Thumbs Down for PNA Video and City Should Buy Shelter Site

August 3, 2003

Dear Editor,

In your article ("Controversial Videotape Latest Weapon in Fight Against Shelter," August 1) you stated Mothers for Justice (MFJ) was in support of the content and the making of a video that attacks the relocation of the homeless shelter. This is incorrect. MFJ does not agree with the manner in which the PNA has responded to the relocation of the homeless shelter.

MFJ supports OPCC and the services that it provides to its clients. On the other hand, many of our members have serious concerns about the issue of environmental justice.

No one can deny that historically, working class families have bared the brunt of the City’s developments and projects. We need to have an open and honest dialogue about the service needs of working class families in the Pico Neighborhood.

Maria L. Loya
Mothers for Justice

August 3, 2003

Dear Editor,

OPCC wants to move its program at 7th and Colorado to Cloverfield and Michigan, and it wants the City of Santa Monica to "loan" it $7 million dollars to help it buy the site. Whether Cloverfield and Michigan is the best site for OPCC is open to debate.

However, no matter which side of the debate one is on, it would seem obvious that the City could get a lot more for its $7 million by BUYING the property at Cloverfield and Michigan and leasing it to OPCC. In this scenario, everyone wins, including the citizens of Santa Monica.

Christian Boyce