Opinion: Beach bums

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A year or two ago, I decided to clear my basement of all the obsolete computer equipment, dead batteries and other hazardous waste that had been piling up for way too long. A Web search showed that the closest place to legally unload this stuff was a city dump in Santa Monica, about a half-hour drive from my home in the Hollywood area. So I loaded up the trunk of my car and headed west -- only to be told once I got there that free hazardous waste dumping was for Santa Monica residents only. Outsiders had to weigh the crud and pay an extortionate price per pound for the privilege of getting rid of it. So anyone so unlucky as to lack a Santa Monica address is punished for trying to be socially responsible. Somehow, I resisted the temptation to unload my trunk in the nearest Santa Monica dumpster.

All this comes up because today’s Times story about a new Santa Monica dog park open only to city residents struck an exposed nerve. Santa Monica certainly isn’t the only local city to restrict public services like parks and dumps to city residents, but that doesn’t make the practice OK. It’s possible that the city of Los Angeles restricts some of its services, too, but I’m hard-pressed to think of any; the dog park near my house doesn’t have a velvet rope around it to keep out non-Angeleno mutts. Los Angeles residents shop in Santa Monica, work in Santa Monica and put their change in Santa Monica parking meters, boosting the city’s sales taxes and fee revenues.

If Santa Monica wants to act like an island unto itself, maybe L.A. should treat it like one. A toll for any Santa Monica resident crossing the 405 might be a good start.