By Jorge Casuso

October 1, 2025 -- A program launched by Santa Monica activist John Alle to reunite Santa Monica's homeless with their families made national headlines, and drew criticism from a top City official.

A lengthy feature in Thursday's New York Times by Pulitzer Prize winning writer Eli Saslow offers a vivid account of the program and a profile of "the unlikely architect of a hotline promising free tickets home."

"The hotline was a two-man operation with no dedicated office space and minimal advertising on social media," Saslow wrote.

"Alle and his employee sifted through the wait-list and then packed down people’s tents, paid to wash their laundry and ferried them to the airport.

"In its first few months of operation, the program had sent about three people each week out of Santa Monica to reunite with family members in different states."

The article generated interviews with Alle on radio and television, where he has become an established presence critiquing Santa Monica's efforts to tackle a long-entrenched, and by some accounts worsening, homeless problem.

The media's focus on Alle's program prompted Mayor Lana Negrete to clear up the record about the "private ticket-home program" featured in The Times.

"While it drew headlines, it unfortunately left out critical context and repeated misinformation," Negrete wrote in her weekly newsletter on Monday.

She then proceeded to "set the record straight" by listing "myths" and "facts."

While the "myth" is that Santa Monica "has never supported programs that help unhoused residents return home," the fact is that the City "has helped fund West Coast Cares and Homeward Bound."

These programs, Negrete said, "don’t just buy a bus ticket, but connect people with family, services, and support on the other end to ensure real stability."

According to The Times article, Alle "said he had tried handing (the program) over for free to the city or the county, but most other reunification programs involved more infrastructure."

The infrastructure, Alle said, includes "drug tests, mental health evaluations, steady financial assistance, case workers to help ensure a smooth transition and track success," Saslow wrote.

"What some leaders saw as necessary guardrails sounded to Alle like more bureaucratic red tape and unnecessary spending.

"Pretty much all he requested from recipients was a video to prove that someone was in fact waiting at home, and then another video to confirm the arrival. What happened next was often anybody’s guess."

Negrete said it's a "myth" that "you must be sober to qualify for help getting home."

"The programs are built on compassion and connection, not on unrealistic barriers that would exclude those most in need," the mayor wrote.

"The whole point is their sobriety is more successful when connected to family and a support system."

The subhead in The Times article reads: "For years, John Alle complained to Los Angeles officials about homelessness. Now, fed up, he’s trying to make a dent in the problem on his own."

To say that "these efforts are a brand-new solution," Negrete said, is another "myth."

"Santa Monica has been committed to this work for years," Negrete wrote. "What’s new is the publicity -- not the practice."

She added that "as Mayor, I’ll continue to call out misinformation and fight for real solutions. Our community deserves accurate reporting and clear recognition of the work we are already doing together."