Okay, the 11th Reason to Oppose R.I.F.T.

So I missed a big one. It turns out that while Proposition T exempts hospitals from the cap on commercial development, it does not exempt medical office space that is often needed to support those hospitals. Wow, was this a well thought-out initiative or what? There is a full page ad this week in, of all rags, the Santa Monica Mirror (hardly a tool of the developers, I think we can agree) and Surf Santa Monica from both of Santa Monica's hospitals arguing quite cogently why this is a really terrible measure. The ad points out that even non-profits are not exempt. These uses must compete with car dealerships and fast food joints for those precious 75,000 square feet of space allocated each year. These two institutions, one public, one private, seem to have a real concern for the long-term viability of their respective institutions if this measure passes, stating,

"Proposition T could severely limit the Hospitals' ability to provide essential health services by limiting the building of medical office space..."

That alone ought to be reason enough to kill this measure. To read the full opinion piece navigate to:

http://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/letters/Letters-2008/October-2008/10_02_08_Joint_Statement_Concerning_Prop_T.htm