SMRR to members: go away
At the Santa Monicans for Renters Rights (SMRR) convention on Sunday a friend asked me if it was more fun attending the convention now as a regular member than as a candidate, referring to the fact that at the 2012…
Tag Frank Gruber
LUVE: What We Don’t Need Now
This article first appeared on The Healthy City Local. When voters submit an initiative to enact a law, Section 9212 of the California Elections Code authorizes the relevant legislative body to commission a report analyzing the impacts the initiative would have,…
Moving Goal Posts and New Players: The Plight of Anti-Development Politicians
[pullquote align=left] When it comes to the goals of the anti-development side, as soon as one goal is achieved, a new, more extreme goal is created. [/pullquote]After Tuesday night’s City Council meeting Councilmember Sue Himmelrich might understandably have a “no…
Looking Back at the History of Downtown Santa Monica with Frank Gruber
Downtown Santa Monica today is one of southern California’s premiere destinations. People flock there from everywhere in the city, the region, the state, and even the world. But it wasn’t always that way. In fact, in the middle of last…
Housers, United By LUVE
This article originally ran on The Healthy City Local. [pullquote align=left]The proponents of LUVE know that they have a problem politically with the housing issue. In their statements and writings in support, they deny that LUVE would prevent housing from…
Making Laws Fuzzy Doesn’t Make Politics More Clear
This post originally appeared on The Healthy City Local. I’ve been traveling most of the past month, to places as far away as medieval Spain or as close as the contemporary music scene in Ojai. It’s hard to get Santa…
Hueston: You Have A Problem
In my post last week I wrote about certain aspects of John Hueston’s report to the Santa Monica City Council on the Elizabeth Riel firing and the Oaks Initiative. Last Tuesday evening Hueston presented his report to the council. There…
More Riel Politics: The Hueston Report
Last fall I wrote a series of five articles (which start here) about the firing of Elizabeth Riel by the City of Santa Monica, in which I analyzed the documents and depositions that came to light after the City agreed…
The Santa Monica Civic: The Beat Goes On, And On
This article originally appeared in The Healthy City Local. At its meeting tomorrow evening the Santa Monica City Council will once again consider how to save the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Specifically, it will consider recommendations from the “Civic Working Group”…
A Cyclist and a Motorist Talk
This post originally appeared in The Healthy City Local. For about 20 years I’ve commuted by bike from my home in Ocean Park to my office in downtown Santa Monica. My route takes me north on Fourth Street, which means crossing…
Let’s See Who Shows Up
This piece originally ran in The Healthy City Local. Good jobs and good housing are the goals of progressive economic policies, and both are on the agenda of the Santa Monica City Council tomorrow night. Good jobs, because the council will…
The Past Isn’t Quite Dead Here, Either: How Racism Shaped Santa Monica
This piece originally ran on The Healthy City Local. When Fay Wells went national to write, in the Washington Post, about what happened when a neighbor called 9-1-1 on her, she brought the issue of race to the attention of…
Riel Politics, Part 5: When You Have A Process, Trust It
This piece originally ran on Frank Gruber’s blog, The Healthy City Local. My intention a month ago when I wrote my fourth installment of “Riel Politics,” my series of posts on the firing of Elizabeth Riel, was to wrap up the…
SMRR: The More Things Don’t Change, The More They Remain The Same
This piece originally ran on The Healthy City Local. As a member of Santa Monicans for Renters Rights (SMRR) I attended last Sunday’s annual membership meeting during which 11 members of SMRR’s Steering Committee were elected. Since the meeting I…
Santa Monica Airport: Going Environmental
This post originally appeared on The Healthy City Local. It has been modified for timeliness and style. When it comes to the Santa Monica Airport (SMO), what a difference a few years, a lot of community action, and a decisive…