March 28, 2024 Breaking News, Latest News, and Videos

Letters to the Editor:

Red light district?

To the editor:

It is apparently not enough to have several massage parlors on Lincoln Boulevard as well as rampant prostitution. Now we have a new sex shop on Lincoln Boulevard and Cedar Street with the large signs for “Secret Desires.” We now have a full-service Red Light District for our City. We should be up in arms. But the City Attorney will not take a stand on this issue and enforce zoning laws that are already on the books.

This sex shop is in clear violation of the City of Santa Monica’s zoning ordinance for ADULT Businesses. Specifically, this Adult business is less than 500 feet from numerous schools. To misquote a famous Supreme Court Justice – I know an Adult Sex Shop when I see it – or rather when I see a sign posted on the entrance that reads “No One Under 18 Allowed without ID.”

Welcome to Pottersville. I hope I wake up from this nightmare and return to the City of Santa Monica that I know and love.        

Dr. Lisette Bauersachs

Santa Monica

 

On the perils

of profiling

PROFILE

 

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you,

Thank you for making me a better citizen

for becoming concerned with my speed

my seat belt

being well rested

the drinking and drugs I consume

before slipping behind the wheel

of my two-ton locked and loaded death machine

Thank you for being so concerned with what I do

That it has pushed me to the brink of paranoia

I go to work every day, pay my taxes

try too treat people in a fair and honest manner,

have never been in jail,

been charged with any type of felony,

been a banger, owned or carried a gun.

Thankfully I have never been searched,

made to sit on the curb, beaten,

or charged with a violation I have been innocent of

and yet I hate you all.

Your uniforms, your cars,

the way you look and stand with power

abused or not; Power!

I have lost the respect

I have lost my concern for the presence

of the people who I pay,

by taxes, to serve and protect;

who do not serve me.

Profile:

Large, dark skinned male, with shaved head,

drives a red lowered rice burner with rims,

and nothing more needs to be said.

Judgment is passed when I am followed

Judgment is passed when my plates are run

when excuses are found

and I am flashed to the side of the road.

Execution is determined when guns are drawn.

And how do I defend myself against that

I don’t have a gun

and raising a fist against “the brotherhood”…?

Of course, mistakes happen, right?

wrong decisions can be made, true?

my tinted windows against other cars on the road?

my ten miles over the limit

while keeping pace with traffic?

my unmodified, lowered, race car looking,

cast against regular cars?

My just walking down the street?

Where are you going?

What are you doing?

Where are you coming from?

Do you know how fast?

Where is your seatbelt?

Where is your license?

Where is your registration?

Do you have any felonies?

When was the last time you were in jail?

Do you have any weapons?

Where is your gun?

Why is your hair so short?

Why are you so dark?

What are you doing in my country?

I’ll find something.

Wait here, sit tight, I’ll be right back

with your ticket.

This sounds unfair.

Admittedly, this is not to all of you,

those that are, know who they are.

Unfortunately there are so many of them

the rest of you are ruined.

 I am tired of being pulled over for nothing,

loamed out of a crowd

being made to feel less than a person,

simply because someone has authority to do so,

then mocking me while searching my history.

Perhaps there are too many, who fit my profile

but there are too many, who fit yours as well.

James Gabriel

 

Wanted: resignations 

 

To the Editor:

I would like to call for the resignation of the Santa Monica High School Principal, Dr. Ilene Straus, and the SMMUSD Superintendent of Schools, Dr. John Deasy.

Straus and Deasy do not have the savvy or the will to control the students at our schools, particularly the high school, so that every student can succeed.  They do not listen to students and parents of any race, and Straus has lost the confidence of the teachers as well.

Because the administrators do not listen, our high school students now go to school every day in fear, wondering if they will survive the day. 

Administrators who cannot maintain basic order and do not know how to communicate pose a grave danger to our students.  If they will not resign, the School Board should fire them.

It may come as a surprise to minority parents that many white parents with students in the SMMUSD also feel disenfranchised, and feel that no one in the administration is interested in listening to their concerns either.

Parents of every color feel frustrated at the high school’s “sit down and shut up” sessions with the Principal, which are characterized as “informational sessions, not community forums,” where the Principal and Superintendent seem more interested in putting their spin on what happened than figuring out how to make sure it never happens again.

At the April 21 School Board meeting, numerous students got up to speak, and the message came through loud and clear: “We want mentors who know our names.”  “There is a disconnect between the administration and students.”

Superintendent Deasy and Principal Straus imposed a “small schools” house system on the campus, at great expense and disruption, promising that this would provide more personal attention for each student.  Clearly, it isn’t working.  It gets a big fat “F.” 

Samohi is a struggle for everyone who goes there.  The classes are too big and the administrators haven’t ever been interested in listening to anyone. They are too busy playing with their small schools concept to notice that the place is disintegrating around them.

The School Board needs to take charge of this situation, or forces on campus will take charge themselves. Many parents would like to see a continuing police presence on the Samohi campus, until we are certain our students are

safe and secure. The school board should immediately remove Dr. Straus and replace her with someone who can work with and earn the respect of all of the parents, students and teachers. We need someone with experience in urban high schools with diverse populations, someone who can take charge and maintain order, so the students can concentrate on their studies at this very crucial time of the year. Time is short.  The School Board had better act now, before it’s too late.

I have asked the Santa Monica Mirror to withhold my name, because I fear retaliation against my child.

Name withheld

in Uncategorized
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