Santa Monica

santa monica op-ed press

Neighbor to Neighbor Tidings

Down Town

JAN 2013 ISSUE #2

SMPD Badge #3104, Retired

Ambassadors Beat Police

Third Street Promenade Things are not what they seem
on the unseemly Third Street Promenade. An illegal police force has taken over and driven out the Santa Monica Police Department.
Santa Monica police are no longer the real authority on the promenade. It has taken many years, but one person has made it happen. Kathleen Rawson, the Executive Director of Downtown SM Inc. Shes the De Facto Mayor of downtown Santa Monica. She rules the streets with her own government.
Four years ago the fate of the police on the promenade was sealed. After much insider politics and an alleged corrupt election, the City Council passed Resolution 10336 (CCS) on July 24, 2008. It established the PBAD (the Property Based Assessment District). The PBAD gives the Downtown SM Board the power to tax all property owners in the Midwest section of the city, which encompasses the entire downtown and surrounding properties.
With the creation of the PBAD, Ms. Rawson and the Downtown SM Board have been collecting yearly taxes totaling millions of dollars on every property owner. With this windfall, a private police force disguised as a hospitality service was hired to police downtown. They are the Ambassadors.
Former Police Chief Timothy Jackman was aware that the ambassadors were allegedly going to be used unlawfully against the public. In a 2007 meeting with his downtown ofcers, he said that he knew from conversations with Ms. Rawson that the ambassadors were going to be used in a way that would not stand-up or wash constitutionally, but that the police were not going to do anything about it.
With the city manager, police chief, and City Attorney Marsha Moutrie looking the other way and not protecting the publics rights, the ambassadors have allegedly regularly violated the public without consequence.

Kathleen Rawson, Downtowns De Facto Mayor

Ambassadors Cross The Line The ambassadors

have operated illegally under the Color of Law. Blacks Law Dictionary denes the Color of Law as the appearance or semblance, without the substance, of legal right. This denition describes some actions and activities of ambassadors to a tee.
Ambassadors regularly violate the civil rights of promenade visitors. While I was out on the promenade taking pictures for this article, a large male black ambassador came to me and blocked my cameras view. He asked me what I was doing. I asked him to leave me be, but he did not. He questioned me about my picture taking. I knew he had no legal authority to question me about my private activities, so I asked him again to leave me be. He told me that I could not take pictures on the promenade. He said I needed a permit to take photographs on the promenade and that I had to stop taking pictures. I continued with my business, but then the intimidation started. (continued on back)

santa monica Op-Ed Press

(continued from front) As I deed the ambassadors illegal harassment, he got angry and called on his radio for backup. He said into his microphone that a male white was in front of Barneys Beanery illegally taking pictures and giving him trouble. He was acting under the Color of Law. He was giving me the appearance that he had a legal right to order me around, yet he didnt have the substance. As I continued taking pictures, he took a threatening physical stance and tried to intimidate me. Another ambassador then showed-up as his backup.

back page Male Ambassadors Allegedly Harass and Touch Females in Downtown SM
Promenade locals have observed male ambassadors making unwanted physical contact and sexual advances to women who visit and work on the promenade. A young woman who worked as a cart vendor recently complained about this to a promenade local. She said an ambassador hugs her and touches her against her will, but she will not complain because she views the ambassadors as government ofcials. Complaining about a sexually aggressive ambassador would not do any good for this woman anyways. Even if she did complain, nothing would be done. The police do not investigate or control the ambassadors. Its the other way around. The ambassadors control the police. I recently saw an ambassador policing a person, and I asked her about it. She nastily told me she was doing her job. I was approached shortly thereafter by two Santa Monica policemen while I was dining at the promenade food court. The ambassador directed them to investigate me. The worst has happened. Theres private police force that has the power to violate the publics rights on the public streets, and they tell the Santa Monica The new Sheriff in town police what to do. This force is now rmly entrenched and open for business in downtown.

Ambassadors Illegally Harass Local Kids

Local children are targets of the ambassadors. Ambassadors and other Downtown SM Inc staff allegedly often illegally violate local kids rights. As I was writing this story, I saw a young boy slowly coasting on his bicycle down the middle block of the promenade. An ambassador stepped in front of his bike and grabbed the bike by the handlebars stopping the kid. The ambassador told the youth that he was breaking the law and had to walk his bike on the promenade. I asked the youth who he thought the ambassador was, and he replied: Hes the police. The ambassadors have been acting as police to the detriment of the local youth since the ambassador program began. At the ice rink on Fifth Street, ambassadors patrolled the rink and policed this public space like they were police ofcers. As I sat on a bench at the rink watching skaters last year, I observed three Lincoln Middle School white male youths sitting on a bench at the rink watching one of their friends skate. The boys were wellbehaved and sat watching and talking among themselves. Then came a burly male black ambassador. The burly black ambassador approached the young white boys and told them they had to leave the ice rink area and not come back. The boys had not done anything wrong whatsoever. One of them asked the ambassador why they had to leave, and the ambassador told them that since they were not skating they had to GET OUT NOW. YOU UNDERSTAND ME! WHEN I TELL YOU TO DO SOMETHING YOU LISTEN. I watched the entire exchange. This adult ambassador had no legal right to talk to these youths yet let alone threaten them. The boys left peacefully, but were very upset.

PBAD CRITIC MYSTERIOUSLY DIED:

Joe Natoli, the most vociferous critic of the formation of the PBAD and of the Downtown SM Board, died of an alleged massive heart attack during the PBAD campaign process. Natoli appeared to be in good health and was one of the most knowledgeable politicos in the city. He told anyone who would listen, including the city council, that the formation of the PBAD should not happen. And then during the PBAD campaign that he claimed was corrupt and illegal, he mysteriously died in a dramatic fashion. His predictions have come true. The PBAD has been a disaster for local Santa Monicans. R.I.P. Joe.

*Santa Monica parents are encouraged to ask their children after a downtown visit if DowntownSM Staff threatened, harassed, touched, or contacted them on the street or in the public restrooms*