Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 165
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District and City of Santa Monica have filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Committee on School District Organization County Committee, challenging the constitutionality of a new state law dealing with school board elections. Senate Bill 442, which went into effect January 1, authorizes the County Committee to approve a proposal to establish trustee areas and elect governing board members using district-based elections without submitting the...
The city of Santa Monica has finalized a settlement with a 31-year-old man who was struck in the head by a gunshot fired by a former Santa Monica Police Department officer, officials announced this week. The $1.75 million settlement was approved by the Santa Monica City Council Tuesday night, according Daniel Balaban, the plaintiff's attorney. A notice filed in Los Angeles federal court on March 14 stated that the complaint filed by attorneys for Van Nuys resident Wolfgang Mountford was...
Santa Monica has hired a new Interim City Attorney while the long search for a permanent chief counsel continues. At its Tuesday night meeting, the City Council appointed Deputy City Attorney Susan Cola as Interim City Attorney. She replaces Interim City Attorney Joseph Lawrence who is leaving his position April 5. Cola will start her new post with a salary of $288,120 on April 6. "Susan has proven herself to be an extremely talented legal expert who understands the many complexities of...
Authorities are seeking the public's help in finding a man who allegedly set a series of trash fires in the Venice area last Saturday. The suspect is described as a Black man between ages 25 and 35, standing about 6-feet tall and weighing approximately 185 pounds, Los Angeles Fire Department said in a statement released on Tuesday. The suspect has a thin build, thin mustache and an earring in his right ear. He was last seen wearing a white shirt with a blue design, blue pants, black croc shoes,...
More than 100 families have applied to a pilot program that gives priority on Santa Monica's affordable housing waitlist to the households who were displaced by the Civic Auditorium or I-10 Freeway projects in the 1950s and 1960s, civic officials announced this week. The new Below Housing Market program – whose enrollment deadline ended on February 22 – will provide priority in city-funded housing and inclusionary housing for up to 100 households or descendants of households who were dis...
Los Angeles County voters have "a complete lack of faith" in the city of Los Angeles and their county to address the homelessness crisis. That's the consensus of six focus groups, according to a coalition of civic leaders who released the results of a study Thursday that addressed the important issues of the upcoming local elections in June and November. "There is an absolute, total, complete, without exception, lack of faith in city and county government to address homelessness," said public...
Danny Alvarez has been appointed as the new Fire Chief of the Santa Monica Fire Department, city officials announced on Thursday. Alvarez comes to Santa Monica from fellow ISO Class 1-rated Burbank Fire Department where he has spent the last 25 years and currently serves as Deputy Fire Chief. He will start his new post on February 28 with an annual salary of $282,048. "We had an exceptionally strong talent pool for our next Fire Chief, but ultimately, Alvarez rose to the top due to his...
At the urging of local restaurants and business groups, the Santa Monica City Council this week voted to waive outdoor dining permit and license fees for the next six months. At its Tuesday night's meeting, the Council authorized the extension of fee waivers for temporary use permits for outdoor dining and retail uses, including sidewalk dining, parklets and the Promenade satellite dining through June 30, 2022. "The outdoor dining program has been a lifesaver for our entire community during...
A quick-thinking security guard has thwarted a "potential smash and grab robbery" at Santa Monica Place on Black Friday, said local police who are on high alert due to the recent spate of "flash mob robberies" in California. At 5:30 p.m. on November 26, the Santa Monica Place guard noticed seven vehicles – containing 28 individuals – park in the fire lane in front of Nordstrom, located in the 200 block of Broadway, said Santa Monica Police Department in a statement. "The security team mem...
A free, online tutoring service is now available to students in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District SMMUSD announced this week announced it will continue its partnership with Paper, a 24/7 online tutoring service for middle and high school students and teachers. Paper is offered free of charge to students in grade 6-12 and available in English or Spanish, district officials said. The platform provides tutoring services and essay reviews for students, as well as activities and...
The Pico Branch Library will reopen for in-person services beginning Wednesday, December 1, city officials announced this week. "We couldn't be more thrilled to reopen our beloved branch in the Pico neighborhood and welcome our patrons back inside the facility," said Interim Library Director Erica Cuyugan. "Our team is focused on activating services to meet community needs. It has been heartwarming to see our youth and families come back for safe, in-person programs." Visitors to the library,...
Santa Monica is looking for a few hundred volunteers to count the homeless people in their city. City officials announced this week that the annual Santa Monica homeless count will be held on January 26, 2022, after a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic. "The Homeless Count has long been one of my favorite evenings of the year because of the outpouring of support to address our daunting challenge as a city and as a society," said Mayor Sue Himmelrich. "Thank you to the hundreds of people who...
Santa Monica City Council members will no longer consider appointing family members to city boards, commissions or task forces. The City Council is expected to approve at its upcoming Tuesday meeting an anti-nepotism policy which would ban councilmembers from appointing close family members to city panels. According to the new policy, "a person is ineligible to serve on all city boards, commissions, committees, and task forces if that person is a close family relative of a current...
SMC was among 150 institutions selected by the Aspen Institute this week to compete for the $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, a recognition of high achievement and performance among America's community colleges. These 150 institutions stand out among more than 1,000 community colleges nationwide as having high levels of student success as well as equitable outcomes for Black and Hispanic students and those from lower-income backgrounds, said the Aspen Institute in a press...
The city of Santa Monica has extended its remaining local emergency orders to January 31, 2022, including tenant protections against eviction. The 41st Emergency Supplement, signed October 29, protects the tenants against eviction for reasons other than nonpayment of rent and renews the landlord's eviction reporting requirement. Specifically, the order adopts provisions of the Los Angeles County's Covid-19 Tenant Protections Resolution, including residential eviction protections (such as...
Nearly 100 homeless people have decided to move from their encampment along San Vicente Boulevard in Brentwood and from their tents in Westchester Park to temporary housing, Los Angeles city and county officials announced this week. At least 50 homeless veterans who were living in the Veteran's Row homeless encampment in Brentwood for the past several months have moved to transitional housing as crews from the County of Los Angeles finished clearing up the encampment along San Vicente on Monday,...
The Santa Monica City Council this week received an upbeat update on the city's fiscal health and made small revisions to the 2021-2022 budget to reflect increases in revenues. The 2020-21 year-end budget report shows revenues exceeded projections by $20 million, "reflecting the strong housing market; vigorous consumer activity once shelter-in-place restrictions were lifted, resulting in higher than anticipated sales, hotel tax and parking receipts; and the positive impact of the recently...
In an effort to achieve Santa Monica's "zero waste goal by 2030," the City Council this week adopted a new mandatory recycling ordinance for organic materials. The new ordinance fulfils the city's requirement of California law, SB 1383, which was enacted to divert organic materials – such as like food and "green waste" – from landfills to purposeful uses like compost, mulch and renewable energy, said city officials. Under the new ordinance, all Santa Monica single-family and multi-family hou...
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District is apparently waffling about a proposal to mandate vaccines for all eligible students. The SMMUSD Board of Education met last Thursday to discuss a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for all students, ages 12 and older, but decided to postpone action on the divisive plan for at least another month, district officials said this week. The mandate discussion could be added to the agenda for the Nov. 18 Board meeting if the vaccine gets full FDA...
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District will present the findings of the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Malibu Middle and High School (MMHS) specific plan project at a virtual and in-person community meeting next Tuesday, Nov. 2. The meeting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. in the multipurpose room at the former Juan Cabrillo Elementary School (JCES) campus, located at 30237 Morning View Drive in Malibu. The proposed project will redevelop and modernize the former JCES and the...
Is the former Santa Monica landfill underneath Gandara Park and the Municipal City Yards emitting high levels of methane gas? That's what the Santa Monica City Council will focus on next Tuesday night when it will hold a study session on the city's gas monitoring system for the former landfill site. "In several instances, anomalies have been recorded at a handful of locations that exhibit temporary increases in methane levels that exceed the regulatory threshold of 5% by volume," said city...
Citing an increase in crashes involving people on scooters and bikes near Metro Expo Line 17th Street, the city of Santa Monica has started construction on a new bikeway and other safety enhancement measures along 17th Street and adjacent roadways. The construction project, which started last week, is divided into two major thoroughfares that meet at 17th Street and Michigan Avenue, city officials said. On 17th Street, from Wilshire to Pico, city plans call for: a protected bikeway, pedestrian s...
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District has announced it is participating in the federal program offering free meals to all public school students, regardless of their family's income. School officials are also urging families to submit the free and reduced meal application so the schools may continue to receive "funding for programs for low-income students at Title 1 schools" along with music programs. "We are pleased to participate in the free meal program to ensure all students are...
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District is on the verge of mandating vaccines for all eligible students. The local School Board will discuss a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for all students, ages 12 and older, its upcoming October 21 meeting, district officials said. SMMUSD Supt. Ben Drati said the board will consider the vaccine mandate if light of the recent announcement by Governor Gavin Newsom, issuing a vaccination requirement for students to remain in the classroom during this...
Ramon Batista, Jr., a 35-year law enforcement veteran, has been appointed as the new Santa Monica Police Chief, city officials announced on Thursday. He starts his new post with an annual salary of $298,788 on Monday, October 18. Batista, who is taking over for interim Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks, comes to Santa Monica from Mesa, Arizona's third-largest city, where he served as police chief. Before that time, he spent 30 years rising through the ranks of the Tucson Police Department, including...
