Transportation reform advocacy group Streets for All announced a candidate’s forum for Santa Monica City Council candidates next Wednesday, May 29, at 6 p.m. The event will be held on Zoom and is free and open to the public. You can register to attend by clicking here. Attendees are encouraged to bring any mobility-related questions they might have for the candidates.
“Streets For All hosts mobility debates to elevate the topic of road safety in elections,” explains Michael Schneider, the founder and CEO of Streets for All. “ I’m really looking forward to hearing from the candidates their thoughts on building a safer, more multimodal Santa Monica.”
Five candidates have confirmed their attendance at the event: Barry Snell, Ericka Lesley, Dan Hall, Ellis Raskin, and Natalya Zernitskaya. Streets for All has confirmed that they also invited every incumbent Councilmember that is up for re-election, but so far Phil Brock, Oscar de la Torre and Christine Parra have not confirmed their attendance.
“This debate is a great opportunity for candidates to demonstrate their understanding of a key topic, as well as how it correlates with many of the issues that the council deals with regularly, whether it’s housing, safety, or sustainability,” writes Caro Vilain, a Santa Monica safe streets advocate and volunteer with Streets for All.
“It’s one thing to say “I support bike lanes”; it’s another to truly foster mobility projects and understand why and how safe multimodal streets benefit our community as a whole, and to support these projects when they make their way to council.”
Streets for All endorses candidates and their statements at this event as well as a questionnaire provide the basis for these endorsements. While the group has been involved in politics for years, it gained nationwide acclaim after it was the force behind Measure HLA, approved overwhelmingly by L.A. voters in November, which requires the city to implement its own mobility plan.
In 2022, Streets for All endorsed three candidates in Santa Monica elections: Zernitskaya who finished a close fourth in a race where the top three vote getters are elected as well as Caroline Torosis and Jesse Zwick who each won election for the first time.
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