Small business owners, community leaders and elected officials gathered in front of the Culver City Music Center Washington Blvd on Thursday morning, to announce that over 900,000 signatures had been collected for the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act (Initiative 23-0017A1) to qualify for the November General Election ballot.
Culver City Music Center was chosen as it’s the location of Vice Mayor Lana Negrete’s sister store to her Santa Monica Music Center on Santa Monica Blvd and tragically, both stores have been victim to multiple break ins and organized burglaries over the course of the past few years.
Joining Santa Monica Mayor Phil Brock was Tricia La Belle, President of the Greater LA Hospitality Association, Rev. Jonathan Mosely, Western Region Director of the National Action Network, Matt Capelouto, President of Drug-Induced Homicide, Faith Bautista, President, National Diversity Coalition, former Santa Monica City councilmember Greg Morena and Gloria Romero, boardmember of United Latinos Action and former California State Senator.
Sadly, Negrete wasn’t able to attend as she’s undergoing treatment for her cancer. "This issue is so important to her and her family-owned business because they’ve been hit hard, really hard by retail theft again and again," Morena said, adding, "I’m here representing Lana and her family because I know how many of us small business owners do not feel like enough is being done to stop the theft."
Passed in 2014, Prop 47 reclassified some of the lowest-level, nonviolent crimes as misdemeanors, reduced the amount of time people convicted of such crimes would spend behind bars and reinvested the hundreds of millions of dollars in savings by setting up Trauma Recovery Centers and other services. However, critics say it has led to unintended consequences over the past 10 years, including repeat and often organized retail theft, inner-city store closings, and difficulty convincing people to seek drug and mental health treatment.
"As someone who supported prop 47 a decade ago, I believe it’s time to amend and make changes," said Morena. "We must hold repeat offenders accountable. We must amend prop 47 so habitual drug addicts of fentanyl and meth are compelled into drug treatment programs and incentivized to complete those programs. So, I’m here to share the good news that the campaign in support of the Homelessness, Drug Addiction and Theft Reduction Act will be turning in signatures to place this act on the ballot in November."
La Belle didn’t mince words, saying, "I’ve had it with what’s going on with the homelessness and the outright rampant out of control crime that’s going on … This measure is focused on improving safety in every community and neighborhood, improving the quality of life [as] we all work and pay some of the highest property taxes in the country … This common sense approach is what California voters asked for. The homeless drug addiction and theft reduction act not only aims at establishing accountability, but also pays pathways for genuine recovery and rehabilitation."
Santa Monica City Mayor Phil Brock said, "In Santa Monica, we feel the urgency to amend Prop 47. Each and every day, as the Mayor of the City of Santa Monica, I’ve seen first hand the heartbreak of retail theft consequences and the impact on community safety.
"The Third Street Promenade has long been a jewel in Santa Monica’s crown, a symbol of our community’s vitality and a hub of economic activity throughout our region. However, in recent years, rapid retail theft has forced our business owners into a corner," Brock said.
Romero remarked on how she refuses to visit the Third Street Promenade shopping area now. "My daughter and I would always go to the Santa Monica Promenade, as the mayor said, it’s a jewel of the west side, everybody knows about it. I think it’s an international icon. But increasingly, over the last year, in particular, I will not go there anymore," she told the Daily Press.
"I fear for my personal safety, my daughter is two and [she] will no longer go. And if we do, it’s maybe like, ‘Okay, let’s go during the day, very quickly, let’s get home.’ But after dark we won’t. And that affects businesses, it affects us. We love the promenade we’d like to return. But we’ve got to look at ourselves and our safety. And that’s really the main reason is that, especially as women, we have a real fear of being assaulted, or mugged or attacked in some fashion."
The proposed ballot measure:
- Allows felony charges for possessing certain drugs, including fentanyl, and for thefts under $950—both currently chargeable only as misdemeanors—with two prior drug or two prior theft convictions, as applicable. Defendants who plead guilty to felony drug possession and complete treatment can have charges dismissed.
- Increases sentences for other specified drug and theft crimes.
- Increased prison sentences may reduce savings that currently fund mental health and drug treatment programs, K-12 schools, and crime victims; any remaining savings may be used for new felony treatment program.
