Editorials, letters to the editor, and other community opinions about Santa Monica.
The question I ended my post with on Saturday was why would Santa Monica enact a Downtown Community Plan (DCP) that makes it easier to build commercial development than housing? Keep in mind that this is taking place during a…
This article originally appeared on Healthy City Local. I’m sure readers are trembling with anticipation after I ended my last post with this cliffhanger: aside from drastically reducing the advantage that residential development in downtown Santa Monica had over commercial development…
This piece originally ran on Healthy City Local. There are good ideas in the Downtown Community Plan (DCP): ideas about the role of Santa Monica’s downtown, about nurturing community in “our town” with more and better housing and local-serving retail, about…
This post originally appeared on The Healthy City Local. Let me begin my further ruminations and fulminations on the Downtown Community Plan (DCP) with a quibble, namely the failure to include in the DCP’s historical background section mention of Arcadia Bandini…
The following post originally appeared on Healthy City Local. It’s back! The latest (and promised final!) version of Santa Monica’s Downtown Community Plan (DCP), is being dragged through the Planning Commission, with an ultimate destination of the Promised Land, namely approval by…
Via Santa Monica City Manager Rick Cole’s blog, The Long View. There is a dynamic and positive new tone coming from the California Coastal Commission. The California Coastal Commission has had just five leaders since it was created in 1972. Longtime…
In commemoration of Cesar Chavez Day, Santa Monica Next will be taking the day off from publishing. Below is a short piece by long-time Santa Monica activist Ernie Powell about his experience working with Cesar Chavez and the United Farmer Workers…
In the past few weeks, Santa Monica has experienced five more violent pedestrian crashes and almost as many deaths, reminding us all that we are unsafe in our city, whether crossing the street for coffee or going to a local…
The following is a letter from Santa Monica Mayor Ted Winterer addressing the recent deaths of three young people in the community. I received the devastating news of the tragic circumstances that led to the death of Samohi freshman Andre…
The following letter is by Santa Monica High School principal Dr. Antonio Shelton to the Santa Monica High School community regarding the recent death of a ninth grade student at the school. Dear Santa Monica High School family and community, It…
This piece was originally published on Santa Monica City Manager Rick Cole’s blog, The Long View. Santa Monica Next also covered this issue here and here. I recently wrote about the always controversial issue of public employee compensation. In the first post, I welcomed…
Last night, Los Angeles voters soundly beat Measure S, a poorly-conceived and draconian attempt to control the city’s planning process at the ballot box. The defeat of Measure S comes only a few months after Santa Monica decisively rejected a…
Tuesday night, the Santa Monica City Council passed a resolution reaffirming its commitment to an inclusive city and that makes clear the beachside city won’t cooperate with federal authorities on enforcing immigration laws. Below is an open letter, published to the city’s…
Every night, tens of thousands of people bed down in shelters, in their cars, or on the street. The causes are myriad. Some are homeless because of bad luck. Some are trying to escape abusive homes. The increasing cost of…
Via The Healthy City Local “Belts and suspenders.” That’s a phrase that we lawyers use to describe how we write contracts and other documents repeating the same concepts multiple times. (“Repeating” and “multiple times”—you see, belts and suspenders.) Sometimes the belts…
