Santa Monicans Satisfied, Poll Finds

By Jorge Casuso

Jan. 8 -- Santa Monicans by and large feel safe and satisfied, though a small number think the City can do more to ease the homeless problem, improve traffic and add parking, according to a poll released by the City this week.

The key findings of the telephone survey of 415 residents mirror the attitudes expressed by a representative sampling of residents in surveys taken over the past four years and may explain why voters sent the three incumbents whose seats were up for grabs in November back to the City Council.

The survey, conducted by Goodwin Simon Strategic Research, found that 83 percent of those surveyed said they were "very" or "somewhat" satisfied with "the job the city of Santa Monica is doing to provide city services," a response nearly identical to that given last year.

If most residents continued to express satisfaction, the issues that topped the list of concerns haven't changed much, compared to the results of the surveys taken in 1998, 1999 and 2000.

Asked to name up to three things the City could do to improve its services, 22 percent said "address the homeless," 12 percent said "improve traffic safety/congestion" and another 12 percent said "provide more parking."

When asked to rate the most serious problems, "homelessness" was ranked first, followed by lack of affordable housing, parking and traffic. Crime was ranked last on the list below lack of school funding, gangs, graffiti and lack of city funding.

In fact, the survey found that most residents feel safe walking their neighborhoods, even at night, with 68 percent saying they feel "very" or "reasonably" safe at night near their homes, up from 63 percent two years ago.

Latinos feel less safe than whites, with 56 percent saying they feel safe walking in their neighborhoods after dark, compared to 70 percent of whites. Latinos were also more likely to report a crime (15 percent) than other residents (8 percent).

Residents on the upscale north side of the city felt safer at night (80 percent) than did residents of the Pico neighborhood (61 percent).

While respondents said they felt safe, the number that called the police or fire departments or dialed 911 in an emergency rose to 24 percent, compared to 17 percent in 2000 and 15 percent in 1998 and 1999. Of those who said they were victims of crime, 80 percent reported the crimes to police, compared to 64 percent in 2000.

The Police Department received a 79 percent favorable rating on how it addresses neighborhood concerns, an increase of 4 percent over 2000, and a 69 percent favorable rating for enforcement of traffic laws, about the same as in 2000

Of those who called the Police Department in an emergency, 81 percent gave a positive rating to the response time and 77 percent rated the department positively for the quality of services rendered.

Of the 31 percent of the residents who said they had contact with police in a non-emergency situation, 72 percent rated the response favorably.

Seven percent of those polled had called the Fire Department in an emergency, and all of them rated the response time and service positively.

When it comes to social services, 42 percent said there was a need for affordable housing, far more than for any other service. Health care was cited by 22 percent as needing more services; emergency food, clothing and shelter by 19 percent, and youth services by 18 percent of the respondents.

Half of those polled said they used the Big Blue Bus last year, while more than three quarters said they used a Santa Monica library or library service in the past year.