Highlights & Video Clips from This Week’s OPA Monthly Meeting:
SaMo City Council Votes to Maintain Existing Zoning in Neighborhood Commercial Districts: After receiving nearly 700 letters from community members and seven hours of discussions at last night’s special meeting, the Council voted unanimously to try to amend the the Housing Element. Here is the YouTube queued to the last two hours when they focused on proposed updates to the Housing Element compliance plan (note that you click the gear icon to watch it at faster “chipmunk” speed).
Southern California Under Rare “Blizzard Warning”: This LA Times report details the powerful, wet, cold storm coming our way. If it snows in SaMo, please send us photos!
Palmdale Council Votes to Explore Housing Deal With Santa Monica: This SaMo Lookout report discusses City efforts to build State-mandated housing in the inland city in exchange for cash. Palmdale City Manager Ronda Perez said they are “exploring a ‘possible partnership’ between the ‘land poor’ beach city and ‘land rich’ Palmdale.” Multiple current and past councilmembers are publicly critical of the idea, including former Mayor Himmelrich calling it “Immoral and Repulsive” as noted here.
Emergency Preparedness: Lindsay Call, the City’s Chief Resilience Officer, was a guest at OPA Connects last week about Earthquake Preparedness. Here are some resources to help make sure you are prepared for the the inevitable earthquake:
- SaMo Earthquake Preparedness Website
- Seven Steps to Earthquake Preparedness Flyer
- SaMo Seismic Retrofit Program
- 911 Dispatch Education Videos
Crudo e Nudo Shares Their “Caesar’s Gone Vegan Dressing” recipe: Click here to read the SMDP review and get the recipe for one of their hit dishes.
Main St Public Art: This Street Seen takes a closer look at some subtle public art at the px building at 2200 Main Street @ Pacific.
SaMo Hotel Updates, Additions, & Re-Openings: The City published this report detailing the renovations and rebranding efforts at The Georgian, Pierside Hotel, Le Merigot, & Beacon by Sonder (formerly Shangri-La).
SaMo Shake Shack featuring Elegant “Truffle Table”: This NBC4 report details the pop up. Unfortunately, it seems reservations are full.
Things To Do This Weekend:
- We Are Family A Black History Greens Festival (Saturday 10am-2pm @ Virginia Avenue Park): The “Celebration of the Cultural Melting Pot of Black American History” includes greens cooking demos, dance performances, health information and more!” More details here.
- SaMo Black Lives Association is hosting Black History Month Festival (Saturday 4-10pm): “Celebration & Solidarity – Black History Month Festival” will feature local vendors, live band performances, street performances, fashion show, games and a special performance by Krayzie Bone of Bones, Thug N Harmony. Click Here to contact SMBLA for more info.
- Santa Monica Police Activities League Poker Tournament (Saturday 5pm): More details here on the event benefiting local youth.
- The Verdi Chorus and the Sahm Family Foundation present The Fox Singers in A Serenade to Music (Saturday 7:30pm): More details here.
- Joey Chestnut Seeks Pistachio-Eating World Record at SaMo Pier (Sunday 10am): More details here on the “Wonderfully” gluttonous event.
- SMC Emeritus Concert Band Free Concert (Sunday 3pm @ Broad Stage): More details here.
- OPA Renters Task Force Meeting (Monday 6pm): Joining a task force meeting is a great way to get involved in the community! This Task Force is focused on “ensuring the interests of renters in Ocean Park are both represented and advocated for” and meets the 4th Monday of every month from 6-7pm at Stella Barra. Email Nick to learn more.
