By Christine Burley
I am writing because I would like to know if the City Council has their priorities where they should be. If Santa Monica has all this money for restoring buildings such as the library and the Santa Monica Pier, then why can’t they build more affordable housing or shelters? I saw a picture on the front page where they evicted people out of their homes so the owner could build condos. Isn’t that kind of coldhearted to tell people to get out so they can build something for people with more money? It seems that the money that Santa Monica gets is not for the real problem at hand (homelessness) but rather to make this city more attractive. Some homeless people out here just can’t afford the high rent. Even poor or even mentally ill people have a right to live in a nice atmosphere instead of looking out the window of a cheap downtown apartment and see hookers, drug dealers and gangs. Also, it is more humane to help the homeless instead of giving them tickets, which turn into a fine or incarceration. How is that helping? I think Santa Monica would be a much nicer place if it catered to both the rich and the poor. Then the City Council could say that they are doing some to make Santa Monica a place to visit or live.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 28, 2005. Read the original PDF.