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# Letter: Ficus removal and $7.6 million signage spending draw criticism
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/seth-barnes-send-comments-to-editor-smdp-com-iconoclast-blast-being-green-aint-so-easy-editor/
- Published: 2007-08-16T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T02:35:18.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless

*By Ingrid O’Brien Santa Monica*

$7.6 million dollars for more signage and less foliage? (“Ficus fiasco continues,” Aug. 14) What’s with Santa Monica? You can’t have high hedges or tall trees. We have to kill the squirrels and you can’t feed the homeless.

Personally, I don’t trust that these trees will be replanted. More likely, they will be turned into mulch and sold at Merrihew’s nursery. The Birkenstock crowd is leaning towards compassionate conservatism.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 16, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/081607.pdf?ref=smdp.com)