Editorials, letters to the editor, and other community opinions about Santa Monica.
Dear Editor, We strongly support the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) and its intent to ensure that voters who are part of marginalized communities have the opportunity to influence local elections and to elect their preferred candidates. While there is…
This is part three of a series on the recent ruling by the California Supreme Court on the Voting Rights Act filed against the city. You can read our coverage of the arguments and ruling and parts one and two…
This post first appeared on The Healthy City Local. The next step in an analysis of the California Supreme Court’s decision in the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) case the Pico Neighborhood Association brought against the City of Santa Monica…
The following op/ed first appeared in Streetsblog California and uses examples from the Bay Area Rapid Transit System, BART. However, the lessons and messages apply well to Metro and the Big Blue Bus as well. Tuesday afternoon, Senator Scott Wiener…
The following first appeared on The Healthy City Local. The California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) case brought by lawyer Kevin Shenkman on behalf of plaintiffs the Pico Neighborhood Association and Maria Loya against the City of Santa Monica has been…
To: Santa Monica City Council, Santa Monica Planning Commission, City Manager David White, Mobility Manager Jason Kligier, Director of Public Works Rick Valte, Subject: Protecting our bikeways from motor vehicle incursions Dear Council Members and City Leaders: Santa Monica has…
At last week’s City Council meeting, the Santa Monica City Council declined to file a brief in support of the plaintiffs in the case of Samantha Williams and Brian Williams v. Jonathan Skrmetti in the United States District Court of…
Recently, the local news has been abuzz with the story of a Santa Monica City Councilmember escalating a random encounter with a person experiencing homelessness and acting erratically on the Promenade. Rather than elevate this story, Next would prefer to…
(Already convinced? Click here to start your donation.) At the June 27th City Council meeting, Councilmember Jesse Zwick queeried police chief Ramon Batista about the crime statistics in the city. Batista replied that while crime has been rising in recent…
We’re over two-thirds of the way through “Pride Month” and by now a lot of the headline-grabbing furor is passed. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ badly mishandled on-off-and on again Pride Night has happened. West Hollywood has held its parade. You…
Last week, various Assembly and Senate committees held hearings on Governor Newsom’s “infrastructure package,” a proposal which he said would “cut project timelines, save money, and reduce paperwork while speeding up construction of infrastructure projects and creating hundreds of thousands…
Editor’s Note: Former Deputy Executive Officer at the California Air Resources Board Craig Segall wrote this open letter to the legislature, including members of the Senate and Assembly committees currently working on a response to Governor Newsom’s proposed state budget.…
This article first appeared at Streetsblog USA. Big news out of Montreal: Starting on July 1, drivers of larger, heavier cars will pay more for residential parking permits in one busy corner of town. In the Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie, permit prices…
It’s been just over a month since the last “Pulse Poll” was conducted and released by the anti-union dark money organization “Eyes on 11.” This newest poll shows “residents” doubted that a new city department focused on homelessness would address…
Yesterday, the far-right news outlet Epoch Times featured Santa Monica resident, delivery driver and content maker Matt Wilson on its California Insider YouTube series. “Resident Tells How California’s Famous Beachtown is Unsafe” is a brutal yet muddled attack on the…
