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# Santa Monica Homeless is only issue for voter
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/santa-monica-homeless-is-only-issue-for-voter-editor/
- Published: 2002-10-08T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T00:46:44.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Downtown, #archive-import, Homeless, Homelessness

*By Timothy Spence Santa Monica*

(This letter was originally addressed to City Councilman Kevin McKeown and the rest of the City Council) The following is an e-mail which I took the time to compose in response to Kevin McKeown's solicitation for suggestions regarding the homeless problem in our city. My reply was returned to me as undeliverable. The rest of this e-mail is directed to the City Council and Mr. McKeown, but first I would like to direct two comments to Mr. McKeown directly. First, my concern, as expressed in my original reply to you, was that you are merely giving lip-service to soliciting constituency input, and the return of my reply merely confirms my suspicions. Second, do you really think you are going to get my vote in November? (As an aside, I am interested in having a city council that is responsive to my desires as a voter. The lack of responsibility of the city council creates a situation where wacky laws like VERITAS are the only means by which this system can be changed so my elected representative is responsible to ME.) I realize Mr. McKeown’s posting to me is of mass distribution, but I am taking the time to reply to you in the hopes that all of you will read this.

The homeless in our community is a problem that affects me and EVERY CITIZEN OF SANTA MONICA on a daily basis. The city has a policy of encouraging its citizens to use alternate transportation methods to reach downtown. I choose to walk. I cannot do so without being confronted or harassed by someone homeless. Not just the drunks, mind you, but by the overwhelming presence of numbers. I walk through our parks to the smell of urine and feces. I avoid vomit on the sidewalks. I see intimidating groups of homeless gathered at Third Street. I would like to impress upon you that this is an overwhelming problem in our city. This is a problem that needs to be addressed with ACTION.

Homelessness exists. Why are we allowing the problem to be the sole burden of Santa Monica? Public feeding programs bring a county-wide problem to our city. The elimination of a permissive attitude toward bringing this problem to our city would be a step in the right direction. Enforcement of public health laws is certainly pretextual, but our City Council has an obligation to its citizens to take ACTION to address this problem. You have at your means a method for doing so.

You, the City Council, are legislators. You are not members of the judiciary. It is not your jobs to judge whether the laws demanded by your constituency are constitutional. We have a court system for such decisions, and I’m sure Mr. Myers (former city attorney) will take advantage of its protections. It’s each of your jobs to legislate laws to protect our citizens and to make a better city.

Banning sleeping in certain parts of town sends the message that concentrations of homeless is UNACCEPTABLE in our city. By dispersing the homeless out of the downtown area, it is more difficult for them to make a home in our city. By placing them into our neighborhoods, homeowners with property rights have the ability to remove them. We have an excellent police force, and this is a problem the citizens can handle with the police. I do not agree that creating such a sleeping ban is bad for our city. It is an ACTION that our city council can take to change the equation and create easier environment for our police to enforce existing laws.

Mayor McKeown’s e-mail asks for suggestions on the homeless problem. In it, he makes the motions for an open discussion regarding this problem, and the pretense to accept input. When other members of the city council proposed directing the city attorney to investigate the ability to draft legislation, his objection was that we do not have enough information to proceed. In essence, the response was to say that we do not have enough information to get information. This is an OBSTRUCTIONIST attitude, specifically intended to prevent moving forward on ANY SOLUTION.

You should note, Mr. McKeown, that I do not share your vision for Santa Monica. I do not think the homeless need to be protected from the actions of the city. In fact, I think the citizens of this city need to be protected from the homeless.

I am a voter. I will see to it that every incumbent candidate receiving my vote in November will have demonstrated action toward reducing the homeless problem in our city. This is the ONLY ISSUE that will affect my vote.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 8, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/100802.pdf?ref=smdp.com)