There is a movement afoot that would make major changes to the Santa Monica Pier's Twilight Concert Series, including reducing the amount of people watching from the beach.
So, this week's Q-Line question asks:
Do you think changes need to be made to the popular concerts or should they be left as is?
Here are your responses:
"Big changes need to happen. Get the smokers and drinkers off the beach and the pier. The Santa Monica Police Department, with the blessing of the City Council, [has] been willfully not enforcing many of our laws and ordinances. Bike riders, pedestrians, and now smokers and drinkers at concerts are getting away with everything. In fact, you can call it special treatment."
"Can the city, legally, force people from sitting on a beach before it closes at 10 p.m.? No! And I say, don't you dare! I further say, if they try, lock arms and disobey! The only reason they want to change the Twilight Concert Series is that Tony Vazquez (who voted for him?) has complained that there aren't enough Hispanic artists there and that, somehow, there is a demand for that music from some silent group of residents. He will ruin these concerts for the great majority of people who have enjoyed them for many, many years. But guess what, Santa Monica, you voted for him."
"Let me try to understand this one: (1) you want less people attending the summer concert series, (2) more public money being spent, and (3) no advertising revenue. This is insane. We have a real community gem. Why do we want to attract inferior acts and spend more money? What is wrong with advertising? I would certainly prefer advertisers pick up the tab instead of the taxpayer. It has taken years to establish the summer concert series. It would be a shame to spend money destroying it. I do not believe there has ever been a serious problem. The people on the sand are well behaved and just the kind of audience we should encourage. Once again we are destroying one of the things which makes us a real community. What's next, eliminating the Fourth of July parade and/or charging for it? I think a better solution would be to: (1) get higher attendance, (2) don't spend any public money, (3) make a profit from advertising and (4) attract well-known acts."
"No, I don't think changes need to be made at all. Leave it alone. Let's not lessen the number of people. It's the people's thing."
"I believe that the popular concert series should stay the same. Maybe they should actually get better bands. People should be able to watch the concerts from the pier or the sand."
"There are two smart and effective solutions to the logistics of crowd control on the pier. The first and most practical is to move the concert series across the street to Tongva Park. … Santa Monica has a [$43] million park that is sparsely used at night with perimeters that are very easy to contain. Let's use it. However, if business interests insist upon continued use of the pier, there is a second solution. That is to distribute a pre-determined number of free tickets in advance based upon fire department estimates of pier capacity and allow only ticket holders on or near the pier. New York has done this for years with free summertime Shakespearean plays in Central Park. We can do it here. Right now, on free concert nights our Downtown and our pier are overrun with people and, as a result, fate is being badly tempted in terms of crowd control disaster. One of these two solutions will ensure the continued success of the pier concert series."
"Get ‘Weird Al' Yankovic for a concert. They didn't have him do the Super Bowl half-time show, but the pier isn't freezing cold."
"Well, here's your problem. Anything that Judy Abdo is involved in, whether it's education, the council or the Pier Restoration Corp., you can count on the progressive crap that has destroyed Santa Monica. The pier is a huge money pit that benefits a few businesses that have donated heavily to politicos like Ms. Abdo. We are spending a lot of money so some hippies can get free entertainment. The pier is a very good example of costly support for something a few dope-smoking, socialist freeloaders get for free, while the rest of us get Ms. Abdo and overdevelopment."
"Apparently since the question was posed by the Daily Press, the City Council has directed the concert promoters to book lesser-known performers to discourage attendance. Ironically, the cost of police and fire department presence will likely remain unchanged. Who is this really benefiting? The public? No, no, no and no. If this is the ridiculous solution the City Council has chosen to pursue, let's cancel the series and eliminate the expenses associated with it."
