No incentive to cut back
Editor:
Your July 30 paper reported that our Santa Monica for Renters Rights city council now wants to drown property owners with big water rate increases and fines. ("Mandatory water cuts coming to Santa Monica") Our water rates are already ridiculously high. There is no incentive for renters to cut back on showering 20 times a day. Our city has allowed over development and hotels and massive tourism that sucks up more and more water, yet they will throw the problem on property owners as usual. I often walk in our parks and see big puddles of water from over watering city gardeners. I often see water gushing at our public beach showers from broken showers. If we really want to save water in our once sweet, quiet town we need to;
1. Throw those pro development and pro tourism councilmen out!
2. Allow a pass through of water charges to tenants. If there is a 20 unit apartment building then each tenant should pay 1/20 the of the water bill. (SMRR would never allow this!)
3. Increase rates shouldn't be based on your present use, but on averages of use by comparative buildings. Some property owners already have cut way down in water use and they will be the ones penalized. This is unfair to already low use customers.
4. Fine city gardeners for falling asleep and over watering our parks.
Martin Sampson
Santa Monica
Moratorium on development
Editor:
I am writing in response to your July 30 article on Mandatory Water Cuts Coming to Santa Monica.
City staff has a lot of gall asking residents, and businesses, to endure draconian rationing because the city staff previously disregarded its obligation to complying with the 20 percent water reduction required by state law. While residents, and business, have been working hard to control their water usage, city staff has been recommending huge amounts of new development, substantially increasing the city's water demand. The water needs of new residents, new workers and additional tourist have nullified the water conservation efforts of existing residents and businesses. Rather than learning from its mistakes, city staff is seeking to exasperate the problem for pushing for millions of square feet of additional development. No amount of water rationing can make up for this giant increase in water usage. It time for the city to comply with California law. The only way to address the water problem is for City Council to impose a moratorium on new buildings, until the state calls off the water emergency, and gives the city permission to increase its water usage.
Jeff Segal
Santa Monica
