Dateline: Friday morning, May 12, 2017, at and after 9:30 a.m. between Santa Monica Pier and the Pico-Kenter Storm Drain and back to the pier...
Observed was the typical daily accumulation of #beachtrash near the water's edge that remains uncollected by the City of Santa Monica principally due to the fact that the City still is not directing the resources that it has to walk the beach and hand pick up #beachtrash, dead birds, storm debris, etc. near the water's edge, in spite of a City of Santa Monica spokesperson, Constance Farrell, stating for the record in the Santa Monica Mirror newspaper (both in print and online) that the City does have its staff walk the beach near the water's edge and hand pick up #beachtrash, etc.... which, of course, has now been determined to not be the case and actually a misrepresentation unbeknownst at the time to Ms. Farrell because she was obviously misled. The fact of the matter is that the City does not, in fact, either daily or even regularly have its staff walk near the water's edge and hand pick up #beachtrash, dead birds, storm debris, etc.
Our thousands of photos for over a year prove this point ad nauseum... literally!.....
In any case, here are today's photos plus a video that shows how the typical City sanitation dept.'s so-called regular beach inspections are careless rather than careful, e.g., watch this video and see the City inspection truck which drives right past a family sitting near the two dead birds and the vehicle never stops to pick up and remove the dead birds. Instead, the family, including, three small children are left at risk because of the cursory and careless inspections that are undertaken by the City of Santa Monica.
Storm debris, below, uncollected to date by the City of Santa Monica. This storm debris is essentially ignored and not removed from the beach by the City of Santa Monica. The City does not care enough about the fact that beach patrons can cut their feet on these sharp foreign objects on the sand.
So tell me why a City sanitation dept. pick up truck and its driver can drive within two feet of this #beachtrash and not stop and pick it up and remove it from the beach?!
or this?!...
Broken shafts of bamboo, aka, storm debris, in the sand below the berm which can cause painful foot injuries are regularly ignored and not collected by the City of Santa Monica. Why?! Because the City of Santa Monica Sanitation Dept. could care less about storm debris.
Below, a young couple from Chicago are fascinated and disgusted by two dead birds near the shoreline, including a headless chicken!...
A lifeguard truck happens by and I mention the 2 dead birds to him and he says, Is one of them headless?!... Surprised, I say, YES! He then said it is a religious thing of some sort... which I learned later may be Santeria.....
More uncollected storm debris above and below.
Is it unreasonable to expect the City of Santa Monica to have someone walk near the water's edge and collect and remove all of this foreign matter, e.g., #beachtrash, dead birds, storm debris, etc.?
The City is collecting substantial parking fees at the beach parking lots 7 days a week. With the enormous revenues collected at these parking lots, one would think that the City would keep the bean clean, esp. near the water's edge where patrons congregate. Tongva Park, on the other hand, across from City Hall, earns basically zero revenue and is treated as the crown jewel, not to mention the grounds surrounding City Hall itself which is devoid of any trash. In other words, the beach is getting much worse than second class treatment by the City. More people go to the beach than Tongva Park or City Hall, that's for sure. And yet, the beach is filthy day after day near the water's edge. Go figure!...
Below, a discarded purple dress that has been here for well over a week now and neglected and ignored by the City. Maybe it will simply disappear by magic?!.....
The infamous Pico-Kenter Storm Drain which is still draining/evaporating after the rain earlier this week... How long before the City bothers itself and cleans up and removes the #beachtrash and filth
lining this polluted pond of storm water?
Below, at center of frame in the distance is a City Sanitation Truck on patrol doing a beach inspection. Will the driver stop and remove the two dead birds? Yes or No..... And the answer is, of course, NO! It does not stop and just keeps on going until it disappears into the vehicle tunnel under the pier (see video).
*** Video Alert ! ***
City of Santa Monica Beach Inspection FAIL: The Video
https://youtu.be/A1xVTB-sK8g
Below, more photos of the trash lining the Pico-Kenter Storm Drain right out front of luxury hotels, SHUTTERS and CASA DEL MAR. It sure is a pretty landscape for the guests who pay buko bucks to stay at these two hotels!..
I can hear it now (from a guest at CASA DEL MAR): "Gee, that really is some debris out front of our hotel where we are paying over a Thousand Dollars a nite for our room!...
And below piles of #beachtrash collected and left by the City's tractor/rakes on the soft dry sand at mid beach in front of CASA DEL MAR. Question: When, if ever, will this trash be removed from the beach?!...
Stick a "Fork" in it! This beach continues to be carelessly maintained and the beach near the water's edge continues to be neglected by the City of Santa Monica.
Heading back toward the Santa Monica Pier, I observe that a family appears to have just sat down near where I observed the two dead birds about 10 minutes earlier.....
Time stamp... as I get closer to the family and the two dead birds.....
Below, a family at left, including 3 small children; and the dead birds at center of frame... see additional photos below...
As a precaution, I spoke to the two adults and warned them to make sure the children keep away from the dead birds 20 some yards away from where they were sitting. I also advised them that I asked the lifeguards to call the City of Santa Monica to come and remove them since that is the responsibility of the City of Santa Monica sanitation department.
Family at left; two dead birds at right...... Welcome to Santa Monica State Beach!...
Full Disclosure: It is my understanding that after speaking with the lifeguard in the truck, as well as the Captain upstairs at the nearby Lifeguard HQ, that they were going to call the City and ask that they come down and remove the two dead birds that were carelessly neglected by a City of Santa Monica Sanitation Truck that drove right beside the two dead birds without stopping and removing them. Why?! Because these beach patrols are carelessly undertaken by the staff of the City sanitation dept, in my opinion, based on the thousands of photos I have taken in the past 12 plus months and the numerous times that I have observed City of Santa Monica sanitation dept. vehicles (pick up trucks, ATV's) operate near the berm and never stop and pick up anything.
It's time for the City Manager, it's Mayor and City Counsel to step up and demand that its sanitation dept. start cleaning the beach near the water's edge on a daily basis by directing the resources that it in fact has to actually walk the shoreline and hand pick up the daily accumulation of #beachtrash, storm debris, dead birds, etc. And this staff must be supervised and audited to make certain that they are undertaking their "best efforts" in this regard.
The lack of civic integrity and accountability on this issue to date is both shameful and willful, in my opinion. Should there be a significant injury to a child or beach patron as the result of this continuing neglect, it is almost a certainty that a court of law would award punitive damages. I cannot imagine that City Counsel would not so advise the Mayor, City Manager and City Council. After all, (1) the City has publicly stated that it's staff hand picks and cleans the beach near the shoreline, which it does not, in fact, do on either a daily or regular basis ("Trash Talk", Santa Monica Mirror, Aug. 19, 2016, as stated by City spokesperson, Constance Farrell); (2) The City is also on specific notice that the beach near the shoreline continues to be ignored and nothing has been done to effect change in this regard, e.g., little to no actual hand picking of #beachtrash, etc. near the shoreline on either a daily or regular basis; (3) the continuing daily accumulation of #beachtrash, dead birds, storm debris, etc. represents a significant and ongoing public health and safety risk; and (4) The only thing missing is a child or beach patron with a significant injury or infection stemming from the failure of the City to daily and/or even regularly clean and hand pick up the daily accumulation of #beachtrash, dead birds, storm debris, etc. near the shoreline. In turn, all this adds up to not merely ordinary negligence, but wilful neglect of a civic obligation that the City has by virtue of the Operating Agreement that it entered into with the State of California (Calif. State Parks) to maintain Santa Monica State Beach. Not only would the City be liable for the injury and punitive damages, but it would be in breach of its contract with the State of California which would terminate the contract, including the City's ability to collect and earn revenue off the beach parking lots.
The fix, on the other hand, is extremely simple and reasonable. All the City has to do is direct the resources that it already has to actually have its sanitation dept. staff walk the beach near the water's edge and hand pick up the daily accumulation of #beachtrash, dead birds, storm debris, etc. So what could possibly merit the resistance to date?! It is truly mind boggling, that's for sure.
Respectfully submitted,
William Maguire,
Santa Monica business owner
(All photos and video by & Copyright William Maguire 2017.)
*** *** ***
No comments:
Post a Comment