I'd like to add a few thoughts to your review of the 10 years of the new
Third Street Promenade.

When the Promenade was planned, the conventional wisdom was that outdoor malls were dead in America. It was thought that people would only go to sterile, climate-controlled, safe indoor shopping malls. Downtowns were dying everywhere.

By providing a well-lit, well-policed, clean and safe environment, we
found that people hungered for the opportunity to walk on a real street
and enjoy outdoor dining. The roadway was installed out of fear that
people would need to drive by to see the shops before they would park in the structures on the adjoining blocks.

It was also hoped that cars driving by at night would make pedestrians feel safer and the passengers could be dropped off. However, from day one, the number of pedestrians has been so great that the roadway has never been opened to cars.

The success of the Promenade has not only led to many efforts to
duplicate it, but it has also contributed to a trend that has undermined
the indoor malls. The traditional mall shops have come out to the
Promenade. The Galleria has folded.

Councilman Paul Rosenstein
Santa Monica

Dear editor,

SMRR must not abandon the renters of Santa Monica.

Now, more than ever, we need SMRR's undivided leadership in support of renters - who are still the vast majority of Santa Monica residents and voters.

Those of us who have chosen to remain renters and especially those of us who were tenants long before rent control (in my case, since 1959) well know why SMRR must continue to be the voice of Santa Monica renters.

There are many groups and forums in this city that are "inclusive" without diluting the whole point of SMRR's existence. Nor is a name change necessary to extend the umbrella. Consider the League of Women Voters, which has a specific focus even though it accepts members who are not women. SMRR could do that, too, but it must not be ashamed to be a renters' rights organization above and beyond any other purpose.

Yes, I know SMRR takes many positions on other city issues, but SMRR leadership must understand that many of its core constituents are those of us who will vote for a SMRR candidate precisely and perhaps only because of the support for rent control - even when we disagree with many of the candidate's other public positions.

SMRR, or some other responsible group, must remain active to safeguard the rights of Santa Monica renters.

Dear editor,

I know why Sciaticus hates computers. This poem is for him and others like him (hardly seems possible they exist) 'cos this happened to me!

The Journey Net Taken

Help me send my e-mail
Without the screen
Causing me to scream
"Don't free or fail me now!"

You save a file
In the endless pit.
You have no guile
"Incorrect, not enough urls"
Your computer hurls.

And you, once so stalwart and brave
That now are driven to an overflowing grave
Of files, attachments, letters and such
That your machine's entrails now clutch;
Forever lost on that journey to oblivion
With no help from the techno-magician...

"The number for technical support is now at eight,"
Leaving you in direst strait -
Do you hang up or wait?
Do you switch drives and forever lose,
Or do you wait and patiently snooze?
Only to be woken up with a jolt -
You've been disconnected by a dolt!

The journey's nearing its destiny
As you call out to every deity
!~#@*<^~ You scream and pound
But you are just a disjointed sound
The Gods of Cyberspace don't relate
To someone who never made the starting gate.
The Fates have now decreed - too late!
You are the victim of your fate.
The screen is dark, the muse departed
So here you slump broken-hearted.
It's now back to the rusty servant of yore
The typewriter
That you swore
To use - never more!

Aimee Lamb, 1999