Viva Cesar Chavez
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...
Let’s Be Real: Homelessness is a Housing Problem
No corner of the state has been untouched by California's homelessness crisis: the most recent count found that Los Angeles County has more than 65,000 homeless individuals and families, including more than 800 in...
Downtown Santa Monica: Where It Doesn’t Take A Village (With Lots of Pictures!)
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...
Tale of Two Projects
This originally appeared at The Healthy City Local.
It’s been a while since I’ve written about a specific development project in Santa Monica. About a year ago I was busy writing articles about the Downtown Community...
A Taco Stand on the Corner in Santa Monica Is a Great Place for...
In the 2016 presidential election, a Trump surrogate promised a taco truck on every corner if Hilary Clinton won. This is one of many reasons I supported Hilary. However, as with most policy positions,...
The Downtown Community Plan and the Lingering Impacts of the Great Recession
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...
Riel Politics, Part 4: Getting to $710,000
This article first appeared in the Healthy City Local. Click on the links for parts one, two, and three.
One question people keeping asking about the firing of Elizabeth Riel is why the City Council...
Op Ed: The Destruction of Bergamot Arts Center is Fake News
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...
U.S. Reps to FAA: Make Up Your Administrative Mind
This article originally appeared on The Healthy City Local.
A few weeks ago U.S. Representatives Ted Lieu and Karen Bass organized a meeting in Washington where Santa Monica officials and local residents could express their grievances...
Community Voices: How Measure LV increases housing costs
The following is a response from downtown community member Babak Mozaffari in an online forum about how Santa Monica's measure LV will increase housing costs. It is reprinted with the permission of the author.
You are right...
Community Voices: It’s Time to Make Santa Monica’s Streets Safer
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...
Op-Ed: Call to Action to Support SMMEF and Enriched Curriculum at Our Schools
The following letter was submitted by John Muir Elementary School PTA President Jessica Alexander. Santa Monica Next welcomes guest contributions and editorials. We look for fact-based content relevant to the future of the city. Submitting your...
Election Analysis: LV Lost Big, Bigger Than You Think
The following piece first appeared on The Healthy City Local.
I haven’t written here for a while. It’s easy for a little hiatus to become a long vacation, especially over the holidays, and especially, if you...
Gruber: There’s a Disconnect Between Local Politics, National Politics, and Development Politics
(This article originally appeared on The Healthy City Local.)
I spend too much time on Facebook, but I have learned a few things there. One is that there’s a disconnect between local politics and the...
Builder’s Remedy Debacle Shows Council Delivers the Wrong Kind of Change
During the 2020 campaign for Santa Monica City Council, the “Change Slate” swept into power promising to support the police department and to limit new housing development. Three members of the slate were elected,...