By Lance Schmidt Santa Monica
The “horses” and “whale” murals along Ocean Park Boulevard, while not exactly premiere illustrations of artistic edifice, have been an icon of this community for some time and always bring smiles to our faces when we pass by or arrive back in town. I would just like to thank those artisans who are hard at work restoring these murals and eradicating the defacing brought on by graffiti vandals. While I know these professional artisans are being compensated for their efforts, it is well worth the money to save a piece of our communities’ history and, well, fun.
However, it is a sad commentary that we must elicit the help of paid professionals to restore and guard our community’s heritage and cannot muster the support from within our own — particularly with all of the creative and dedicated talent of those who live in Santa Monica.
That said, if our community organizations could spend less time serving as architects, city planners and NIMBY preservationists and become more intrinsically involved in neighborhood issues such as local park activities, stop signs, litter, crime, homelessness and even mural protection. They could be much more effective in the beautification of our neighborhoods while aiding the city and its various service departments in keeping our eclectic enclaves clean, safe and appealing to the eye while serving the social fabric of Santa Monica at large.
Indeed, the city of Santa Monica offers plenty of outlets for persons both individually and collectively to voice their concerns over city-wide projects, proposals and initiatives. The problem, as many of the community groups will argue, is that they cannot be heard or worse, completely disregarded. It’s a hollow argument.
Even though there remains much cross-over with respect to what the needs of our collective neighborhoods constitute, the primary duty of a divisible neighborhood organization is to highlight the “micro” not tackle the “macro.” While not ignoring the complex nature of issues affecting all of us, if to have a voice at City Hall, the various neighborhood communities within Santa Monica and their respective community organizations need to re-focus their efforts on what the folks who walk and congregate within their streets and blocks see, feel and hear on a daily basis.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 28, 2005. Read the original PDF.