Editorials, letters to the editor, and other community opinions about Santa Monica.
Carter Rubin is a Santa Monica resident and serves as an advisory board member of Santa Monica Next. Carter has served as an appointed member on the Santa Monica Housing and Planning Commissions. Carter earned a B.A. in political studies…
At Downtown Santa Monica, Inc.’s Annual Meeting on August 31, 2017, Santa Monica Mayor Ted Winterer delivered these remarks reflecting on highlights from 2017 so far, as well as the opportunities and challenges ahead. These remarks originally appeared on the city’s…
This post by Santa Monica’s public information coordinator Joseph Vandenorth originally appeared at santamonica.gov. COAST is just around the corner on Sunday, October 1 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. You might be wondering, “what’s COAST?” Back for its second year,…
The following is a message from Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Ben Drati regarding President Donald Trump’s decision to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. We understand the concern and fear felt by our families…
The following is a letter from Santa Monica Mayor Ted Winterer and Mayor Pro Tempore Gleam Davis. To the residents of Santa Monica, We share the nation’s heartache following the events in Charlottesville. It’s painful to see blatant hate played…
The following was written by former Santa Monica resident and activist Ernie Powell. Powell is currently an organizer and consultant with Social Security Works. August 14 is Social Security’s 82nd birthday. All of us, young, middle aged and old, should…
A popular segment of the new Exposition Bike path will close for three months for maintenance. [update 8/16: exploratory work currently underway will determine whether the closure is 3 months or 6 weeks]. This long-term temporary closure provides an opportunity for…
The following is by Susan Cline, city of Santa Monica public works director and Gigi Decavalles-Hughes, city of Santa Monica finance director. Santa Monica City Hall is an iconic and historic building that has served this community well for the last…
On Tuesday, the Santa Monica City Council faced a difficult choice: whether to require 20-30 percent of units in new construction downtown be affordable, or whether to leave the requirement at only 15-20 percent. This is a difficult decision, with…
The following is a letter sent by a recent Santa Monica resident to the City Council. It is reprinted here with his permission. Dear City Leaders, I am writing regarding the Downtown Specific Plan. Although prior engagements prevent me from…
This post originally appeared on The Healthy City Local. At the City Council meeting last Tuesday night on Santa Monica’s Downtown Community Plan (DCP) the ironies abounded. As planning staff has told us many times, the DCP is the result of…
This post originally appeared on the blog of local community activist and organizer Luke Klipp. It was republished on Santa Monica Next’s sister site, Longbeachize. Klipp serves as a Metro Board Deputy to Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia and he is the…
This post originally appeared on The Healthy City Local. After, in words taken from the staff report, “nearly six years in development” (not too much longer than it takes to get approval to build an apartment building!), Santa Monica’s Downtown Community…
Bergamot Arts Center has been a vital part of the arts fabric of Santa Monica since its inception in the 1990s. On Tuesday night, the Santa Monica City Council will be asked to look at a proposal for Bergamot Arts Center…
The purpose of plans is to help communities confront and prepare for their future. On preparing for a future with climate change, the downtown plan is an utter failure. Instead of focusing on the most salient environmental threat humanity has…
