A community activist group posted a sign in a busy shopping area in Santa Monica, CA saying that the city is 'not safe' which drew pushback from some in the city.
"Day and night, the promenade has turned into a mental asylum," John Alle, also with the Santa Monica Coalition, said about the crime and homelessness on the promenade."Very very sick people who need to be institutionalized and need medical help. It’s very sad."
"There's sex workers here. There's drug dealing in the open, 8, 9 a.m. in the morning, 10, 11 p.m. at night. We have four to five people dying a month in the alleys fromNot everyone in the area was pleased with the group’s gesture, including Andrew Thomas, CEO of Downtown Santa Monica, Inc., who told the outlet that the sign is counterproductive.
A homeless man sleeps in the six-acre Tongva Park, a relatively new urban community oasis in Santa Monica, California, filled with interesting architecture, walkways, landscaping, and native vegetation and located between the Santa Monica Pier and City Hall. "Putting up signage like that I find to be very harmful to our business community, to our reputation, and really runs counter to the experience that thousands and thousands of people are having when they come visit our downtown every single day," Thomas said.
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