Chamber Of Commerce 'Rejects Dehumanizing Rhetoric' On Banner In City

SANTA MONICA, CA — The Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce denounced what they deemed "hate and dehumanizing rhetoric" that was displayed on a banner above a shop at the 3rd Street Promenade last week.

Community group The Santa Monica Coalition put up the banner that reads "Santa Monica is not safe" next to the Adidas store at the 3rd Street Promenade with another underneath that read "Crime... Depravity... Outdoor mental Asylum."

The Chamber and Santa Monica Democratic Club said the message was not only harmful, but counterproductive to the community's values and efforts being made to help the unhoused in the city.

"Demonizing those who suffer from homelessness, addiction, or mental illness does nothing to get help and only stigmatizes and further dehumanizes them," the organizations said in a statement.

The group's goal was to bring attention to the city's crime issues and homelessness, according to a statement on their website, but the chamber said this approach hurts small businesses and tells shoppers to stay away.

Crime in Santa Monica has been declining in the last 15 years, according to the Chamber's statement, and the city is making every effort to recover post-pandemic. The community coalition asserted that not enough is being done citing that Santa Monica is known as the sixth most dangerous city in California.

"We still have work to do, but we are all focused on uplifting our city," the Chamber said. " We... reject hate and dehumanizing rhetoric directed towards our city and the most vulnerable among us."