Our Inalienable Right to Make Fools of Ourselves
Freedom of speech is the inalienable right from which all other inalienable rights proceed. It is abused and misused every day, but any attempt to restrict or shut down the abusers and misusers would mortally wound this democracy, which remains a work-in-progress after more than two centuries. Some years ago, the City of Santa Monica’s employees began endorsing candidates... Read More
All Over but the Counting?
The list of candidates for local offices whose names will appear on the November ballot Is long, and includes familiar and unfamiliar names. But, according to a very savvy political activist, the City Council race is all over but the counting. Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights (SMRR) will maintain the majority that it’s had for 22 years, he said, as “uninformed... Read More
SM Democratic Club Makes First Cut
Having interviewed candidates for local offices in the November election, the 14-member executive committee of the Santa Monica Democratic Club voted on Sunday to determine which candidates the group would recommend that the full Club membership endorse at its September 15 meeting. Each of the nominees received at least 60 percent of the committee votes. The Committee nominated... Read More
Mayor Says No on Prop Y
Increasing the sales tax is wrong. Mayor Bobby Shriver, in opposing this tax said: “The City is rich…” and to say “the City is in some sort of financial extremis is just not borne out by the facts.” Residents’ objections to Y: 1. Revenues have been secured by a raise in taxes already. A 10% Utility Tax expansion to “preserve essential City services and school... Read More
Questions Without Answers
QUESTIONS WITHOUT ANSWERS 1. The City recently bought a 52,000 square foot parcel at Fifth and Arizona for $45 million. At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, the parcel was described as the site of a new parking structure. Can you calculate the cost of each parking space (land +materials +labor), and how many cars will have to park in each space to pay off those costs?... Read More
SMPD Case Goes on the Road
The Santa Monica Police Department’s extended effort to make a case against Oscar de la Torre would be ludicrous, if it weren’t deadly serious. According to the police, several months ago, two youths, a black and a Latino, got into a fight near the Pico Youth and Family Center, which de la Torre founded 12 years ago, and directs. Read More SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title:... Read More
Susan Hartley in Council Race
Community activist Susan Hartley, who lives in Sunset Park, announced Wednesday that she is running for one of the two-year terms on the Santa Monica City Council in the November election. A member of the board of Friends of Sunset Park, Hartley is a former vice-chair and member of the Airport Commission, a leader of both the campaign to prevent the City from destroying... Read More
Council Approves Jumbo LUCE
Last night. the City Council approved the LUCE, the Jumbo version that Hank Koning and .Gwynne Pugh sold it last week. (see story below) But it continued to waffle on the moral issues raised by residents, ranging from elderly people to students. They want “social and environmental justice”for the Pico Neighborhood, beginning with the end of the ‘Toxic Triangle.’... Read More
City Council Strikes Out
Having lost its way several years ago, on July 1, 2010, Santa Monica lost its collective mind. City staff, innumerable consultants, developers, lawyers, other “special interests,” and residents spent seven years and untold millions of dollars revising the land use and circulation elements of the General Plan (LUCE). and Thursday night, the City Council succumbed to the blandishments... Read More
