As With the Previous Placard, David White Is the Primary Subject of Ridicule
The longstanding “Santa Methica Is Not Safe” sign along the charter city’s signature shopping district has been replaced with a more creative, comedic one that upholds the same sentiment.
Along the 1300 block of Third Street Promenade, adjacent to the 2bella women’s clothing boutique, a new banner from John Alle and the Santa Monica Coalition depicts black-and-white headshots of City Manager David White, L.A. City Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, Director of Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Barbara Ferrer and City Councilmember Gleam Davis along an illustrated mountaintop. These four city officials constitute, as the poster proclaims in bold lettering between drawings of heroin needles and meth pipes, “Mount Drugsmore”.
As with the previous placard, White is the primary subject of ridicule. But whereas that one simply accused the city manager of supporting the controversial needle & meth pipe distribution program, this one makes an explicit demand that White should be fired from his post while other officials be held “accountable.”
Alle, owner of the building space and co-founder of the coalition, said that the sign will remain until either its demands are met, White resigns or he can lease the space; an effort he says is difficult in light of the promenade’s safety conditions.
The allusion to public officials creating some kind of drug-filled hellscape is a criticism of L.A. County’s needle exchange program in public parks and spaces; an effort that has provoked ire among citizens as a possible facilitation of drug use for the city’s transient population.
In an emailed statement in response to the new sign, Supervisor Horvath said “County partners with Venice Family Clinic to provide harm reduction services for up to three hours each week in Santa Monica. Through harm reduction and other efforts, deaths among people experiencing homelessness held steady for the first time since 2015, as opposed to continual increases the County had historically seen.” Horvath added that since the County and the City of Santa Monica declared states of emergency on homelessness, there has been a 20% decrease in homelessness on the Westside.
A spokesperson with the L.A. County Department of Public Health said in an email, “Communities across Los Angeles County are currently facing the worst overdose crisis in our history, driven by the increasing presence of fentanyl and methamphetamine in our communities … Research shows harm reduction initiatives like syringe service programs save lives without increasing drug use and are cost-effective. Participants in these programs are more likely to seek treatment and reduce drug injections. LA County’s harm reduction programs currently reverse over 700 overdoses monthly. Last year, the County saw its first plateau in overdose deaths in a decade, a significant step forward in this escalating crisis.”
In February, the SM Coalition filed a lawsuit against Ferrer, the Los Angeles County Health Department, and the Venice Family Clinic, alleging former Santa Monica mayors Sue Himmelrich and Gleam Davis, former City Manager Lane Dilg and White of covertly acknowledging and approving the program.
Two months later, the nonprofit organized a protest at Reed Park against the program. Santa Monica Mayor Phil Brock and Vice Mayor Negrete both spoke at the demonstration, with the ladder saying a mother said her son was hospitalized after stepping on one of the needles, and the former proclaiming “Stop the distribution of syringes and needles outside in our city!”
However, at the tailend of a meeting earlier this month, just weeks ahead of the recent poster swap, Santa Monica City Council unanimously supported a condemnation of the “Santa Methica” sign that was first placed at 1335 Third Street in December of 2022.
The item, raised by Mayor Brock, Vice Mayor Negrete and Davis, requested City Attorney Doug Sloane create a resolution that both acknowledges First Amendment rights to free speech, while pointing out that some instances can cause harm “from expression that is false and/or counter to the public interest.” During the meeting’s comment period, Andrew Thomas, CEO of Downtown Santa Monica Inc., described the banner as having generated “millions of negative media impressions” for the city.
In a prepared statement, White said that while he would implement policies adopted by city council, the syringe exchange program is initiated by a county contractor pursuant to state law. “The city plays no role,” he said.
Alle countered that claim during his turn at comment period, saying that while city council can approve harm reduction or needle and glass pipe distribution in the city over the county, the mayor hasn’t used that authority. “There is no malice in the messaging on my building,” he said.
A defamation lawsuit against city council over its recent claims is in the works, according to Alle.
