Overview:
Get all the news you missed, including updates on the Civic Auditorium, Downtown Santa Monica, Inc., City Council, School Board and more.
With new state rules in place, local governments say existing efforts are already working to clear camps:
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s surprise order to state agencies to clear homeless encampments on state land has been met with a general “wait and see” attitude by regional officials who are still working to understand how the state rules will filter down to local jurisdictions. While the order requires action from state agencies, it encourages and supports local agencies to take similar steps, including a solicitation for cities to apply for the newly available $3.3 billion in competitive grant funding from Proposition 1. Santa Monica officials said the City Attorney’s Office continues to evaluate the recent Supreme Court decision on the Grants Pass matter and is also now assessing potential regional impacts from Newsom’s executive order for state agencies on encampment resolution.
Deal announced to save the Civic:
The Santa Monica City Council recently voted unanimously to enter negotiations with Revitalization Partners Group, LLC (RPG) to restore and operate the historic Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. RPG will conduct studies on historic preservation, seismic engineering, ADA compliance and acoustics on the building, and has agreed to pay $350,000 to cover the costs. The firm aims to submit a comprehensive project scope by early 2025.
SaMo youth scintillate community with the ‘sweet science’:
Channeling youthful energy that might be spent on the streets looking for trouble has been the mission of the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD), crafting a more efficient environment for teens to let loose in the sport of boxing. The SMPD’s LEAD (Leadership, Engagement, Achievement and Discovery) program has brought kids into the gym to perfect the fighting craft, providing life lessons on discipline and commitment via athletics. On July 13, over 200 family and friends of teenage boxers crammed into the Churchill Boxing Club on 21st Street for “Saturday Night Scraps,” a culmination of what the LEAD group has learned inside the gym.
DTSM welcomes new chair, vice chairs and four new appointments to the board:
A recent meeting of Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. (DTSM) was all about new people in new positions as the board of directors welcomed the four new appointees and Michele Aronson was voted in as the new chair, replacing Eric Sedman. Three new seats on the DTSM board were voted on by Santa Monica City Council, bringing Jon Farzam, Berta Negari and Michelle Cardiel onto the board, while board-reelected Joshua Gilman from Water N Marks, Inc. will serve his third and final term representing Zone 1. Joining the group is reelected Bruce Fairity from Cypress Equity Investments serving the Lincoln Zone and Zone 2 elected candidate Edna Galindo from United El Segundo, inc.
Incumbents file for reelection:
Santa Monica City Council incumbents Christine Parra, Oscar de la Torre and Phil Brock have announced their intention to run for office. The three had been noncommittal about their plans before pulling papers on July 29. The other sitting councilmember up for reelection, Gleam Davis, has said she will not run again this year. In addition to the three incumbents, the following candidates have pulled papers thus far: Whitney Bain, Lawrence Doherty Jr., Stephen Garr, Dan Hall, Nathanial Jones, Wade Kelley, Ericka Lesley, Jon Mann, Janet McLaughlin, Marcus Owens, John Putnam, Manju Raman, Ellis Raskin, Vivian Roknian, Berry Snell and Natalya Zernitskaya.
Santa Monica Animal Shelter is at capacity so adoption fees are reduced through August:
The Santa Monica Animal Shelter has seen “a steady and marked increase” in the number of owners surrendering their pets, alongside a number of animals arriving as strays and the number of actual adoptions being “significantly” down. In an effort to alleviate a far from perfect situation, all animal adoption fees are reduced to just $20 for the entire month of August. Those who can’t adopt a pet at the moment can still help the animals by making a donation or shopping on the Chewy wishlist via smasf.org.
Despite wayward discussion, DTSM votes to continue Legion private security program:
While a vote was ultimately passed 11-0 by the Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. (DTSM) board to extend the Legion security firm pilot program to June 30, 2025, the majority of board discussion disappeared down a budget-related hole rather than focusing on the benefits of the program. Staff recommended that the DTSM services agreement to permit the extension of the program and that $994,000 – the cost of extending the program to June 30, 2025 – be drawn from DTSM reserves to fund the program. In the six month period since Legion began operating, they’ve observed nearly 1,500 individual instances of drug use, identifying many who were suffering from an overdose and saving lives by acting quickly and effectively together with calling emergency services.
Santa Monica’s second recreational cannabis dispensary finally opens:
The city’ second recreational cannabis dispensary has finally opened on the 1400 block of Wilshire after years of uncertainty. Called Harvest House of Cannabis, the store was granted its initial license in January 2022, and has now officially opened its doors. Per the previous Santa Monica municipal code, only two dispensaries are currently allowed in the city and they were originally limited to medical use only, which means that customers would be required to have a doctor’s recommendation to purchase products. Both Harvest and the city’s other dispensary, Local Cannabis Company, were able to sell on a recreational basis.
Fundraiser created to replace elderly disabled veteran’s stolen car, scooter:
On July 21, a 1997 Ford Explorer belonging to 77-year-old Larry Shaw Sr. was stolen from his carport in the Pico neighborhood, along with his mobility scooter and other items within the vehicle. Shaw has recently returned home from surgery on his hip, and his unemployment status has made it “impossible for him to replace these items on his own,” according to the partner of Shaw’s son, Lindsay Green. The situation could not be helped by law enforcement leading Green to start a GoFundMe online fundraising campaign to rectify the lost items. The campaign, which had raised nearly $2,000 as of July 29, has “brought light through his eyes,” as Green tells it, with the veteran “humbled” by the outreach.
Palisades native serves as Team USA volleyball star:
With Team USA grabbing gold after gold in the 2024 Olympic Games, one of Paris’ standouts is serving up victories straight from the Westside of Los Angeles. Pacific Palisades native and Palisades High School graduate Miles Partain has the distinction of being the youngest-ever member of Team USA’s Men’s Beach Volleyball unit, and the 22-year-old has already made a difference in Paris, winning his first match alongside Rancho Palos Verdes native Andy Benesh on July 30. Partain was a model student-athlete at Palisades High, named the Valedictorian for the school’s class of 2020, while starring as a three-time California Interscholastic League All-City Division 1 Team member on the volleyball court.
Parking facility tax revived on the November 2024 ballot to pay for more public safety:
Members of the Santa Monica City Council voted unanimously to place a parking facility tax revenue measure on the November 2024 ballot. The measure, if successful, will increase the City’s parking facility tax rate by 8% and exempt City-owned lots and structures from the tax increase, which would be accompanied by an advisory measure that would allow voters express their preference that at least half of the additional revenue generated by the Parking Facility Tax Measure should be allocated to address public safety and homelessness. According to a staff report on the subject, this proposed ballot measure has been vetted twice within the community through polling and the language now reflects the direction of Council, as well as the feedback received during polling to focus on public safety.
Chariots bring elegance, spirituality in 48th annual affair:
On Sunday, the 48th annual Los Angeles Festival of the Chariots took place in Santa Monica and Venice, a two-hour affair that transformed into a daylong festival at Venice Beach’s Windward Plaza. The event, also known as Ratha Yatra, features 35-foot high chariots elegantly decorated with symbolism of deities like Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra. Los Angeles organizers figured out how to make the chariots out of aluminum in a way that they “collapse upon themselves,” folded down and put onto trucks before being rolled out prior to the parade. The chariots were carried by two big ropes that required roughly 20 people on each rope to haul through Santa Monica and Venice.
School alcohol and drug policy revisions approved by board:
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) Board of Education officially approved an update to Board Policy and Administrative Regulation on Alcohol and Other Drugs during its July 24 meeting, which hones in on first offenses by transitioning from a traditional suspension model to a more counseling-intensive method. Initially broached in June, the updated policy replaces an automatic three-day suspension for an alcohol or drug offense with meetings and counseling sessions. SMMUSD Superintendent Dr. Antonio Shelton, making his presence felt on the subject after an absence during the June 25 discussion, said that the district is “not doing away with consequences,” but doesn’t want a kid “home by themselves” after a suspension.
