Editor:
I’ve been a resident in Santa Monica since Fall of 2002 and have watched Santa Monica deteriorate and warp as a city under 15 years. My question to the officials and people in charge is, are they seeing what the rest of us are seeing? Here is what I am seeing, I surf 3-4 times a week, at Tower 10, in front of the Montana Stairs. Every time I walk down the stairs, I see a group of homeless people, alcoholics and drug addicts, on my way to the ocean. They conjugate around the showers and bathrooms everyday. These are the new improved bathrooms and showers, paid by the Santa Monica tax payers, but used primarily by homeless and transient people who have decided to make Santa Monica their home. We have one of the highest paid police forces in the United States, but we have no police protection in these public areas. Recently we have implemented a new train system that has increased the population of vagrants and has made Tongva Park and downtown, dangerous. I’m appalled by the lack of police presence and hands-off attitude this city has towards the citizens that pay the police their high salaries. In my neighborhood, of 3rd Street and Idaho Avenue, there have been a series of theft in our open complex, stealing personal properties from bicycles, wet suits and baby strollers, to name a few. I'm sure the Santa Monica PD is aware of the crime surge in this town. The question is, what are they going to do about it. What outrages me the most is, we allow homeless and vagrant people to walk around high on drugs and alcohol, sleep in public places, put tents up on the beach, sleep under lifeguard stations, sleep behind the gazebos, sleep all day at Lincoln Park, continuous loitering problems at 7-11 on Wilshire, when signs are posted everywhere. Whoever is deciding, this is okay to happen, needs to wake up and stop being concerned about big businesses coming to Santa Monica and focus on solutions to these problems. Why make the laws if they are not being enforced?
Matthew Muzio
Santa Monica
