Dear Editor,
A recent letter ("The Great Santa Monica Public Safety Debate," October 12, 2024) attempted to defend the public safety bona fides of a city council slate — Dan Hall, Ellis Raskin, Barry Snell, and Natalya Zernitskaya — that unanimously supports LA County DA George Gascon and his failed policies. (California Department of Justice statistics reveal both violent crime and property crime increased in LA County since Gascon took office.)
Beyond their full-throated support of DA Gascon, here is a sampling of documented facts about these candidates' stance on crime here in Santa Monica:
i) All four are endorsed by an organization, the Santa Monica Democratic Club, whose president called for defunding SMPD.
ii) Hall and Zernitskaya are members of that very same defund-the-police organization. Zernitskaya is a current officer, while Hall served as a Vice President alongside the organization’s defund-the-police president.
iii) Raskin offered two policy-priority statements that didn’t name "reducing crime" as even a top-three issue in Santa Monica.
iv) Snell chaired Downtown Santa Monica (DTSM), piloting security strategy for our downtown area and Promenade, which continue to be among the most crime-ridden sections of the city.
v) In a Daily Press interview, Hall stated he supports staffing and equipping SMPD, "balanced in priority with other safety investments." Elsewhere, Hall enumerates a dozen other "safety" investments to fund besides policing, including "after school programs" and "climate resiliency," while Zernitskaya argues "public safety" includes building maintenance and mobility programs.
vi) Zernitskaya, in a display of mental acrobatics worthy of a circus act, also stated she believes Santa Monica should "reduce crime" by building "more affordable housing," and supporting "food giveaways," but dismissed a recent proposal to fund more police officers as "ridiculous."
vii) Hall claims that supporting anti-smash-and-grab legislation authored by Assembly member Rick Chavez Zbur burnishes his crime-fighting credentials. But that legislation was widely viewed as a political stunt intended to stop Proposition 36, which allows voters to reform penalties for retail theft and drug crimes. In addition to Hall, slate-mates Raskin and Zernitskaya, as well as County DA Gascon, oppose allowing voter weigh-in on those reforms.
Despite such glaring facts, these four candidates and their supporters now try to gaslight voters on the candidates’ crime positions as the election nears, bringing to mind a songwriter’s observation that we don’t need a weatherman to tell us which way the wind is blowing.
Public safety is on the ballot in this election and November’s choice is clear: a criminal-friendly crew of double-talkers who apparently just realized crime will be a voting issue vs a competing slate — Phil Brock, John Putnam, Vivian Roknian, and Oscar de la Torre — persistently committed to a Safer Santa Monica.
Which do you trust?
Sincerely,
Peter DiChellis, Santa Monica
