Santa Monicans today understand there is a titanic struggle going on for the heart and soul of their City. And it’s not the first time this has happened.

The battle manifests itself in infinite ways from the shortage of affordable housing, to the drought, to relentless gridlock, to the collapse of the City’s budget, to scary public pension overhangs, to institutional racism, to deadly air pollution, and to countless other friction points. This battle has not abated during the pandemic, which worsened all pre-existing problems such as, for example, the collapse of our retail activity because Amazon was already completely killing local businesses. Add to this the life and death struggle of our homeless crisis and crime increases, and we have a City struggling both for its life and its identity. 

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2021/04/sma-r-t-column-history-repeats-itself/