By Evelyn Jerome
“Money doesn’t grow on trees,” the Santa Monica City Council recently indicated to the school board. Really now. Not the model of spend-thriftiness, our council.
This is the same City Council that was chided by one of its own members for doling out money to a local non-profit organization without any process in place for evaluating how effective the contribution would be.
The same City Council that sat idly by while the reconstruction of the main library went over budget by more than $20 million of your tax dollars.
And they have the chutzpah to lecture others about carefree spending. Something about glass houses fits nicely here.
A year ago it occurred to me that I couldn’t be the only voter in Santa Monica with my head screwed on straight. I couldn’t be the only one who thinks our City Council’s solutions to municipal problems veer off the deep end more than occasionally. So I proposed to the editor of this newspaper that I would write columns to represent a moderate point of view, assuming I would be the target of more darts than Huzzahs.
Though I did receive a handful of nasty little notes, sometimes unsigned, one from a city employee with apparently not enough work to do, I was pleasantly surprised at the number of e-mailed pats on the back I received this year. There are moderates in Santa Monica. There are people who want restraint in City Hall’s spending and clear results attached to the investments we make. And there are some who agree with me that it’s possible to support renters’ rights while also supporting owners’ rights — every issue doesn’t need to be boiled down into a simplistic “us versus them.”
That said, this will be my last regular column for awhile — I’m going to declare victory at having found the moderates and quit while I’m a bit ahead.
But before I leave my soapbox, I want to take the opportunity to offer westside and Santa Monica drivers a brief refresher course on driving etiquette. As a dog owner, I am a frequent pedestrian in our town, a special kind of pedestrian with a less-visible-but-still-living-thing usually six feet in front of me. Because we have daily near-death experiences, I thought I would be so presumptuous as to gently offer these reminders: ■Thou shalt stop at the line on the street adjacent to stop signs. Not six feet in front of the line. My only expectation as a pedestrian is that you will stop at that line, BEFORE creeping forward to see if you can safely proceed. ■Thou shalt LOOK BOTH WAYS before departing aforementioned line adjacent to stop signs. Though your vehicular traffic may only be coming from one direction, there may be pedestrians coming from EITHER direction. ■Thou shalt stop at red lights. Even when intending to turn right, stopping is required first. This may sound obvious but clearly most people have forgotten the meaning of the red light. ■Thou shalt not bolt out of alleys before looking to see if pedestrians are traversing the sidewalk. ■Thou shalt stop for pedestrians crossing in the crosswalks without acting as if you are doing us a grand favor. This means that since you may have to stop at any corner, zipping down Wilshire Boulevard at 60 mph (or worse, down Arizona Avenue at 60 mph) is not recommended. This applies to buses as well. ■Thou shalt refrain from yelling epithets, honking, or making rude hand gestures at pedestrians who cross at, well, a pedestrian speed.
In short, please keep in mind that the pedestrian ALWAYS has the right of way, and sometimes the pedestrian has a dog trotting ahead. My dog, Madison thanks you for abiding by all of these silly rules.
Have a safe and happy holiday, and a joyous 2004. (Evelyn Jerome is a public affairs consultant, a past president of the Los Angeles County Young Democrats and a Santa Monica homeowner. To respond or to reach her, e-mail).
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 23, 2003. Read the original PDF.