Sorted by date Results 51 - 75 of 343
Dear Editor: I live in R-1 Carlson Park. I love my neighborhood and my neighbors. Adding denser housing to our neighborhood might take a little getting used to. It might mean a few more cars on my street. It might mean a little more construction. It might mean a few more joggers and bikers, a few less McMansions, a few more volunteers at my kids’ public schools, more Girl Scouts selling cookies, and a few more people planning and attending our Block Party. I think I can get used to these c...
Dear Editor, Those of us who oppose racism, must also support more housing in Culver City. Did you know that housing inequality is one of the major reasons there is a large wealth gap between Black or Hispanic households and white households in the U.S? And did you know a typical white family has ten times the wealth of a typical Black or Hispanic family? In other words, on average, for every one hundred dollars a white household has, a Black or Hispanic household will have ten dollars. And,...
By Jon Coupal and Scott Wilk During the past two years, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration has paid billions of dollars in secretive no-bid contracts with little to no transparency. Now Newsom is deploying his same secretive approach to a growing number of other public contracts. All Californians, irrespective of party affiliation, should be deeply concerned. Especially troubling is the Newsom administration’s perverse penchant for no-bid contracts, many of which renew automatically. Since 202...
By John Alle, Local Business Owner 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...
Melissa Toomim, Candidate for Congress On Monday, March 14, 2022, the City of Santa Monica began the process of tearing down Parking Structure 3 in downtown Santa Monica. Santa Monica Bayside Owners Association (SMBOA) lost its court battle to preserve the parking garage located on 4th Street, between Arizona Ave. and Santa Monica Blvd. The demolition is the culmination of the city's battle to destroy small businesses along the Promenade and downtown, which are served by the garage. Mayor Sue Hi...
Editor, It’s the same old theme since 1916. In your head, in your head, they’re still fighting. With their tanks, and their bombs, And their bombs, and their guns, In your head, in your head, they are dying…” — The Cranberries, from their anti-war #1 smash hit song “Zombie” released in 1994 “Z” stands for Zelenskyy. F**k whatever Vladimir Putin and his Russian zombie military thinks “Z” stands for! KGB Count Dracula Vlad the Impaler can go shove a “Z” right up where the sun don’t shine, in o...
Dear Editor, When we purchased our home in Culver City in 2015 there were many reasons why: proximity to work and family, a location that afforded a walkable lifestyle with plenty of parks and very important while expecting a child - a highly regarded school district. This was our first home, but even in 2015 we thought of the purchase as a forever home, not a starter, given the explosive growth in California home costs happening then and before that have only accelerated. Now with our first...
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...
Mayor Sheds Crocodile Tears While Ruining Santa Monica Permanently for Residents: Letter from Santa Monica Voter Boo-hoo-boo, Mayor Himmelrich. Cry me a river with your comments. If you and this City Council were doing your jobs for the people who voted for you, the citizens of Santa Monica would not be upset with your inadequate performance. You close off Parking Structure 3 so no one can park there, especially on Wednesdays during the Farmer's Market. People can't go to the Promenade from...
As background, I have lived in Santa Monica for almost 50 years and served on the Board of Friends of Sunset Park neighborhood group for over 10 years in the 1990’s and 2000’s. Back then, we felt that developers might overrun the city with projects to the detriment of the residents. Never could I have imagined the current state of Santa Monica. Until January 11, 2022, I had never attended a community meeting about a development (Zoom or Live) that limited the time and amount of people in attendance, started late, ended early and had sound iss...
Our city wifi has been off in the Sunset Park area between 21st and 26th Streets on Ocean Park Boulevard, the Pico corridor and the Montana Avenue areas since May 26, 2021. this is a valuable service that we, the tax paying voters depend on in those communities. Seniors, low income families, students and people who now work from home depend on city wifi as it is their communication lifeline to the world. I brought this to the attention of Mr. Joseph Cevetello who runs the information systems dep...
I was unable to speak tonight after taking the time to log onto the meeting, I want to list the items that need to be addressed. 1. How does the Culver City Council intend to pay for the infrastructure needed to take care of the additional people who would inhabit the units that you are voting on tonight? That includes more police, fire firefighters, installation of sewer lines, etc. Does Culver City have a slush fund to pay for these costs? If new schools are needed, does the District have the...
Letter to the Editor, Culver City’s Proposed Housing Element Upzoning Perhaps future historians will, with the advantage of hindsight, be able to look back and dissect how a small group of clever, organized, and powerful interests engineered the transformation of Culver City from a lovely town of idyllic, family-oriented neighborhoods into a soulless, overcrowded, overpriced version of greater Los Angeles. These same historians will marvel at this group’s ability to cloak their actions in obt...
Hello Council, I have to chime in on the lack of accessibility of these ongoing online Council meetings. I’ve lost count of how many of these e-mails we’ve received at Protect Culver City complaining about inability to join the Council meeting to speak. And that’s among people with enough computer access to send an e-mail. I also get calls from people who don’t have computers. Furthermore, these Council meetings get harder and harder to join. We used to be able to send people a link to registe...
Dear City Council: Last night’s City Council meeting was an atrocious embarrassing mess. I have lived in Culver City all of my life, and never have I been so embarrassed by such a kangaroo Council. It did not even let Vice Mayor speak about the Housing Element before the vote, a decision made by the Council that will irrevocably harm the City. I am used to being muted and muzzled by the YIMBY Council majority, but it was painful to see it being done by Mayor Lee to Vice Mayor Vera so he could c...
Dear Editor, The volunteers collecting signatures for the petitions to recall Alex Fisch and Daniel Lee have repeatedly been asked one question by the community: “How many signatures do we still need to get?” We decided to answer the community inquiry with an open Letter to the Editor, and hope you will publish: Dear Culver City Residents, We. Are. Still. Counting… and will continue counting to the very last minute! We are the 5 sq. mile town of Culver City. Our fight is to preserve that uniqu...
Neither drizzle or cold could stop the Exchange Club of Culver City from participating in the Backpacks for Kids Holiday meal giveaway to 150 families in need at Farragut Elementary yesterday afternoon . Our club provided the turkeys . Moments like this with the many volunteers giving is what makes living in CC special . Thank you to Kathy Vigil and the other leaders of the Backpack program for allowing us to participate. — with Tasha Lowitz and 2 others....
To the Editor: I'm writing in support of a campaign to significantly increase the number of new, affordable multi-family housing units in every neighborhood in town. My wife and I recently moved here from Arlington, VA. We moved to Fox Hills to be near her sister, and were dismayed by the rental price of the few apartments we could afford. Our income is above the CC average; we suspect that, excepting the most affluent, many families in town (especially those with children) are mortgaging their...
I acknowledge our presence on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples. When this is expressed, some people think, “so give your house back”. Maybe. Maybe we all do it so we live in a society that owns its atrocities. For now let’s start with more educational support for Native people and more just housing policy. When my kids were little I used to drive through Culver City to get them to daycare. Cruising at pedestrian safe speeds, I loved the trees...
Dear Editor, I acknowledge our presence on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples. When this is expressed, some people think, “so give your house back”. Maybe. Maybe we all do it so we live in a society that owns its atrocities. For now let’s start with more educational support for Native people and more just housing policy. When my kids were little I used to drive through Culver City to get them to day care. Cruising at pedestrian safe speeds, I loved...
Dear Culver City Voters, You may have heard about a proposed recall of Council Members Alex Fisch and Daniel Lee. The Culver City Democratic Club opposes this campaign. We urge you to not support it. If you have signed the petition, please consider contacting the City Clerk’s office at [email protected] to have your name removed. The California Democratic Party, the largest Democratic organization after the national party, passed a resolution on August 29 condemning recalls as u...
Dear Editor, My wife and I moved to Palms in June 2020. We were interested in the area's walkability and proximity to Culver City, and I was a big fan of the Expo Line access, since I was about to start the Master of Public Policy program at USC. Today, I'm close to graduating, and we are preparing to eventually buy our first home. After getting to know the area, we would love to put down more permanent roots in Culver City specifically. As I'm sure Culver City residents know, it's a great...
Dear Editor, In response to the affordable housing crisis, California’s lawmakers have changed single-family zoning as we knew it. In 2019, it became easier for owners to build both a full-size Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) (1,200 sq. ft) and Junior ADU (800 sq. ft) on residential lots. In January 2022, Senate Bill 9 (SB9) takes effect. SB9 allows for duplexes to be built on any residential lot. It also allows for lot splitting, in which a current lot can be divided into two. This means that i...
By Maria Loya, Local Mom The CDC is discontinuing use of the test which returns too many false positives We have all gone through collective trauma as a result of COVID. In August the SMMUSD School Board approved the COVID Surveillance Program that included the required weekly PCR test along with the indoor and outdoor masking of our children in order for them to receive in person public education. Many parents felt coerced to consent to the PCR test in order to have their children return to in-person schools. The Covid Surveillance Program...
by John Alle Santa Monica Property Owner 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. It consists of a short-, medium-, and long-range set of solutions to the crime and vagrancy plaguing Santa Monica's downtown area: A. SHORT TERM (IMMEDIATE) Objective: Stabilize safety 1) Remove the requirement to renew the NO SITTING OR LYING IN THE ENTRANCE NOTICE. 2) Deploy pairs of...
