Santa Monica Dispatch

Visitors Bureau has named Kim Baker, 26, its marketing manager.

She oversees the bureau’s communications, consumer and trade promotions, and website, as well as directing the new Santa Monica brand marketing campaign.

Developed by the bureau staff, brand marketing consultants, business people and City officials at two “brand summits” last year, the Santa Monica
Brand “promise” is, “Santa Monica...the best way to discover L.A.; an unforgettable beach city experience filled with eye-catching people, cutting edge culture and bold innovations. It is the essence of the California lifestyle.”

Baker told the Santa Monica Daily Press, “This is a great opportunity and
I look forward to enhancing the market potential for this beautiful city, I was looking for a position that would allow me to contribute on a strategic and creative level and am thrilled that I found that opportunity at Santa Monica
CVB.

“I’m very passionate about living the brand, taking it beyond just a tagline and making it something that when visitors come here, it is consistent.“ When they come across any person here, they will see consistency in the message.”

According to the Daily Press, Baker has done national advertising and marketing campaigns for Toyota, Hilton, and Oral-B. Most recently, she was the assistant manager of marketing communications for the Hilton HHonors Program.

The City of Santa Monica is on a buying spree, and it seems to be buying itself.

Several years ago, it bought approximately nine acres from the RAND Corporation, along with its original buildings, which it has since demolished, creating, however inadvertently, a large dirt park. Price: $53 million.

Then it bought itself the half-block Fisher Lumber property on Colorado
Avenue at 14th Street. Price: $14 million.

Then it bought the Sears auto shop property at Colorado and Fourth for
$34 million. Sears is still in business on that corner. Price, $34 million.

Then it stockpiled land and buildings on Fifth Street, about . 52,500 square
feet so far, according to a story in the Daily Press. Price, approximately $30 millon.

Among the more notable buildings on the new City property are Carlson’s Appliances and the onetime gallery that served as the temporary library in the 1300 block of 5th Street.

The parking task force created by the City Council recommended that the
City stockpile downtown land but it \may or may not be ultimately used for parking.

An upcoming City of Santa Monica project will apply “urban design, landscaping, traffic and other improvements to 20th Street and Cloverfield Boulevard between the eastbound Santa Monica Freeway (I-10) and Pico Boulevard,” according to a City press release.

At a community “visioning” meeting in November, according to the City, “residents voiced concerns about pedestrian safety and heavy traffic along both roadways. They also expressed support for enhancing pedestrian lighting, signage, paving and other amenities, as well as creating a community identity.

“Preliminary concepts presented at a second workshop included plant material, hardscape and other site amenities.

“The next steps for this project will be preliminary and final engineering, and preparation of construction drawings. Project construction is slated to begin in late 2007.”

The City of Santa Monica will hold an “informational” meeting on its “beach greening project” on Thursday, May 3, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Ocean Park Branch Library, on Main Street at Ocean Park Boulevard.

The City plans to convert a section of the southerly 2600 Barnard Way beach parking lot (north of the playground at the terminus of Ocean Park Boulevard, and between Fraser and Wadsworth Avenues) from asphalt to natural turf.

The turf will be “built,” in the City’s word, to allow automobiles to park on it during peak periods The rest of the year, the southern section of the lot (both the turf and asphalt portions) will be closed to autos and available for recreation, .

According to the City, “The project has important water quality, environmental and recreation benefits.”

At the meeting, City staff will present the project design, and give the public an opportunity to discuss the project with the design team. The project will be “substantially funded” by a grant from the State Water Resources Control Board, and is an adopted city budget objective for Fiscal Year 2006-07.

A California Coastal Commission permit is pending

In 1929, publisher William Randolph Hearst commissioned architect Julia Morgan, who designed his famed San Simeon, to design a beach house on Santa Monica’s Gold Coast for his mistress, movie star Marion Davies.
It was a pretty elaborate beach house – a main house, three guest houses – with a total of 118 rooms and 58 bathrooms, two swimming pools, tennis courts, dog kennels and garages.

When Davies sold it in 1957, it became a hotel and then the Sand and Sea Club.

In the late 1980s, Santa Monica restaurateur Michael McCarty
proposed demolishing what was left of the Davies estate and
building a “luxury hotel” on the site . The City Council approved the plan, but residents put the question on the ballot and voters rejected the hotel and, for good measure, banned any further hotels on the beach.

The state owns the property and the City operates it. Following the vote, the City abruptly cancelled the popular Sand and Sea Beach Club’s lease and assumed control of the property at 415 Pacific Coast Highway, but never quite decided what to make of it.

After the remains of the estate were damaged in the 1994 Northridge
earthquake, the City wrapped it in chainlink fencing and shut it down.

In 1998, a City task force spent $180,000 developing a design for a public beach club, but it was shelved.

Several years ago, City staff proposed offering it to a private sector operator.

But, just in time, Wallis Annenberg, who has warm memories of the Sand and Sea Club and was interested in the idea of documenting the historic Hollywood-Gold Coast connection on the, rode to the rescue – with a $21 million Annenberg Foundation grant.

With the grant in hand, City and foundation staff members developed plans for the unique property. Public workshops were held. An architect,
Frederick Fisher Partners, was hired And now, 13 years after the City shut it dawn, work on the five-acre Annenberg Community Beach Club at Santa Monica State Beach (415 PCH) has begun -- . with the demolition of the locker building, which was not part of the Davies estate.

Midwest Environmental Controls began the demolition on Monday, April 16, and should be finished next month. Pankow Special Projects LP will construct the club, which is scheduled to open in January, 2009,

The remaining Davies guest house, now called the North House, will be restored and an interpretive center will be installed. The swimming pool will be rehabbed. Outdoor spaces, including two garden areas, sports courts, a picnic and play area, and a boardwalk to the ocean. , will be installed. New buildings will include an entry pavilion with lifeguard and staff offices; a two-story pool house with locker and changing rooms and a multi-purpose room and a one-story event house.

In addition to the Annenberg grant, some funding has been provided by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development.

The City of Santa Monica will hold the grand opening of Airport Park on Sunday, April 29, It’s the first new park to open in Santa Monica in 24 years.

Scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m., the community party will feature a performance by the Belle Air Brass, food from the two airport restaurants, Typhoon and the Spitfire Grill, soccer on the three-acre synthetic turf field, and a dog obedience demonstration near the off-leash dog area.

The 8.3-acre park is located on Airport Avenue, on the south side of Santa Monica Airport about two blocks west Of South Bundy Drive.

The park is an element in the 20-year, $142 million Parks and Recreation Master Plan to improve and expand the city’s open space system, The plan was adopted in 1997.

The park’s site was previously used as a shuttle parking lot for Santa Monica Community College and car dealer storage.

The park features a soccer field, a children’s playground, picnic areas with six BBQs, off-leash dog park planted with fragrant ground cover and shrubbery, restrooms and storage space, and 80-foot-tall non-glare lighting standards with shielded lamps.

A $1.5 million grant obtained by the City paid for the synthetic turf on the soccer field. Infiltration beds under the field will detain storm water from portions of the airport and the park, and parking lots are paved in permeable asphalt to retain storm-water.

“To reflect the industrial culture of the airport, industrial materials -- such as a galvanized metal, uncoated chain link fence -- were selected, instead of the colorful materials often found in parks. connections in the park. intersections as abstractly representing people making connections,” according to a City press release..

The park was designed by ah’be, a Culver City ;landscape architecture and urban design firm established in 1987.

The 0.45-acre Euclid Park on Euclid Street between Colorado Avenue and Broadway will open in mid-June.

Big Blue Bus Line 14 stops at Airport Park.

Parking for the grand opening will be available south of the new park on the Santa Monica College Bundy Campus, which is accessible from South Bundy Drive.

According to a City press release, “Santa Monica Citywide Reads, a community reading program that invites everyone in Santa Monica to read and discuss the same novel in book clubs and other related events held throughout the city,” began April 18 and will run through May 19.

In its fifth year, the program is spotlighting a novel by a woman for
the first time, The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

The Time Traveler’s Wife is described in the press release as “the fantastic, romantic adventure story of beautiful artist Clare Abshire and dashing librarian Henry De Tamble..who must fight against one tremendous obstacle. Henry suffers from ‘chrono-displacement disorder,’ a condition that causes him to unexpectedly jump backwards and forwards in time, while Clare ages in the normal chronological fashion, completely unaware as to where and when she and Henry will be able to resume their lives together.

“ ‘Audrey Niffenegger makes this premise work with delightful wryness and delicate poignance,’ says Susan Sterr-Ryan, chair of the English department at Santa Monica College and a member of the Citywide Reads Advisory Committee. ‘As we come to love her richly drawn characters, we appreciate our own challenges to live in the moment.’

“Audrey Niffenegger is a professor in the M.F.A. program at the Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts. The Time Traveler’s Wife, her first novel, was a New York Times best-seller and win several awards, including a British Book Award for Popular Fiction and the Young Adult Library Services Association’s Alex Award for books with appeal to teens.”

Niffenegger has subsequently published two "visual novels," The Three Incestuous Sisters and The Adventuress, and is currently at work on a new novel about a pair of mirror-image twins.

Sponsored by the Santa Monica Public Library, with support from the Friends of the Library, Santa Monica College Associates, California Center for the Book, and community, educational and business partners,

Book clubs can take part by using a Citywide Reads Resource Guide, available at all Santa Monica Public Library locations and on the Citywide Reads website at www.smpl.org/cwr

For a list of Citywide Reads book discussions and special events, call the Santa Monica Public Library at (310) 458-8600 or visit www.smpl.org/cwr.

Homelessness will be the subject of a new live call-in show that will make its debut on Wednesday, April 25 at noon on CityTV cable channel 16 in Santa Monica and LA36 cable channel 36 in Los Angeles. Hosted by Stephen Solomon and Ralph Saltsman,”It's Your Call: Homelessness in Our Community” will combine phone calls from viewers and interviews with local experts on homelessness. The series will run until June 13.

"Homelessness is the number one issue in the Santa Monica community," said CityTV station manager Robin Gee. "In response to this, CityTV is presenting a program that will allow viewers to call in to express their concerns and viewpoints while providing valuable background information and insights into the issue of homelessness."

Topics and guests will change each week. The first show will examine society’s stereotypical views of people who are homeless; the systemic causes of homelessness and some of the :subpopulations” that live on the streets of Los Angeles County.

“It’s Your Call: Homelessness in Our Community” will replay on CityTV weekdays at 12 noon and Fridays at 8 p.m. The program is presented in partnership with the Westside Shelter & Hunger Coalition (WSHC) and the Los Angeles Central Providers Collaborative (LACPC).

CityTV is the government access cable channel for the City of Santa Monica. . LA36 is the educational access channel for the City of Los Angeles.

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OPINION

Since we went silent a year ago, a lot has happened, but, unfortunately, nothing’s changed.

It’s Time for a Change

Santa Monica is a legendary beach town.

It was founded in 1875 as a simple real estate development. Five generations of bright, talented, devoted, diverse residents have made it a gorgeous, complex, idiosyncratic, grandly volatile and deeply satisfying place to live and work -- perfectly located on the ocean, small in scale, low key, prosperous – in the midst of the myriad glories and excitements of
Los Angeles.

It’s unconventional, unique, an original, not a copy.

The primary fact of Santa Monica, its shaping element, is the ocean, and, aside from its sublime location, its greatest asset has always been its residents. They are smart, savvy and independent, and they are fiercely devoted to Santa Monica.

But Santa Monica’s residents have lost control of their town.

Some time ago, without the advice or consent of residents, City Hall made its top priorities increasing its own revenues, and, in the noxious vernacular, “growing” the town. To that end, it reversed the order of things, making itself the star of the show, while consigning residents to non-speaking roles.

As the star, City Hall has given itself license to ignore residents’ wishes when they run counter to its own plans, make unilateral decisions at
the expense of residents, and exploit both the residents and their town.

It’s as if we gave City Hall a Steinway and it played nothing but “Chop-sticks” on it. Badly.

Why has the Santa Monica Library chosen only one authentic work of literature for its Citywide Reads program in five years?

The 1973 “Save Our Piers Forever” Initiative that was sponsored and approved by voters stated that the Santa Monica Pier could not be demolished or altered without the approval of voters. Why is the City proposing significant alterations to he Pier Bridge without seeking voters’ approval?

Why is City Hall so determined to reduce public review of proposed projects?

On 9/11, Vice President Dick Cheney ordered that America “use any means at our disposal to achieve our objectives.” What are Cheney’s objectives?

Did it occur to whoever designed DVD boxes that people would want to open them?

Do the allegedly “Real O.C. Housewives” who appear in the Bravo cable TV channel know how grotesque they are?

Why, as a leading architect has said, do the best architects “do their worst work for the City?”

Does anyone think that the City’s planned reconstruction of the California Incline will be anything but a disaster?

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by Jake Samuel

I was driving up PCH this morning.....the tide being too low to surf Bay St. I was driving up to Will Rogers to trail run.

As I passed the Jonathan Club, I looked to my left and saw the turquoise wrought iron security gate in front of a generic condo building with the word “Sorrento” arched across the top. And then I thought, “Who even knows how beautiful and simple the Sorrento Beach Grill that stood for years on this site was and what would you rather have standing there today.”

Then I thought about the lighthouse at the jetty between Santa Monica Canyon and Temescal Canyon and how a pre-fab lifeguard headquarters took its place years ago.

Call us sentimental, or naïve, but we not only believe, we insist that residents should have the first, and last, word in Santa Monica.

Evidence accumulates that City Hall disagrees. Our elected and appointed officials make a great show of their interest in “community input” and their Herculean efforts at “community outreach,” but, after all the outreach and input are done, City Hall usually does what it wants to do, not what we want it to do.

Our so-called public servants have apparently become bosses, and have now begun, brazenly, to codify their disinterest in our views by eliminating the public from the review process on an ever-increasing number and kind of projects and policies.

Thomas Jefferson said, “The basis of our government being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right, and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

We agree. Here and now, it’s the Santa Monica Dispatch’s job to not only report what’s happening, but to record what people think about what’s happening.

As in previous incarnations, we will fully and faithfully cover Santa Monica and its immediate environs, and will not hesitate to say what we think, but now, more than ever, in order to cover the entire community, we need readers’ views, too.

The beauty of the blog is that it’s not static, but constantly evolving, changing, as readers respond directly to news stories, features and opinions – agreeing, disagreeing, amplifying, annotating.

The “of, for and by the people” principle may be dormant in City Hall, Sacramento and Washington, but it’s not only alive and well at the Dispatch, it’s the primary principle.

Peggy Clifford, editor
Clara Sturak, associate editor

If voters had approved state proposition 90 in the election last fall, California cities’ ability to control their own growth and development would have been diminished.

Several weeks before the election, in an effort to blunt the potential negative impacts of Prop 90 locally, the Santa Monica City Council imposed more stringent limits on development in most residential and some commercial zones, but excluded “preferred projects,” including affordable housing.

According to an October 4, 2006 Surf Santa Monica story, “While…[the staff] said the measure is not technically a ‘down-zoning,’ City officials contend the move will give them more control over development…

The City will hold a community-wide workshop on Monday, May 7, at
7 p.m., at the Santa Monica Civic Audit-
oriun, which it describes as “the next step in the Land Use and Circulation Elements (LUCE) process.”

Santa Monica’s Planning and Community Development Department
is currently focusing on what it calls “neighborhood outreach and building
consensus on ‘Placemaking’ through a series of community-wide workshops.