‘Santa Monica Is Not Safe’ Billboard Returns, More on the Way
January 17, 2023 | California
A large “Santa Monica is Not Safe” sign that first appeared in December returned to the Third Street Promenade, a popular shopping and dining area in downtown Santa Monica on Jan. 15.
The group of about 400 property and business owners behind the billboard—the Santa Monica Coalition—financed the display after the group’s initial funding expired and the sign was removed a few weeks ago.
The coalition is now looking to place similar signs on 24 apartment buildings around the city, which would read, “Santa Monica is not safe—Crime, Depravity, Outdoor Mental Asylum.”
Santa Monica, a beach city in Los Angeles County, is known for its tourism, shopping, restaurants, and world-renowned pier that features a roller coaster, games, and a Ferris wheel. But some residents and business owners are sounding the alarm on an increase in crime and homelessness.
“Restaurants, which are the main anchor tenants of Santa Monica—they’re having to let their employees go because 90 percent of residents in Santa Monica will not come to the Promenade anymore,” Santa Monica resident John Alle, with the Santa Monica Coalition, told The Epoch Times. “They’re afraid, and they feel the promenade garages are full of feces, urine, people camped out doing drugs, syringes—so they’re going to other cities.”… (Excerpt from The Epoch Times)
