Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Sorted by date Results 76 - 100 of 111
May 9, 2022 - Renters in Santa Monica may believe themselves exempt from the ramifications of a proposed ballot measure to increase the tax rate on the sale of certain buildings by 833%. After all, rent increases are strictly controlled and landlords are severely hampered in their ability to take rented units off the market. It might seem as though renters would be largely immune from the proposed increase to 5.6% from 0.6% on on sales of property over $8 million. That would be the landlord's...
April 28, 2022 - A push poll interview company is calling Santa Monica voters to gauge their response to Sue Himmelrich's ballot proposal to establish an increase over the current tax on sales of property over $8 million. Push polls are billed as surveys of opinion to the respondent but actually give information in an attempt to sway the voter. Himmelrich, who happens to be the mayor of Santa Monica, is allegedly spending her and her husband's own personal money to pay signature gatherers who...
19: A man with a pipe broke a window in the alley between Lincoln and 7th Street at Arizona and then assaulted a resident who tried to stop him from breaking additional windows. Arthur Jeon, Santa Monica resident, was walking home from his gym on the Promenade when he witnessed the original vandalism. He wrote in an email addressed to Downtown Santa Monica Inc, "I saw a man throw a two-foot heavy pipe and break a window in a building on the alley between Lincoln and 7th at Arizona, a block...
Sheriff Alex Villaneuva spoke at the Santa Monica Bay Women's Club on April 21. He was asked to contrast whether the SMPD's response to the George Floyd riots of May 31, 2020 was adequate or not. He said that the City's response to the rioters was too soft, "too woke," and that the City of Santa Monica called the Sheriff's dept for back up after two hours. "They should have called us immediately, like Beverly Hills did. Santa Monica could have avoided damage with our help," he said. "It's a...
I am responding to the Opinion piece co-authored by City Manager David White and Police Chief Ramon Batista. They responded to the "recent local and regional news coverage of a report portraying Santa Monica as unsafe". I have lived, played and/or worked in Santa Monica since the 1970's. My son attended and graduated from from school here in Santa Monica. The City Manager's and Police Chief's only factual statement is that the "messages (from the media) are difficult to listen to...." Their...
Los Angeles District Attorney Why so many of DA Gascón's prosecutors want him recalled The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office is in turmoil. Prosecutors opposed to DA George Gascón's reform agenda and unhappy with his management practices overwhelmingly support his removal - just 16 months after he assumed office. Gascón is seeking to make the criminal justice system less punitive. He says his policies are designed to end mass incarceration and racial disparities, and that he wa...
April 12, 2022 - City officials at all levels are struggling to respond to the recent news reports ranking Santa Monica as one of the least safe cities in California. In an open letter, City Manager David White and Police Chief Ramon Batista - both relatively new hires - claimed they have heard residents' fears and dismay and are taking aggressive action to restore the city's safety. Meanwhile, Barry Snell, the Interim Chief Executive Officer of Downtown Santa Monica, Inc., wrote a letter to...
April 6, 2022 - The Adidas store on the Third Street Promenade was robbed at around 2:30 am this morning by an individual who smashed the storefront window with a cinderblock, used a fire extinguisher to hide his tracks after he took merchandise, and then exited through the rear door of the building. Six police squad cars responded within 5 minutes of an initial call made by John Alle, a nearby property and business owner, who initially saw and heard the suspects inside the Adidas building. Alle...
March 18, 2022 - The City of Santa Monica prevailed against local business owners in its goal to demolish Parking Structure 3 on 4th Street downtown, but the site remains embroiled in litigation. The Santa Monica Bayside Owners Association still has a lawsuit pending against the transformation of the site from parking into supportive housing. Originally, Superior Court Judge Michael Beckloff granted an injunction against demolition, on grounds that the California Environmental Quality Act had...
March 3, 2022 - Yesterday the California Court of Appeal ruled against a property owner's group to allow the City of Santa Monica to demolish Parking Structure 3 on 4th Street in downtown Santa Monica. The parking structure has been a bone of contention between merchants, property owners, and residents on the one hand and the social-justice-minded Santa Monica City Council on the other. The city government intends to demolish the garage, which holds 336 parking spaces, and build supportive...
2/18/22: Last evening I listened to a City commission zoom meeting, then tuned in 20 minutes late to the "Developer-hosted zoom meeting" regarding the large development proposed for Ocean Park and Lincoln. The meeting was recorded and was scheduled to be made part of the City's public record for presentation to our Council. This was the developers' second attempt at a meeting. The first was sparsely attended and scheduled at the same time as a City Council Meeting. There were just 4 images on...
February 10, 2022 - On the same day the city was told they could not immediately demolish Parking Garage 3 in downtown Santa Monica, they closed the garage, cordoning it off to cars. The garage has been a bone of contention between the city government and downtown business owners since the city decided a new affordable housing project would be better on the site adjacent to the Third Street Promenade than 336 spaces of parking that had existed there for decades. The business owners believe the...
2/15/22: At their meeting tomorrow, the Audit and Finance Committee for Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. will discuss hiring a "communication firm to handle board communication and crisis management." DTSM is the quasi-governmental agency that assesses business owners in the downtown and Third Street Promenade area fees that are supposed to be used to promote "economic stability, growth and community life within this unique neighborhood." Six of DTSM's 13 board members are appointed by the city...
February 2, 2022 - Squalid conditions downtown and on the Third Street Promenade appear to be causing much of the vacancies in retail spaces visible there today. The downtown and Promenade area were already ailing before the lockdowns of 2020, with an increasing presence of vagrants who appeared to need drug rehabilitation or mental health services. But once the Covid-19 lockdowns closed all retail businesses that weren't labeled essential and after the riot on May 31, 2020, the situation...
There are significant and illegal conflicts of interest by two DTSM Board Members, Tara Barauskas and Johannes Van Tilburg, that affect the Stakeholders and further damage the reputation of DTSM. These Board Members must resign immediately. The Political Reform Act "prohibits a public official from using his or her official position to influence a governmental decision in which he or she has a financial interest." (1) It requires every state and local agency to adopt a conflict of interest code...
1/21/22: Staff for the City of Santa Monica released a report this month titled "Overview of Homeless Outreach and Hygiene Services" in response to requests from some city councilmembers for a comprehensive report on what is being done to address homelessness, how much it is costing, and what effect it has had. None of the requested information is addressed in full in the January 6 staff report. Measures to address homelessness increase a complex web of different types of outreach teams, some...
For the first time in over a quarter century, the organization designated to manage Santa Monica's 3rd Street Promenade and Downtown, will have a new Director. The DTSM Board and Stakeholders together, need to have an open discussion on what the actual job description should be for a replacement. The Board should not select a search firm until there is basic agreement of the job description. During the interim, a temporary manager can oversee basic operations. What began as a volunteer business...
Early Friday morning I met an unhoused person charging his phone on the 3rd level of Garage 4. He gave me his permission to record our conversation. We spoke for 40 minutes, sitting between one filthy water drain and a phone charging outlet. His answers and information corroborate my other interviews with the homeless in our garages. The following is information he volunteered (that we already know) - - 1) Garages 3, 4 and 6 are the places to charge one's phone. Garage 6 is best because all the...
Good evening City Manager and Council: Your "OUTREACH & HYGIENE SERVICES REPORT" is incorrect with regard to the number of unhoused, number of functioning restrooms, and outreach services. More than half of the toilets and sinks or restrooms in the garages are not functional. The Garages continue to be sleeping quarters and toilets for the unhoused. They serve as places for drug use and sex. Today in the Dumpster Room of Garage 6 there was a pool of blood. Blood stains on the floor remain. I...
December 17, 2021 - Shortly after midnight on Wednesday morning, Santa Monica Police received a call about a group of men wreaking destruction on the Third Street Promenade. Upon arrival of officers near 3rd and Arizona, they found a group of males uprooting trees, breaking holiday decorations, and damaging fencing around a business. Officers detained 5 men, all from Los Angeles. The following individual were arrested and booked for Felony Vandalism: · Shane Thomas Barry 21-year-old · Zachary L...
The following letter was sent to the entire city council, the city manager, and police chief. Chief Batista and City Manager White both replied with thanks to the author. A. SHORT TERM (IMMEDIATE) Objective: Stabilize safety 1) Update the current requirement of property and/or business owners having to renew the NO SITTING OR LYING IN THE ENTRANCE NOTICE from every 30 to 45 days, to INDEFINITELY. This would immediately create a uniform enforcement environment which would streamline compliance...
8 - The Santa Monica Police were able to detain and arrest a homeless man suspected in the initiation of six fires in Santa Monica. In the pre-dawn hours of November 28, police were called to investigate a series of dumpster fires set in the downtown Santa Monica area. Dumpster fires are not rare in the alleys and near the garages of the Third Street Promenade, but in this case a witness was able to provide a description of the suspect. At approximately 3:45 am, a police officer saw a...
Public seating has been removed from the Third Street Promenade from Monday through Thursday. The chairs are replaced over the weekend when more actual shoppers arrive to spend time there. "Unhoused individuals...appeared to be monopolizing the chairs," Downtown Santa Monica Inc spokesperson Kevin Herrerra reportedly told The Santa Monica Sun. The move was suggested originally by business and property owners along the Promenade, according to property owner John Alle. "The chairs were being...
2/4/21- - Yesterday afternoon, a rally was held in Palisades Park in Santa Monica as part of a "Worldwide Walkout" to protest vaccine mandates. According to a participant, there were between 250-350 people attending the rally, which began at 1:00 pm and ended with a march down to the Pacific Coast Highway at 4:00 pm. People holding signs opposing vaccine mandates lined Ocean Avenue for an estimated 200 feet. Several speakers addressed the crowd, including Reinette Senum, former mayor of Nevada...
10: At approximately 6:20 am Sunday morning, a dead body was removed from the alley behind 1423 Third Street Promenade. Police set up yellow tape while two women from the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office wrapped the body and carted it away. The process was swift. The dead body was near Parking Garage 6 and the Downtown Santa Monica Inc. Ambassador office. Lieutenant Rudy Flores of the Santa Monica Police released this statement: "This morning, October 24, 2021 at about 4:55 AM, 9-1-1...
