This past week, Q-line asked: What were the top stories of 2007 and how did they shape life in Santa Monica?
Here are your responses: “ONE OF THE TOP STORIES HAPPENED only recently — getting rid of the homeless czar, another wasted big salary. We don’t need any more high-priced executives telling us how to help homelessness in this city. The City Council was responsible for the foolishness and neglect that allowed this to happen in this city. It should have been checked long ago, when it first became apparent. Now it’s gotten to disgusting proportions. This city is the new Skid Row.”
“BY FAR, THE MOST MISERABLE NEWS in town is that we keep reelecting some sick ‘commies’ — Santa Monicans for Renters Rights — who keep ruining our sweet, quiet little beach town. Who cares that they’ve turned us into a cash cow, dirty tourist trap, ruined the traffic, allowed the homeless to piss over everything and poisoned our water if they keep a few of our tenants’ rent low? Congratulations to Santa Monicans for Renters Rights for terrorizing tenants into voting for them, comrades.”
“THE TOP STORY OF 2007 SHOULD have been Bush and Cheney impeached. Unfortunately, that never happened, so my top story is Gore’s warning about global warming. Here in Santa Monica, we have learned that our City Council cares nothing about this danger. Hopefully, our Treesavers will be successful in keeping our city alive and healthy in spite of them.”
“PAULIE WALNUTS OF ‘THE SOPRANOS’ said, ‘Give 2007 back to the Indians.’ I agree. Still, I doubt the American Indian nations would take it either. The American Indian nations have a saying about everything and would have a saying about 2007 if given the time to conjure one up. The saying I like best is: ‘White man speak with forked tongue.’”
“THE BIGGEST STORY IS PROBABLY the election, which will run into next year, because whoever wins will have the power to screw up the whole country and the whole world. Though, they can’t do any more than Bush has done.”
“ONE OF THE TOP STORIES CERTAINLY has to be the City Council’s inappropriate decision to relocate and cut down many of the beautiful ficus trees on Second and Fourth streets in the Santa Monica downtown district. The issue’s extremely important. Santa Monica residents and visitors overwhelmingly want the city to change its policy. Not only is it an important environmental issue, it’s an important issue about elected officials representing the people of Santa Monica... in this case, unfairly.”
“THE TOP STORY IS THE $462 MILLION budget — the third-highest budget in L.A. County. Add to that the endless tax hikes by SMC and the school district over the last 20 years; it has to be another $1 billion! The largesse from the royal court at City Hall gives us no parking, no cars, low-income housing for non-English speaking, socialist restaurant and hotel workers helping to support an average hotel room of $260. Then there’s the PRC, Heal the Bay, Step Up on Second, Pico Family & Youth, environmental defense, the homeless services for every bum in L.A. County, useless Rent Control Board... like Deep Throat said in ‘All the President’s Men;’ ‘Follow the money.’”
“THE BIG STORY IS SHOVING A TOXIC chemical waste — fluoride — down our throats, literally. The big story not yet investigated is — where are the secret bank accounts of the public officials, bureaucrats and politicians. Are their bank accounts set up for them by their chemical corporation cohorts in Panama, Bahamas or Dubai? Scientific magazine has an article — ‘New concerns about fluoride.’”
“TH E M OST IMPO RTANT TO P I C that was dealt with in Santa Monica had to do with the trees (on Second and Fourth streets) in Santa Monica. It had to do with environmental issues, it had to do with the health of the people and its an issue that really needs to be resolved in favor of the trees.”
“I N MY H U M BLE OPI N ION, TH E fluoridation issue has been major in my life. I’m very upset by being mass-medicated by this fluoride poison.”
“IN KNOXVILLE, TENN. THIS YEAR, TWO students were killed, raped and tortured. His penis was cut off and her breasts were cut off by six blacks — five females and one male. It was not covered by the press because of race, in my opinion. I think it’s unfair that this was-n’t covered by the mainstream press.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 29, 2007. Read the original PDF.