Covering for Covered 6: Santa Monica’s Institutions Failed on Bungled Security Contract
At last Thursday’s meeting of the DTSM Inc. Board Meeting, they announced that the contract with Covered 6 to provide additional private armed security patrols, with one member lethally armed at all times, to...
Waymo Arrives in Santa Monica
Waymo has arrived in Santa Monica. Yes, for several months Waymos have been riding around town gathering data and testing. Sometimes there's a test driver, other times there's not.
But Waymo is a passenger service,...
Metro Should Treat Walk and Bike Projects with the Respect They Deserve
This article first appeared at Streetsblog L.A. The author is none to Streetsblog but wished to remain anonymous because they work for a government agency.
Like many people around Los Angeles, I was excited about...
Power of Two: Pair of Public Commenters Cause Confusion and Delay Before Council Passes...
(Note: public speaker’s names are removed because I was uncertain of the exact spelling from the audio and didn’t want to misattribute a quote, especially the anti-Semitic ones.)
Never doubt the power of one speaker,...
Brock, de la Torre Respond to Next Piece Stating They Lied About Travel Budget...
At last night’s meeting of the Santa Monica City Council, Jason Mastbaum confronted Councilmember’s de la Torre, Negrete, Parra and Brock about their conduct at the July 25 City Council meeting where they maligned...
SM Spoke and Safe Streets Alliance Urge Passage of Item That Would Lead to...
Note: the original letter to Council called for passage of Item 16-E at last week's meeting. Given that the item wasn't heard and was pushed forward to next week's meeting; I have updated letter...
Public Records Show Brock, Other Councilmembers, Were Warned They Were Going Over Travel Budget....
Ahead of the July 25, 2023 city council meeting, Santa Monica city councilmembers Phil Brock and Oscar de la Torre placed a councilmember discussion item on the agenda “to assign unspent funds from the...
Tuesday’s Philibuster Foreshadows Future Council Gridlock
In advance of Tuesday’s meeting of the Santa Monica City Council, Councilmember Phil Brock placed two items on the agenda. By the end of the meeting the Council not only failed to consider either...
Letter to Editor: Council Should Take the CVRA Case Back to the Appeals Court
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...
Gruber: Final thoughts on the voting rights case: there’s no right without a remedy
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...
Gruber : Does Racially Polarized Voting Exist in Santa Monica?
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...
OpEd: It’s Safe to Ride Transit
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...
Gruber : Santa Monica and the California Voting Rights Act, the case continues
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...
Open Letter: Protecting Santa Monica bikeways from motor vehicle incursions
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...
City Passes on Weighing In on Case Against Tennessee Ban on Gender Affirming Care...
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...
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