Report Calling Santa Monica ‘Mean’ to Homeless Irks Officials

Three years after being dubbed “Skid Row by the Sea” for its tolerant policies toward the homeless, Santa Monica has turned up on a national homeless advocacy group’s list as having among the “meanest streets” in America.

City officials swiftly rejected the characterization.

“I think it’s ridiculous,” said newly elected Santa Monica Mayor Paul Rosenstein. “Our policies are very humane--tough, but humane.”

Councilman Robert T. Holbrook said the advocacy group was trying to embarrass Santa Monica because it has chosen to balance its generous homeless programs with efforts to make the city more livable for the rest of the population.

“They want us to run our city the way they (would),” Holbrook said.

Santa Monica was one of five cities singled out by The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty in Washington D.C. for alleged anti-homeless policies. The other four “worst” cities named by the group are Cleveland, San Francisco, Santa Ana and Seattle.

The rankings were part of a 49-city analysis of how municipalities are dealing with transients. The findings were released in Washington on Wednesday.

Santa Monica merited special mention from the group because of a series of laws passed in the last two years aimed at preventing homeless people from living in city parks and tightening rules against aggressive panhandling.

The report also mentions a law that regulates people who give out free food in parks by requiring them to meet county health code regulations. In a factual error, the report says the Santa Monica City Council voted to put a cap on spending for homeless services.

Actually, there is no spending cap, though some have proposed one. Santa Monica spends about $1.4 million each year on homeless services. This year the city opened a 100-bed shelter as part of a shift in strategy away from emergency services and toward programs that have the goal of getting people off the street permanently.

“It’s more humane to help people rebuild their lives than to help people live in misery on the streets,” said Rosenstein.

Outgoing Mayor Judy Abdo, who voted against most of the new restrictions, also was critical of the group for dubbing Santa Monica’s streets as “mean.”

“Santa Monica continues to spend more per capita on homeless programs than nearly any place in the country and continues to present a balanced approach to homeless issues,” Abdo said.

While also disagreeing with some of the recent measures enacted by the City Council, the director of the Ocean Park Community Center, which provides homeless services, said Santa Monica’s programs must be viewed as a whole.

“The city has maintained a fairly high level of services,” director Vivian Rothstein said. “No one in the city believes sleeping outside is a solution to homelessness.”

However, Maria Foscarinis, the executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, said the Santa Monica measures were clearly designed to “drive homeless people out of town. . . . There are no public places where homeless people can sleep. They’ve created a situation where homeless people literally cannot stay in the city.”

Foscarinis said politicians in Santa Monica, as in other cities, had succumbed to a “knee-jerk reaction” to make it appear they were addressing the problem when in fact they are criminalizing poverty.

Her assessment was supported by former Santa Monica City Atty. Robert M. Myers, who was fired for refusing to go along with the City Council’s effort to change its policy toward the homeless.

“It’s clear the city has made a concerted effort to make life as hard as possible for the homeless,” Myers said. “It is certainly a monumental accomplishment that the Santa Monicans for Renters Rights (controlled) City Council can be proud of,” he added sarcastically.

Others disagreed. Susan Dempsay said Santa Monica should be commended, not scorned, for grappling with the problem, in contrast to other cities that pretend it doesn’t exist. Dempsay runs Step Up on Second, which recently added permanent housing to its array of services for homeless mentally ill people.

“Santa Monica knows it has a problem and is trying to solve it,” Dempsay said. “Beverly Hills, on the other hand, ignores the fact there are homeless people anywhere in the world.”

Dempsay also said she supports local efforts to set standards for homeless people. “Every individual, including those with mental illnesses and substance abuse problems, has a responsibility to be a good citizen and do the best they can,” she said.