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Dear Neighbors, If you have not already voted, I ask that you vote for Alex Fisch and Freddy Puza for City Council. Electing any of the other candidates will create a conservative majority on the Council which will slow or reverse environmental protection, workers' rights, regulations which have kept renters in their homes, and long-term strategies to address homelessness. Some of the other candidates may say things that superficially sound good on these issues, but they are backed by conservative elected officials and business groups who are...
By Jon Coupal President Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association Much of what government does is wasteful, ineffective, and redundant. For example, Senate Bill 679 was recently signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom as part of the "housing and homelessness package" of bills intended to address the state's housing shortage. While no one disputes the severity of California's housing crisis, this legislation is seriously flawed. SB 679 establishes the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency and authorizes the agency to, among other...
As elected leaders we are held to a higher standard, and while we should never accept racist remarks from anyone, it is particularly heinous when those remarks are made by the people, we have entrusted to lead us. As widely reported by the Los Angeles Times, L.A. Councilmembers Martinez, de Leon and Cedillo engaged in an abhorrent conversation that demeaned and disrespected their fellow Councilmember Mike Bonin, his family, other LA City Councilmembers and the African-American community as a...
Dear Editor, I am writing this letter to show my support for Dan O’Brien. For several years in the early 2000s, I worked with Dan on the Board of the Culver City Education Foundation, He was always open minded and dependable while serving on committees and fundraisers. Since leaving the CCEF, he has continued his strong support of the Culver City School District. As an adult leader in the Boys Scouts, he has worked with integrity and respect. Dan has always been listener and respectful to i...
Dear Editor, I am writing to submit an endorsement for Dan O’Brien’s bid to be elected to the Culver City Council. I have known Dan since 2014 through our sons local Scouts BSA Troop 108. My son had newly joined the troop and the current Scoutmaster had indicated that he would be stepping down and the future of the troop was in jeopardy unless another volunteer step up. At the time our unit had about 20 scouts with a significant number who would be aging out within 2 years. Dan stepped up and as...
While we do understand that MOVE planning considerations involved such artistic issues as to which pastel traffic paint color to choose, there was zero outreach to Arts District residents to inform us about the consequences of the MOVE traffic program before it went forward. Alex Fisch’s MOVE traffic scheme, with total lack of driver safety considerations, has created a horrible traffic mess for Arts District residents. The multi-colored lanes, plus the permanent traffic cone lane barriers a...
We are a youth-led campaign to lower Culver City’s voting age to 16 in municipal and school board elections Initial reactions to our movement are often immediate and negative. This is understandable; allowing youth empowerment is the way forward. Eighteen became the national voting age only relatively recently during the 1970s. It can change to fit the priorities and attitudes of our community and will ultimately lead to fairer elections that represent public interest. So, why should you s...
Dear Editor, Are We Prepared for the Mega-Drought? Let’s make sure we are by electing a local Culver City resident and water expert to represent us on the board of the West Basin water district: Sanjay Gaur. Southern California has a growing population of over 23 million people. If it we were to try to sustain itself without importing water, the population would have to be less than 500,000. How can Southern California sustain a population of 23 million with enough water for only 500,000? The a...
Measure BL, on Culver City’s November ballot, is a proposal to raise the annual business license tax on Culver City businesses based on what category the business falls into and its gross revenues. Because Culver City’s business license tax is based on the gross revenue of the business – not the profit from operations – a business could be operating at a loss but still receive a huge tax bill from the city. While the proposal exempts businesses with gross revenues below $200,000 annuall...
California Policy Center California ballots will be appearing in mailboxes soon and voters will once again be faced with a number of ballot propositions to consider — seven this time around. At CPC, we’ll give you our two cents on what each of these proposals is really about. It may not come as a big surprise, but the major players battling it out over these propositions are many of California’s usual suspects — unions, high-powered political consultants and left-wing legislators. But what may shock some observers is that California voters...
By LARA KORTE Politico Gas prices are dropping for nearly everyone in the country but remain stubbornly high in California, where state officials are blaming oil companies and reminding voters that relief is on the way in the form of tax rebates scheduled to arrive in weeks. Experts say factors to blame for the high cost of gas in California — now more than $5 a gallon — include problems at refineries that supply the state as well as higher taxes, more regulations and the same global issues driving the overall U.S. market. Still, the cost of...
By Jon Coupal California has a lot of problems and not all of them are directly taxpayer related. But, as noted in last week’s column, they all interconnect in one important way: Control. Our state’s government and its boosters think they know better than you. They know better how to spend your money. They know better how to use your land. They know what’s best for you. And, if you disagree, the nanny state will just make it illegal. Look no further than Proposition 31 on this November’s ballot. It’s a referendum on Senate Bill 793, the state...
Dear Editor, On Aug. 8, 2022, the City Council majority of Mayor Daniel Lee, and Councilmembers Alex Fisch and Yasmine-Imani McMorrin voted to eliminate R1/single-family zoning, deliberately evading California’s new housing law SB9. Laws such as SB9 were recently passed to encourage the building of more housing, while at the same time protecting neighborhoods from profit-only-driven Wall Street investors and speculators that have no connection to our city and our community. SB9 allows h...
By Jon Coupal California has a lot of problems and not all of them are directly taxpayer related. But, as noted in last week’s column, they all interconnect in one important way: Control. Our state’s government and its boosters think they know better than you. They know better how to spend your money. They know better how to use your land. They know what’s best for you. And, if you disagree, the nanny state will just make it illegal. Look no further than Proposition 31 on this November’s ballot. It’s a referendum on Senate Bill 793, the state...
When we first became involved with Fiesta la Ballona (FLB) in 2003 our understanding was it was a celebration for residents of the City and intended to increase the desirable profile of Culver City as the small-town city in the midst of the Los Angeles megalopolis. An important aspect was to highlight our numerous volunteer organizations that contribute to that sense of community. Through the years, we as part of the Fiesta la Ballona Committee (FLBC) have tried many new things to make it more...
By Jon Coupal President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA). He is a recognized expert in California fiscal affairs and has argued numerous tax cases before the courts. Here we go again. Another “study” purporting to reveal how unfair Proposition 13 is. But this time, the tax-hikers are using the progressives’ favorite catch-all justification: inequity and racism. Prop. 13 has been under constant assault for 42 years by people who want to raise property taxes without limitation. Like all their other arguments, this one won’t...
By Jon Coupal president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association Victor Davis Hanson is a resident scholar at the Hoover Institute and lifelong Californian from the Central Valley. He recently spoke at a conference of Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association members. For the naïve who want an optimistic presentation about how great California is, VDH is not your guy. He gives an accurate, if depressing, view of the current state of the state. In both his writings and speeches, he assesses just how far California has deteriorated; from...
Dear Editor, At the Culver City Democratic Club candidate forum on June, 29, 2022, candidates were asked the following question: “How will you address the housing and homelessness crisis?” Among other statements, Councilmember Alex Fisch, who is running for re-election made the following comment: “Marching people off to concentration camps in Palmdale is not a solution. It’s not moral and it’s not the Democratic Party way of doing things.” Source: CCDemClub Candidate forum around 17.33, comm...
Dear Editor, Thank you to the Culver City Observer and specifically to Sandra Coopersmith for the beautiful, detailed and well-deserved feature story on Lisa Skelley and Grace Diner. The Culver City Equity and Human Relations Advisory Committee carefully considered nominations for our Equity and Human Relations Awards. We determined that Lisa Skelley was by far the person who most deserved her award, and that Grace Diner, which Lisa Skelley has grown to serve nutritious meals to a great number...
Dear Editor, These council members are trying to turn Culver City into Hollywood, high density luxury rentals replacing our low-density green city. Have you been to Hollywood? It consists of luxury high-rises, homeless encampments, $30.00 parking lots and hardscape. It is an urban heat trap with no urban tree canopy like we have here in Culver City. Have you even been to New York? It has a mature and robust in place rapid transit district. Still, it has bumper to bumper traffic. We have one...
Dear Editor, My thoughts keep going back to your article from a few weeks ago: “Dem Club President speaks on key issues.” Right away it opens up with an accusatory pull quote: “Common Sense Culver City is the same old guard, seizing on the issue of the moment.” Let’s set aside the humor here, that CCDC president Jeff Schwartz is nearly ten years older than the president of Common Sense CC. My concern is this one man used your platform to cast aspersions at so many groups in Culver City - fr...
Letter to Editor, I have one simple question to ask the anti-gun folks protesting in Culver City. How would you defend yourself if an armed criminal broke into your house and threatened your life? I have posed that question to our local Culver City social network groups, and I never got a coherent answer. Infact, one person whined to me and asked me what I would do. I simply answered that I would shoot the intruder and the person who was anti-gun would be dead. As a consequence, to my answer,...
Dear Editor, Happy Pride Month! As a Catholic woman who came out very publicly in a very Catholic space fifteen years ago, I learned the transformative impact of being proud of your queerness and living it out loud. One the many reasons I was so excited to take the helm at Catholics for Choice was it gave me the opportunity to live out the truth that reproductive rights are queer rights. All of us — whether gay or lesbian or trans or non-binary — are fighting the very same ideology and ide...
By Chuck Levin To save, preserve and expand the United States Postal Service requires making the post office a national priority. Plus, first firing Louis de Joy. Now that the dysfunctional board which governs the postal service has new directors firing Postmaster de Joy is - priority one !! Note to president Biden ...... please, before your next international trip, before you sign your next bill, before your next state dinner, before your next cabinet meeting ...... in other words, immediately...
Dear Editor, We have the means, all that is lacking is the political will. Providing low-income California families with $2,000 per child will give the next generation of children a fighting chance. This is a chance to do the right thing. Thank you, Tim Bowler Santa Monica...
