Santa Monica Public Library Said to be Unsafe, Unsanitary: Santa Monica Coalition

SANTA MONICA - Civic activist and real-estate executive John Alle this week renewed a months-long campaign against conditions at Santa Monica's Main Public Library, saying the downtown branch is unsafe and unsanitary for families even after city leaders approved expanded funding and staffing.

Alle, founder of SafeCitiesUSA and the Santa Monica Coalition, posted video of the Main Library at 601 Santa Monica Boulevard and wrote: "Warning: Santa Monica's Main Public Library is NOT SAFE for Moms, families and young students. Bathroom sex, indoor meth, and porn continue. Six months after bringing safety issues to the attention of the City Manager, City Council, Library Director, and its 5 Board Members, conditions inside and outside have deteriorated. This is despite every current member of the SM City Council voting unanimously in favor of a $12 million budget, 75 full-time positions and Measure K Funding."

The clip shows homeless people lingering outside the building, homeless belongings piled on interior floors, homeless patrons sleeping at tables, and a Library Board meeting with Director of Library Services Erica Cuyugan and board members present. Alle has pressed similar claims since at least last year, arguing that library staff and security treat disorder as routine and that public comment at board meetings is not adequately recorded.

Local residents echoing him on social media described the same pattern.

Lucinda Newcomb wrote that she let her Santa Monica Public Library card expire "because it's more like an open air prison between the authoritarian security guards and librarians and the dirty smelly homeless people everywhere."

A March 2026 city community-mapping report, based on more than 1,100 survey responses, found that 71 percent of respondents said they feel safe in library spaces, 9.7 percent said they do not, and 18.9 percent said safety depends on time of day or location. Comments about restrooms, lighting, maintenance, and disruptive behavior clustered at the Main Library.

Library and city officials have not issued a point-by-point reply to Alle's latest video. They have instead framed the system as a public resource that must remain open while services are restored after pandemic-era cuts.

Director Cuyugan said after the community report was released, "The community voice is at the heart of everything we do." Officials said the findings will shape programming, facilities, and staffing, subject to budget and staffing limits.

Mayor Caroline Torosis, announcing the return of staffed hours at Fairview and Ocean Park branches in January, said, "Fully restoring service at the Fairview and Ocean Park Branch Libraries is about getting back to what residents expect and deserve." The city's Realignment Plan calls for further hour expansions later this year.

In a September 2025 Library Board discussion of incident data, a staff member stressed that the buildings remain public: "Everybody is welcome as long as they are abiding by our rules of conduct whether they're housed, unhoused, mental illness, no mental illness, whatever." Staff noted Library Services Officers now stand at doors as walk-ins and incidents have risen with reopening.

Alle's critics and city statements treat the library as a constrained public space-open to all who follow conduct rules-rather than a facility that can exclude people based on housing status. Alle and residents who stopped using the Main Library argue that those rules are not enforced and that families have already voted with their feet.