What’s Happening to Santa Monica? Mayor Explains | Phil Brock

Siyamak sits down with Phil Brock, Mayor of Santa Monica, to discuss the city's approach to crime and homelessness and how he believes his city is still a thriving beach town for residents and tourists.

Contrary to what you may hear, Santa Monica is not only open for business, but there is a tremendous amount of investment coming in. There's new housing on the way. We are a city that has gone through dips before," says Mr. Brock.

0:00 Intro
1:37 Homelessness crisis in LA
2:27 Homeless coming from outside Santa Monica
6:20 Anti-camping laws & providing support
14:11 Public safety and impact of crime
17:53 Stricter laws and accountability
21:10 Impact on business community
26:17 Political response and taking action
29:08 History and culture of Santa Monica
34:23 Housing mandates in Santa Monica
40:11 Great things coming in the city's future

*Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.
#santamonica #losangeles #homeless #publicsafety #mayor #californianews #californianews #california #encampment
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[luisnaranjo]

This mayor is delusional. The problems are the following mayor: Drugs, Alcoholism, Mental health which leads to homelessness andcrimes. What you have done is turned a blind eye to the drugs, theft and crime which has encouraged the behavior.

Housing is not your issue. We need rehabilitation centers, mental health centers, and the conviction to take care of those people who are lost with tough love.

[terrafound]

There's definitely a cultural divide happening. If you're a Democrat in a deep blue area you believe, by default, as Phil Brock does and said, that homeless people "deserve" help. And Phil expressed this sentiment even after a long explanation about the complexity of the problem and how no single cause or solution works in every case.

I'd really like to push back on that notion. Having dealt with a lot of addiction in my own family, it becomes painfully obvious at some point that your help, your support, your willingness to essentially reward bad behavior not only becomes enabling and contributes to the destruction of a life, but also starts to destroy the lives of those around them. Any mental health professional (that isn't employed by the government) will tell you that tolerating and supporting addiction is enabling addiction. The only thing that fixes addiction is the change within someone to commit to a better way of life.

And when I see what's happened to Santa Monica, I don't see a community ravaged by homelessness, it is a community ravaged by deluded, ignorant and privileged people that are incapable or unwilling to accept reality. You are seeing a decline in quality of life, standard of living, safety and opportunity. And the response to this crisis is to excuse the bad behavior and blame the system, which leads to expanded tolerance, which leads to more bad behavior, which leads to more blaming the system.

At some point you have to accept that you are the system you blame. Nobody can save a life that does not value itself.

[suzannah]

Section 8 housing is not something we need in Santa Monica. They can go elsewhere.

[tulipsontheorgan]

Typical politician ….enter Santa Methica at your own risk

[elaineash]

He's trying, but Phil seems out of touch. People are afraid of being harmed in SM because CRIME IS OFF THE CHARTS. Phil should try a little solo walk around his own streets and see how safe he stays. When the mayor is out with a police escort, nothing happens, OF COURSE.

[re]

Blah blah, high horse mayor, more $$$$from the taxpayer…smh!

[stevegold]

Santa Monica keeps electing these fools, things will get worst

[DonPulverizer]

This guy cares more about the homeless than the tax paying citizens.

[mikeshafer]

“Lower the amount you’re allowed to steal” lol that amount should be $0

[williamjacobs]

Santa Monica is building a 21-unit low-income homeless housing complex for $21 million. You do the math.

[djhbr]

So if I smoke a 50usd cuban cigar its prohibited on the 3rd street promenade but a 10usd Meth its ok...and the city will provide the pipe....for free.

True story I experienced.
What a beautiful world we are living. 🤔🙄

[KDFantastic]

How affordable is 1M per unit for the unhoused? No one gave the middle-class free homes.

[JayEs]

He is basically blaming transportation for the no less situation in Santa Monica. Is he taking responsibility and fixing the problem?? Doesn’t appear so…

[BrooksTownsley]

Every idea that he has come up with is worthless

[mikeshafer]

Santa Monica is a dump. I lived there last year. Insanely high prices for human feces and urine on your sidewalk. Each morning, walking to coffee in downtown Santa Monica was like the Walking Dead. The Promenade is basically dead now. I lost count of the number of times I was accosted. You would feel safe up by Montana but the closer you get to the core of the city, the worse it gets. Santa Monica’s compassion has resulted in its downfall. These people talking about “compassion” live out in the beautiful suburbs. Try living in the trenches for a year and see if your bleeding heart still beats for the homeless. Santa Monica is Paradise Lost.

[nathanielcarreon]

In short, he has done everything spending endless millions but nothing he did solved the problem. Like doing the same thing and expecting a different result.

[kevinbroadway]

you guys are favoring the bums over the residents. your job is to protect us. ca. is not a cheap place to live we should feel same at home or walking the streets and shops in your city and the state as a whole. me myself i left the state becouse i got priced out. i lived in ca. for 50 years now i live in az. and thank god i got out of there before covid becouse of the rules. these same rules stop builders and investors and anybody that wants to run a small biz

[bryansmith]

That shopping area that was shown is so desolate most of the stores have closed this guy is a liar

[michael]

He’s the mayor of course he’s going to paint a rosy picture. “I am proud we are spending tens of millions to help with the homeless and with crime“. Meanwhile, the situation on the ground continues to deteriorate.

[lakesidemfg]

If you’re friendly to homeless, then they won’t leave.