Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
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Hi everyone, A month ago, I took a long walk through the city with our new Manager Oliver Chi, who, to his credit, who heard me out regarding the revulsion I had about the loss of chief Batista, as well as the challenges the city faces. We spoke candidly off the record and believe me, I didn't hold back. While it was off-the-record, I can report we saw two naked people on our walk, including one in Tongva whose pants were off as a group of middle-school girls jogged by. It...
Dear Mayor Negrete, City Manager Chi, and Members of the Santa Monica City Council, I am a longtime resident of Santa Monica, homeowner, taxpayer, father, and owner of a small business here in our community. I am writing to you today not as an adversary, but as a concerned citizen deeply invested in the future of our city. Like many of my fellow residents, I have witnessed the gradual erosion of Santa Monica's vibrancy-a place once renowned globally for its beaches,...
OREM, Utah - In a plot twist that could have been lifted straight from a Netflix binge-watch, authorities yesterday arrested 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, the prime suspect in the shocking assassination of conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk. Robinson, a clean-cut former scholarship student from suburban Washington County, allegedly climbed onto a rooftop at Utah Valley University on Wednesday morning and fired the fatal shots that ended the life of the 31-year-old Turning...
Dear Council, This is a long one, sorry. But like many people in the city, I'm trying to understand the sudden firing of Chief Batista. It's obvious he was fired despite all the niceties mouthed (except "he wants to spend time with his family"). No reason has been given, and as far as I can see there isn't one. So I ask the council this question: Do you really think you can find somebody who is moderate and temperate enough for your delicate natures? Somebody who will put up...
Dear Mayor Negrete, City Attorney Doug Sloan, and Members of the Santa Monica City Council, For years, I've been calling out the waste, fraud, and outright cruelty in your so-called "solutions" to homelessness-from the absurdly expensive housing boondoggles to the deadly harm reduction handouts that enable addicts to destroy themselves and terrorize our neighborhoods. Well, the game just changed dramatically, and if you value your reputations (or want to avoid legal...
Dear Council, Once in a while I tune into your meetings to see if anything's changed in the priorities, ideology, and general tone of our fair city. NOPE! The clearest example is the exchange in the last city council meeting between the just-arrived-in-Santa-Monica-a-few-minutes-ago-carpetbagger-councilman Dan Hall and the born-in-Santa Monica-small-business-owner-and-living-in-a-rent-control apartment Mayor Lana Negrete. It was a small moment, but like many small exchanges,...
How the Supreme Court ruled differently in immigration and criminal justice cases As the Supreme Court wrapped up a spate of rulings at the end of its term, Justice Sonia Sotomayor didn’t mince words. Following a decision that voided the kind of universal, nationwide injunctions that had obstructed the Trump administration’s path to revoking birthright citizenship, Sotomayor read aloud from her dissenting opinion from the bench on June 27: “No right is safe in the new legal...
What's behind the decline in pro-gun lawsuits? After the Supreme Court fashioned a new test for the constitutionality of gun laws in 2022’s Bruen decision, gun rights advocates pounced, inundating courts with challenges to firearm restrictions. They sought to overturn assault weapons bans and magazine-capacity limits, prohibitions on young adults buying or carrying handguns, and laws meant to create gun-free zones. Now, the pace of challenges has slowed. In the six months o...
The 192-acre Santa Monica Airport is scheduled to close in 2028. The city's contract firm, Sasaki Design Consultants, has proposed three possible airport development scenarios: virtually all park, or a combination of park, commercial and housing. Surveys indicate that most residents support a park. Missing from the discussion has been the housing perspective and state requirements. The Housing Commission at its June meeting sponsored a presentation on the airport, which...
July 3, 2025 - In an effort to prop up a fading shopping and entertainment area in downtown Santa Monica, the city council okayed the outdoor consumption of alcohol from 6 pm until 2 am on the Third Street Promenade on the weekends. While the move is undoubtedly popular with heavy drinkers, it is unclear whether the new law will be enough to counter the perception of downtown Santa Monica as largely a territory for the drug-addicted homeless. Officials are not even able to...
Dear Council, I'm appalled by the recent decision to not fund the five police officers our chief says is necessary to keep our city safe. This is a clueless and out-of-touch choice that belies either a deep distrust and lack of support for law enforcement, or willful ignorance of the one issue that plagues us, namely crime and disorder. You are failing our city, as this news report sums up perfectly, ending with one woman saying she doesn't feel safe on our streets. Who does...
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...
