Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
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1) The Santa Monica Coalition/Safe Cities is in favor of additional outdoor restaurant seating for service and consumption of food and all alcoholic beverages. But the City charges almost as much for the outdoor seating as property owners are receiving in rent for indoor brick and mortar space 2) The Mayor's and City Council's publicly stated goal and objective is to expand the program from 5 or 6 am to 2 am daily. 3) In just the last week there have been multiple arrests for...
Dear Council, I don't often share John Alle's videos. I find him directionally right, but I think he is tactically wrong-I've argued with him about his signs on the promenade which are often unnecessarily personal and seem counterproductive. His scope is too narrow, (we are more than our disorder), and occasionally he drifts into hyperbole. But I absolutely understand his frustration in the face of a seemingly indifferent bureaucracy that seems more intent on gaslighting our...
Dear Council, I don't often share John Alle's videos. I find him directionally right, but I think he is tactically wrong-I've argued with him about his signs on the promenade which are often unnecessarily personal and seem counterproductive. His scope is too narrow, (we are more than our disorder), and occasionally he drifts into hyperbole. But I absolutely understand his frustration in the face of a seemingly indifferent bureaucracy that seems more intent on gaslighting our...
Dear Council, Lots has been written about the plans to open the promenade to become an "entertainment zone," referencing Beale Street in Memphis, and 6th Street in Austin. While I was initially for this, a couple of recent encounters have given me pause. In the endless (and sometimes literal) shit show that is our current downtown, last week I saw a man peeing on the window of Victoria's Secret at 5pm. You read that right-broad daylight, people turning the corner and stepping...
Dear Council, The sad part about this letter is I've written some version of it every year for the last 8 years. It is a lesson in failure at every level. Or maybe a lesson in my own insanity expecting something might change. I'm going to tie several things together here, so excuse the length. First, last weekend: FRIDAY NIGHT: After dinner out my wife and I went to the CVS on Wilshire where we encountered a deranged shirtless man threatening CVS staff with a skateboard,...
This campaign is focused on one urgent goal: securing a complete waiver of all permit issuance fees for Pacific Palisades residents who are rebuilding homes lost in the recent fire. Many of our neighbors are struggling to recover, facing not only the trauma of loss but also overwhelming financial burdens-especially those with little or no insurance, or seniors on fixed incomes. Despite misconceptions about the area's wealth, most Palisadians are middle-class families, and...
Why do we continue to collect data about the danger of kids playing on these synthetic turfs, while we continue to allow our children to be put in harm's way? I would normally find it appalling that parents aren't flooding our school board in outrage, demanding that they should be the firewall protecting our children. But I realize that parents must think that if the school board supports this turf, then things likely aren't dire enough to warrant their removal. But they would...
Republican lawmakers in at least five states are seeking to block undocumented children from attending public school for free or to inquire about students' immigration status in ways that courts have held violate children's educational rights, Chalkbeat reports. The rationale often centers around cost: Proponents say states and local school districts are spending too much to educate undocumented immigrants and that their parents should bear the financial responsibility for...
Since his reelection, President Trump has followed through on campaign promises to impose tariffs on America's biggest trading partners—Canada, China, and Mexico—in an attempt to further his terms on trade, borders, and drug trafficking crackdowns. But the tariff threats, reversals, deals, and reprisals are leaving consumers, businesses, and economists experiencing whiplash about what's going to happen next. Tariffs are import taxes on foreign goods, but it's not foreign com...
Dear Council, You have inherited a city on the brink, with a lot of problems (we're broke!). And, of course, with a lot of potential, if we keep our priorities straight. But as you consider levying a staggering bond tax ($460 million) on residents, you are also inexplicably deciding to launch a task force to "explore both monetary and non-monetary reparations options." To be paid with what money? Not to mention each member of this 'task force' will be paid $2500 for their...
It is my understanding that Palisades High and LA Unified School District are considering and in discussions to temporarily lease the former vacant Sears Building in Downtown Santa Monica as a temporary location for PaliHi. I am a Palisades High grad. Several of my brothers and sisters attended as well, and participated in after-school sports and activities. As one who owns and finances property in the Downtown Santa Monica area, I may stand to benefit financially. But first...
December 12, 2024 - Santa Monica is at a crossroads, and the choices we make in the coming months will shape our city's future for decades. The airport property, long slated for closure by December 31, 2028, is a prime example of how complex and urgent our challenges have become. On one hand, our city grapples with a massive budget crisis-hundreds of millions of dollars in deferred maintenance, settlement obligations, and pension costs, all exacerbated by the pandemic's...
This was on the way to Santa Monica's wonderful Christmas Tree Lighting on the 3rd Street Promenade. But our Mayor, City Council, newly elected Council Members and DTSM, Inc. CEO walked right past this guy and others lying on the sidewalk. This man may have accidentally flipped over, had serious mental issues, or been high. Have we become that numbed? Too many untraced checks are being written by City-funded 'non-profits' to have this continue. The tree was lit, the speeches...
The relatively unknown music store owner Lana Negret was appointed to the Council in June 2021 after a nomination by her friend, Council Member Christine Parra, who is a member of the Change Slate. During the vetting process preceding the appointment it is reported that Negrete expressed to at least one member of the Change Slate her support for the city switching from at-large elections to district elections where each district elects one council member only. This was an...
AMCHA Initiative is proud to announce the launch of our national campaign to combat faculty antisemitism, beginning with efforts to stop Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP), a network of 170 faculty chapters established after Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The primary mission of FJP members is to exploit their academic positions and departmental resources to actively promote the academic boycott of Israel (academic BDS) by engaging in actions to rid their...
November 13, 2024 - Well, you win some and you lose some! Congratulations to new council members Raskin, Snell, Zernitskaya, and Hall for your victory. And to Santa Monica United and the Safer Santa Monica Slate-you put up a great campaign, gaining a lot of ground, and I see you as a strengthening movement that focuses on resident priorities. But the political campaign, which was bruising at times, is over. It's now time to clear the air, pull together as a city, draw the...
New research appears to have found the proverbial "free lunch" economists have long been searching for. States that grant nurse practitioners "full practice authority" -- that authorize them to provide care independently, without the supervision of a physician or other provider -- reduce total healthcare costs for people with diabetes by 20% in urban areas and drive down rural usage of advanced medical services by people with diabetes by about 10%. And there doesn't appear to...
Friends of SMU: Well I write with a heavy pen to inform you that the "Santa Monicans United" endorsed slate lost. While the election was spirited and close, it seems that the renter's rights issues (false claims that The Establishment Slate wished to abolish rent protection) and other scare tactics predominated with the mostly (65-70%) renter population. While our polling showed safety and crime the key issues, The Establishment Slate (aka SMRR Slate) used fear,...
Well, this exhausting season is almost over. No matter what the result, I trust that we will muddle on and things will settle down. But I want to comment on last week's City Council meeting, which reached new lows, disrupted by two members of our community: Jon Katz and Jason Mastbaum, who left right before being escorted out by the police. Both are out-of-touch SMRR dead-enders and Santa Monica Democratic Club stooges, and they, like all people defending the indefensible in t...
Jewish families and individuals in the city of Santa Monica were callously targeted with antisemitic propaganda this past Monday, October 28th. Shocked recipients stated that their non-Jewish spouse or partner were spared the hateful election hit piece which caused heightened concerns. The fabricated defamation came from an organization hiding behind the name "Center for Excellence in Public Education" operating as a 501 (c) (4) but also utilizing PAC 527 status. Prior to the...
October 27, 2024 - The following are our common-sense, law-and-order, family-value recommendations for how to fill out your Santa Monica ballot before election day, November 5, 2024: Santa Monica Member of the City Council (4 votes): Oscar de la Torre Vivian A. Roknian John Putnam Phil Brock The Safer Santa Monica slate are the only candidates who have all the correct answers to questions about funding the police, getting rid of needle distribution to addicts, keeping our...
Dear friends and neighbors, I want to be sure you read Councilmember Oscar de la Torre's letter published in the Santa Monica Daily Press, which is below. Oscar writes in response to an accusation by a political figure - school board candidate Jon Kean - that he is antisemitic. I have known Oscar for decades, beginning when I was a reporter for NPR and I interviewed Oscar, fresh out of college, about his work with the youth of the Pico neighborhood. Oscar then created the...
As everyone is aware, we are in a critical time to change the trajectory of Santa Monica. We need to make sure the right people are in office to run our city council and course correct the path our city is on to bring it back to its glory. There are basically two PACS (contingencies ) running and we want to VOTE in the SAFER SANTA MONICA PAC. It will really take the entire PAC being voted in to implement real change. This is who we want to vote for: SAFER SANTA MONICA...
It seems anymore like not a week goes by without news of a stabbing, shooting, assault, rape or home invasion. And there are undoubtedly countless more less-serious crimes, many of which go unreported, like car break-ins, store theft, public drug usage, and harassment of residents and visitors by homeless wanderers on our streets. Santa Monica wasn’t like this 10 years ago. Crime continues to get worse and clearly we need to make changes in order to reverse this trend. The cau...
Wow, it's a bore to keep deconstructing the desperate confabulations of SMRR and their puppeteers. But somebody's got to do it! The latest is from Ted Winterer, who presided on the City Council from 2012-2020 (and as the Mayor 2016-2018), and has written a truly hilarious SMDP op-ed in which he wonders why the two incumbents running (Phil Brock and Oscar de la Torre), haven't yet created safer streets in their 3 years in office when they've been in control for 40. This is...
