Sorted by date Results 126 - 150 of 334
Dear Editor: Could someone on this City Council or City Administration get off their bikes and/or scooters, stop having focus groups on an armored car, and get to work on ramping speed for internet service for business and residents. In addition, include a definitive fix for historically sketchy-spotty cell phone service in Culver City. Richard P. Shoenbaum D.D.S Culver City...
Dear Editor: In a recent previous column (11.07-13. 2019) Neil Rubenstein claimed that the “Transparent California data base SAID” that there was a “nearly 900% increase in CalPERS [pension] benefits….” I have researched this claim closely. It is untrue. Mr. Rubenstein continues to get the facts wrong in his continuing animus about the mostly modest pensions of hard-working public employees. First, understand that Transparent California, which he cites as his source, is indeed a database,...
The Editor’s article on homeless and CC budget/taxes bring up the core of the matter for CC. Why are our sales taxes so high, while the city has made so much space available to new businesses in Culver City? Were there tax giveaways used to entice the new developments and occupants? Where are the wide loud communications of the council to alert us BEFORE these matters are all done deals? How is it that fire person wages were on the ballot when it was really some kind of ploy to divert funds e...
Dear Editor, Culver City homeowner’s are currently paying taxes for UNIFIED SCHOOLS and COMMUNITY COLLAGE, and we have been for some years. I have been paying, approximately $100.00 per year. Check your current and past tax bills. The majority of students that attend West Los Angeles Collage live outside of Culver City, but we, as CC homeowners carry that tax burden. Prop K, states our schools are in disrepair. If that is the case we must ask ourselves what were the past years taxes for our U...
Dear Editor, I just want to put this on paper, how I was cheated out of $189. on my property tax for this year, 2019, which I already paid in full. I live in a condo; on my garage cork board was an elaborate write-up about K, saying that old persons could opt-out if done by June 2019. The notice first appeared to me there about 17 Nov 2019!! A couple of days later was a replacement brochure relating to 2020. I traced the persons and organizations, and was told that a post card notice was mailed...
Dear Observer, In 'Drone Program Receives High Marks' (Dec. 19-25, 2019 p. 1) Mr. Hadland writes: 'One written card objected to the program as drones are being purchased from a company that provides weapons to the military.' I am the author of that card, but Mr. Hadland seriously distorts my remarks. They appear in full below. Dear Council and Public, I am profoundly opposed to the CCPD drone program for many reasons. The one I wish to highlight tonight is that CCPD chose to purchase this...
Dear Editor, Recently I was in touch with our City Maintenance Department. I need to have a tree removed since it is raising my driveway and front porch. I have lived here in town since 1972, and for years the maintenance department would come by every two (2) years and cut the tree roots between the parkway and the sidewalk. That stopped maybe 10 years ago. When I originally contacted the city they told me that they had to stop doing the maintenance due to lay-offs or just not replacing...
by Charles and Susan Deen Special to The Culver City Observer The first Cumulus high-rise, glass-covered tower that is looming over the Culver City eastern town limits has a most glaring and major design flaw. Every day between 5 and 6 p.m., there is a sun-bright reflection that casts an overly bright and unwanted shadow upon Culver City Arts District homes. The Arts District is the trendy new name for the McManus Park neighborhood. According to news reports, the Cumulus project is a 1,200-unit...
By Jane Marla Robbins It’s 2019. I’m at the DMV in Culver City. Waiting. Lines around the block. I’ve reserved ahead so it’s only an hour wait. I’m tired, so the photo they take of me has one tired eye and I don’t get a second chance. I finally get a number. I march to its window. The woman shuffles my papers. “Renewing a license.” And did I want an ID card so I can go on airplanes without a passport? “Is it hard to do?” I ask, sensing exhaustion everywhere. “Yes,” she says. But I go for it....
Dear Editor, According to the National Education Association (NEA), the average starting salary for a teacher in California is $46,589. The US average is $39,249. The NEA further notes that “when the effects of price inflation are taken into account, the average classroom teacher salary has actually decreased by 4.5 percent from 2009-10 to 2018-19, while average salary for instructional staff had decreased by 3.6 percent.” These salaries are insufficient to draw more of the best and bri...
During my junior year of high school, I took AP Environmental Science and it changed my view on the amount of responsibility I have toward the condition of our planet. One thing my teacher always mentioned, is that for the AP Exam, on the FRQ, Free Response Question, if you can’t think of an answer, you can always write that “we can educate.” For example, if the question asks “How can we reduce the amount of smog in our metropolitan cities?” and a student can’t think of an answer, the best wa...
Dear Editor, Mr. Rubenstein frequently writes columns about the pension obligations and debt load of Culver City USD and Culver City itself. How about either doing an interview with the school superintendent or a member of the school board and the Mayor or someone else of authority for the city government? If they decline or easier for you send them a correspondence requesting, they respond to you regarding these serious issues. I have also heard the district is deficit spending and using up...
Dear Editor. I am disappointed in the Observer's lack of reporting integrity. Not only did the paper not mention with a 3 inch "EVICTED" headline when the AMVETS were kicked out of their historic Post 2 building (as the paper did covering the ouster of the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum) by Culver City Hall, the paper failed to mention it was the former AMVETS building that adjacent neighbor Wende Museum now wants to house the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum. Is the former AMVETS...
Dear Editor: To judge from Mr. George Laase’s August 22nd commentary, “CCUSD Salaries Skyrocket,” he has three worrisome concerns. First: He worries that the District spends too much on the salaries of its employees. But this seems not to be so worrisome: The 2019-’20 Proposed Budget of the CCUSD projects spending 85% of restricted and unrestricted funds for salaries and benefits for certificated teaching faculty and classified non-teaching staff. For unrestricted funds only, the total for the...
Dear Editor, We are deeply troubled, though unfortunately not surprised, by Culver City council’s 4-1 decision to pass last night’s 3% 12-month rent freeze urgency ordinance. Regardless of one’s opinion on rent control, council’s lack of transparency and dialogue in passing this ordinance should concern all residents. Many multifamily owners tried to argue for a good faith compromise on the rent freeze, invoking other local cities like Glendale and Long Beach. Council’s consultants pointed o...
Dear Editor, My husband and I own our home in Culver City and are ashamed of the narrow motivations of this new political action committee. Change is difficult on everyone but to demonize thoughtful council members is too much. How can anybody deny the lack of affordable housing is a problem and failure to address it selfish? Experts have connected some rising homeless numbers to unaffordable rents so to ignore that is disingenuous. Not in my backyard with regards to the homeless has to end if...
Dear Editor, As a 20 year Culver City resident, I understand the concerns of others that the use of drones may result in problems. However, as a former prosecutor, I have seen that when drones are used according to strict policies, they are effective and can be lifesavers. There was a time when dash cams in police vehicles and body cameras worn by officers in the field were severely criticized. In due course, and speaking from my experience as a trial attorney, the use of evidence obtained from...
Dear Editor, In the 1980’s I put the first ballot measure that was made by a resident on the ballot, so the city residents could decide on what they wanted in their city. It did not cost the residents ANYTHING. It was called Measure 1 (the Height Initiative) and ensured that we wouldn’t have excessive growth and high-rises in the city. It won with 90% of the vote. Now there are two ballot measures that WILL cost us a lot of money, that seems to be a recurring is a continuing problem with the...
Let’s have Tax Accountability Dear Editor, In the season of the “Op Ed”, I thought I should join in. When I moved from Venice to Culver City, in 1990, it was for good schools (we heard through people with children-no internet then), a house big enough for my family and a back yard. I truly missed hearing the waves at night and taking the short walk to see the sunset over the ocean. It was quite an adjustment for me but didn’t take long for me to fall in love with this 5 square mile city. I...
Californians are proud of our state’s leading role in technology, entertainment and diversity. However, there is one area where California ranks almost dead last: K-12 education support. Our state ranks 48th in per-pupil spending, largely as a result of restrictions passed decades ago on property taxes [Prop. 13]. That’s why 118 California school districts have passed local parcel taxes to raise funds for their schools to ensure a high-quality education. In Los Angeles County alone, 15 sch...
Serving our School District at-large and individual school sites (particularly for programs in the Whole Child initiative) has given me a unique perspective on the efforts that our district makes to serve all of our children's needs. We are part of a district that continually strives to better our children’s educational experiences. This kind of school district is only possible in a community that recognizes our children as our highest priority and most precious resource. So, when I was asked t...
Kudos to the Observer for publishing a range of citizen letters in support of Measure K on Oct. 4. This demonstrates the Observer’s balanced approach to the ballot issue despite its columnists’ recommendations to vote against K. I would like to address some of the objections raised by these columnists, and express my wholehearted support for the Culver City Unified School District and its teachers, staff, and administration. George Laase states that “Most of the funds raised, if not all, will...
This letter is in support of Measure K, on the November 6 ballot. By any reasonable standard, our schools are under-funded. Whether you blame state or county government, bureaucracy, politicians, or something else, it's undeniable that the amount of money which CCUSD receives is much less per student than most school districts across the country, even though this is a more expensive place to live. The state of California controls CCUSD's budget, and state law doesn't give school districts much...
Dear Editor, Culver City homeowner’s are currently paying taxes for UNIFIED SCHOOLS and COMMUNITY COLLEGE, and we have been for some years. I have been paying, approximately $100.00 per year. Check your current and past tax bills. The majority of students that attend West Los Angeles Collage live outside of Culver City, but we, as CC homeowners carry that tax burden. Prop K, states our schools are in disrepair. If that is the case we must ask ourselves what were the past years taxes for our U...
Dear Editor, In the season of the “Op Ed”, I thought I should join in. When I moved from Venice to Culver City, in 1990, it was for good schools (we heard through people with children-no internet then), a house big enough for my family and a back yard. I truly missed hearing the waves at night and taking the short walk to see the sunset over the ocean. It was quite an adjustment for me but didn’t take long for me to fall in love with this 5 square mile city. In 1993, when President Bill Clinton...
