Council that don’t do anything about the bum problem. That is pretty much self-explanatory.”
“WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE LOCKED, secure trash bins we were promised a year or so ago? They are still inadequate and are easy prey for the vagrant bums. The alleys are a mess.”
“WHY DO WE HAVE A $442.6 MILLION budget? Why do we support all these expensive and questionable city charities? The pier; low-income housing, where 80 percent of the residents are from outside the city; hundreds of millions of dollars for a fumbling school district that continues to have 20 percent non-resident students; gang intervention, where the police department does the best at that job; bum support, and again hardly any of the homeless are from Santa Monica; stupid green structures that cost several times the average cost; millions for the Big Blue Bus; and that idiotic light rail.
We need a Mike Wallace to investigate those Johnny Appleseeds on the council. Get a real job, preferably away from Santa Monica.”
“DO YOU KNOW OF ANY CHANGE IN either direction, a suggestion taken or a plan not followed ever resulting from a neighborhood Big Blue Bus meeting? In my opinion, those meetings are merely window dressings and they will continue to do or not do exactly as they planned.”
“I BELIEVE THAT THE CITY’S CITIZENS should be asked if they think one or more “catch-all” shelters (in the form of empty rooms with 24-hour supervision) should be opened year round to provide eight hours of safe rest every night for all homeless in the Santa Monica area?”
“BECAUSE THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE who live in ordinary cars are yet considered to be homeless, I think the city’s citizens should be asked if they think automobile manufacturers should produce a majority of campers and RVs in all sizes at the prices now asked for standard cars so that most people who have cars would automatically always have a home in the form of a camper or RV to live in as a young adult and possibly raise a small family if suited for that purpose and to possibly retire in when an older adult? That makes sense.”
“WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE OR pick up information regarding social services available in Santa Monica? I’d like that question asked because I am a commissioner on the commission for the senior community. In a survey conducted last year, many respondents said they were unaware of services available. And the other question you might want to ask is: What do you think is the function of the commissions in the city of Santa Monica? And do you care?”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 31, 2007. Read the original PDF.