March 10, 2026

Dear Editor,

Orwell’s “1984” is becoming a reality in Santa Monica. Two plus two equals five. Believe not what you see, but what I tell you. The author’s dystopian vision of a government that will do anything to control the narrative is timelier than ever.

The Santa Monica City Council seeks to shut down public discourse--less time for constituent comments at meetings and now the blackmail of neighborhood associations. Either shut up or you don't get your annual $7000 grant.

As I understand it, the city wants neighborhood groups to agree not to endorse Council candidates (leave that to correct-thinking SMRR, SM Forward, Dem club, etc.), turn over the right to an independent newsletter that the City would control and include in its publication and, finally, deliver members' sensitive personal data (for what purpose?) ("Second Neighborhood Group Pulls Out of City Grants Program," March 9,2026)

Personally, I would (and I believe others) would pay $100 a year to a local group to keep us independent AND able to endorse candidates. If all Santa Monica neighborhood associations united and said "we have a right to endorse," the councilmembers would shiver in their boots.

Finally, there would be a counterweight to SM's entrenched ideological organizations.

Harriet P. Epstein
Santa Monica