Editorials, letters to the editor, and other community opinions about Santa Monica.
Santa Monica Next is proud to be the online home of former State Senator and County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl. You can sign-up to get her email delivered to your inbox directly by clicking here. I love the law. I love…
The following article also appears at Streetsblog by Roger Rudick. Photo : My “car.” Or one of them anyway. Photo from Wikimedia Commons by Pi.1415926535 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link Car prices, say analysts, are poised to shoot up by thousands of dollars thanks to…
March 27, 2025Quick NoteLast week’s email talked about my evolution into a person who thought of herself as the Catcher In The Rye. Coincidentally, it appears that both houses of the Texas legislature have introduced bills making it a crime…
At the Santa Monica City Council’s budget workshop earlier this month, council members expressed a desire for the city to take a more active role in supporting economic opportunity and growth. This was one of the three budget priorities adopted…
Hello, all! Some folks seem to be reading these weekly postings on a substack not of my creation. The better way to get them as I send them is to join my email list. It’s only for Kool Happs, period.…
In the early 1950s, when many of us had yet to buy our first television set, Truth or Consequences was a popular TV game show, one of many quickly thrown together to fill the sudden gaping time demands of this…
Discussions at the City Council’s March 8th budget workshop reveal a determined push to run the municipality more like a business, focusing on well-defined priorities and bringing revenues more in sync with expenses. Economic development, housing, support for education, and…
To all of you who are asking what can be done when the orders of our courts are not obeyed: In 1962, legal scholar Alexander Bickel authored an analysis of our federal courts and their place in our system. He…
Most Santa Monicans likely can’t identify the large crumbling building that has sat empty on the corner of Main Street and Pico Boulevard for over a decade. To others, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium is a historic icon worth preserving…
To read the Mayor’s letter in Spanish, click here. Dear Santa Monicans, In recent weeks, many in our community have felt unsettled by dramatic shifts in federal policies. We want to assure you: we hear you, we care about you, and…
A city that is responsive to complaints seems like a desirable standard to strive for. Who doesn’t like having their complaints addressed in a timely manner? This was the idea when Santa Monica contracted for a 311 system in 2018,…
(The following speech was delivered on the steps of City Hall by Samohi student Sara Javerbaum.) Tell me if you’ve heard this before: this walkout is meaningless. It won’t make a difference, or it’s just an excuse to cut classes.…
(The following speech was delivered on the steps of City Hall by Samohi student Elliot Ho.) I feel the need to explain why we have organized this walkout. We have done so because we believe that we must allow the…
As heroic Californians fighting the blazes that erupted throughout Southern California last week were joined by heroes from other states and countries, the country’s right-wing disinformation machine was busy tut-tutting at California for imaginary policies that they say led to…
Los Angeles County has been grappling with a housing shortage for years, a crisis that has manifested in crippling rent burdens, widespread displacement, and a shameful number of residents forced to endure substandard living conditions. This pre-existing vulnerability has now…
