S A N TA M O N I C A
REFLECTING THE CONCERNS OF THE COMMUNITY
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INSIDE
DO SCHOOL YEAR PUSHED BACK
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August 07 – August 13, 2020 Volume XLVIII, Issue 53
Plaintiffs in Voting Rights Case Against Santa Monica Petition for Rehearing Decision “contains several critical legal and factual mistakes,” says petition By Sam Catanzaro Earlier this month an appeals court ruled in favor of the City of Santa Monica in a case that alleged that the city’s at-large elections diluted Latino voting power. Now the plaintiffs are petitioning for a rehearing, claiming the decision “contains several critical legal and factual mistakes.” The case filed by plaintiffs Pico Neighborhood Association, Maria Loya and Advocates for Malibu Public Schools alleges that Santa Monica’s at-large election system dilutes Latino voting power in violation of the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) and discriminates against Latino voters in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the California Constitution. In a ruling released February 15, 2019, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Yvette M. Palazuelos ordered that all future elections for seats on the Santa Monica City Council be based on a seven-district map drawn by an expert for the plaintiffs, including a 30 percent Latino district. The City then appealed this decision. On July 9, a three-judge panel from the California 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the city saying that Latinos, who account for 14 percent of Santa Monica’s electorate, lack the numbers to win an election in the 30 percent Latino district ordered by Judge Palazuelos. Kevin Shenkman, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, on July 24 filed a petition for
Photo: Sam Catanzaro
rehearing to the 2nd District appeals court. “The Opinion’s holding that the inability to create a hypothetical majority minority district in Santa Monica is fatal to the CVRA claim contravenes the plain language of the statute,” Shenkman wrote. “The Opinion also errs in ignoring the trial court’s factual finding,
based on contested expert testimony and other evidence, that Latino-preferred Latino candidates who lost citywide often would have won election had the contest been limited to the remedial district proposed.” In addition, Shenkman argued that the judges failed to follow clearly established
principles governing the evaluation of factual evidence for determining the existence of intentional discrimination as protected by the Equal Protection Clause. “Most starkly, the Opinion fails to cite or
Plaintiffs in Voting Rights, see page 4
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Plaza at Santa Monica Representative, SMC President Among New Chamber Board Members Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce announces 2020-2021 Board of Directors By Sam Catanzaro A representative of the proposed “The Plaza” development and the President of Santa Monica College (SMC) are among the new members of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors. The Chamber announced its new 20202021 Board of Directors on July 31, coming from a mix of large and small employers and non-profits. “We are in one of the most unpredictable and challenging times in our city’s history with the impacts of the global pandemic while addressing the real issues facing our community around economic and justice equity,” said new chair of the board Becky Warren. “The Chamber will be focused on identifying and supporting new policies and ideas that will support local businesses — who are the heart and soul of our community. We know this road will be challenging but the Chamber’s commitment is to work with all community leaders on solutions that embrace equity and to help our local businesses so that our city remains vibrant, distinctive and welcoming.”
Warren, Principal at Elevate Public Affairs, will lead a board which counts as among its new members SMC President Dr. Kathryn Jeffery, Managing Director for the Proper Hotel Julien Laracine, Vice President Commercial Lending Officer – Commercial Bank of California Kathy Irby and Managing Director at Clarett West Development Frank Stephan. Clarett West is the development firm behind the proposed The Plaza at Santa Monica, an 11-story, 240-room luxury hotel, 106,800 square feet of creative office space, approximately 40,000 square feet of open public space and 48 units of affordable housing at 4th Street and Arizona Avenue in Downtown Santa Monica. Negotiations were put on hold earlier last month after Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City (SMCLC) filed a complaint arguing the property should be reserved for public use under the California surplus land act. Last week City Council voted to continue negotiations with Clarett West, deciding the job, housing and revenue it would generate outweigh the risks of pending litigation. Warren, Jeffery, Laracine and Stephan are joined by the following individuals as new Chamber Board members: Mert Aktar (Kite Pharma), Kevin Delijani (Delijani Group), Janet Rimicci (UCLA Health), Ryan Ole Hass (Align RE), Jamarah Hayner (JKH Consulting), Iao Katagiri (Iao Katagiri Consulting), Chris Harding (Harding Larmore Kutcher & Kozal LLP) and Susan Neisloss (Big Bite Productions). “As a city, we will be relying on the Chamber
A rendering of the proposed The Plaza at Santa Monica.
for advice and ideas on how to best support local business owners to stay in business and to attract new businesses to our city. We must work together to successfully ensure businesses
Photo: Clarett West
have what they need to continue to operate safely and residents continue to have the vital services they need,” said Santa Monica Vice Mayor Terry O’Day.
Santa Monica School District May Push Back Start Date County to Not Issue Reopening Waivers By Sam Catanzaro Santa Monica’s public school district may push back the first day of classes while Los Angeles County health officials say they will not be granting waivers for elementary schools to reopen for in-person instruction. In a letter sent to parents Wednesday, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) Superintendent Dr. Ben Drati cited additional training for teachers as the reason behind the delayed start date. “We are in the process of finalizing a memorandum of understanding with the Santa Monica-Malibu Classroom Teachers Association that includes expectations regarding various aspects of distance learning,” Drati said. “One component of the MOU is professional learning and the appropriate number of days to fully train and empower our teachers with the necessary skills and tools to successfully teach remotely this fall.” According to Drati, SMMUSD is considering adding two days of professional development on top of the previously allotted three days,
which would move the start date to from Thursday, August 20 to Monday, August 24. The school board will finalize plans at their August 13 meeting. Drati noted that if the board approves the new start date two extra days of instruction will be added to the end of the school year. Drati’s announcement comes as the Los Angeles County of Public Health announced that it will not be issuing waivers to elementary schools to reopen for in-person classes. In a statement released Tuesday, the department said it will adhere to new guidance from the California Department of Public Health (Public Health), which recommends that Counties with case rates at or above 200 cases per 100,000 residents do not extend waivers for the re-opening of classroom instruction for students in grades TK- 6. Los Angeles County’s case rate currently is around 355 per 100,000, according to Public Health. “We know that to many families, this is a disappointing announcement, but it’s based on the existing science and data that is guiding all of our decision-making. We need to ensure the health and safety of our children, school teachers and staff and all of their families,” reads the statement. “This decision will be reconsidered once the case rate falls to the levels recommended by the State.”
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Photo: Sam Catanzaro
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COVID-19: Officials ‘Cautiously Optimistic’ County Is on Right Path to Slowing Spread County health officials cite closure of bars and other indoor venues as factor behind trends By Sam Catanzaro
Health officials say they are “cautiously optimistic” that Los Angeles County is on the right path to slowing the spread of COVID-19, citing the closure last month of bars and indoor businesses as a driving force behind recent downward trends. As of Wednesday, Public Health has identified 197,912 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County, and a total of 4,825 deaths. In Santa Monica, there have been 658 cases and 38 deaths among residents. As of Monday, the seven-day average of cases is around 2,600 cases per day. This is down from a couple weeks ago where the county was seeing over 3,000 cases per day. The seven-day positivity rate has remained mostly flat over the month of July, hovering between 8 and 8.8 percent. And finally, hospitalizations–a
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key indicator of health system capacity–is on a positive trend with 2,000 hospitalizations on average. This number had ticked up to 2,200 in the middle of July. Although the county says all of these key indicators are still “too high”, it says the plateauing of the trends is “encouraging”. “The key indicators that we closely monitor at Public Health are looking positive, and I want to give credit to a large number of our county residents who heeded our orders and
took the personal, basic actions needed to slow this virus. Folks wore their face coverings, they maintained physical distance from people they don’t live with, avoided gatherings and parties, and washed their hands. But for our long-term success, we need to continue limiting the spread of COVID-19. We can’t simply go back to life as we knew it before March. We unfortunately still have a long way to go; we must remain vigilant,” said Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.
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On June 28, California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the closure of bars, gyms and other indoor businesses in Los Angeles County. In a Monday press release, Public Health added that in addition to greater adherence to mask guidelines the decrease in transmission can also be “the decreased opportunities for transmission, particularly in high-risk settings. Several weeks ago, bars were closed, and the indoor operations of a variety of businesses and institutions were moved outdoors.”
Plaintiffs in Voting Rights, from page 1 follow Village of Arlington Heights v. Metro. Housing Dev. Corp (1977) 429 U.S. 252, which held that in order to find an Equal Protection violation a trial court need not find that discrimination was the defendant’s ‘sole’ or “primary” purpose, just that a discriminatory purpose infected the actor’s decision-making,” Shenkman wrote. As reported by the Santa Monica Outlook, Shenkman noted that it is “highly unlikely” that the case would be reheard, but said that the petition lays the groundwork for a potential appeal to the California Supreme Court.
August 07 – August 13, 2020
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Suspicious Vehicle Cleared by Tactical Bomb Squad
Photo: LASD (Twitter)
A member of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Tactical Bomb Squad in Santa Monica over the weekend.
Downtown Santa Monica incident cleared by Santa Monica police, LA County Sheriff’s Department By Sam Catanzaro The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Tactical Bomb Squad cleared a suspicious
vehicle incident in downtown Santa Monica over the weekend. According to the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD), on August 2 around 12:40 p.m. the department’s SWAT team responded to the area of 7th Street between Arizona Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard. The SMPD says that a person was spotted using a propane tank to operate a component of their vehicle. Local emergency officials called in the Sheriff’s Department Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) Tactical Bomb Squad, who deemed the vehicle posed no threat to public safety. At 2:11 street closures were lifted.
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Culver City Police Department fatally shoots man Monday By Sam Catanzaro The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) is investigating a Monday incident that saw a knife-wielding man fatally shot by Culver City Police Department (CCPD) officers. On Monday at 2:25 PM, CCPD officers responded to a commercial parking structure near the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Landmark Street regarding a call of an armed suspect, described as a white male. “Officers located the suspect who attempted to elude them within a stairwell in the parking structure,” the LASD said. “A short standoff ensued and as the officers attempted to communicate with the suspect, he suddenly charged at the officers while armed with a knife.” The LASD says that Culver City police then shot at the man who was struck by gunfire and transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased.
Photo: Citizen App.
The scene of an involved shooting in Culver City Monday.
One Culver City Police Officer was struck by friendly gunfire. He was transported to a local hospital in stable condition. A knife was recovered at the scene, the LASD says. No other officers were injured during the encounter. The investigation is ongoing and there is no additional information available at this time, according to LASD. Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is investigating the incident as well.
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Where Oh Where Is Our City Council?
Photos: Sam Catanzaror
OPINION
“These bills are not only totally unnecessary, but highly detrimental – providing no relief to the affordability crisis but will succeed in dramatically reducing local control by fast tracking projects, voiding public hearings and environmental reviews, height restrictions and single family zoning,” writes Ron Goldman in the latest SMa.r.t. Column on a package of land-use and housing bills.
SMa.r.t. Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow
OUR STATE No city can afford a 20-25% increase in population. But Sacramento lawmakers are currently voting on a package of land-use and housing bills that will alter Santa Monica’s character and future forever. This has been referred to as “the great California land grab.” And while the state is selling us down the river, where’s the resistance? These nine bills, simply stated, void all land-use constraints! At Issue Santa Monica has been assigned 8,874 units to be built over the next eight years with 69% affordable, and possibly more when you consider the likely demolition of older and smaller one and two story buildings probably housing affordable units that are so much in
need. And yet, Santa Monica’s population has not recently increased, or at most 1-2% over the last several years. Density on Steroids This package of nine bills will effectively end single family zoning and neighborhoods throughout California. Four homes will be allowed where one currently exists. Or instead, a 10 unit building can be built with a modest fee paid to avoid including affordable units. And another bill does not require garages or yards. Or replacing one-story corner stores with tall apartments with no provision for affordable housing or even parking! Another bill “fast tracks” permits while prohibiting environmental or local review! And yet another allows the city council to rezone any parcel in the city to build 10 units, and on and on. Still another highly controversial bill with irreversible effects authored by our own state assemblyman Richard Bloom in collusion with developers will allow building heights to be randomly determined by the highest
commercial building within a half mile!! All this in a city that currently builds an average 200 units a year with about 40-45 affordable units. Dishonesty During Covid-19 Chaos In this development frenzy, the bills are being pushed through while the public is focused on civic protests and a resurgent pandemic! Hearings will be limited to review by only one committee - reducing the ability to vet these important bills. The public will not be involved – sound familiar? These bills are not only totally unnecessary, but highly detrimental – providing no relief to the affordability crisis but will succeed in dramatically reducing local control by fast tracking projects, voiding public hearings and environmental reviews, height restrictions and single family zoning. What’s not to like? OUR CITY Each of these bills promotes substantial development, and local land use control will be history if these bills ae approved. We are
already substantially more density than all other coastal cities with the exception of San Francisco and San Diego – but will now catch up fast. Historically, 200 units built per year will increase to 1,250 – an enormous change, but removing the public from the process will help. And the state is offering all communities $200 million to rework their codes to enable this change. Even though our city’s zoning capacity is capable of handling the 8,874 or more additional units without increasing height and density limits, there are substantial economic penalties if Santa Monica doesn’t meet these assigned goals. And moreover, the state is exempt from helping local governments pay for the 25% increase in infrastructure that will be required. Your Neighborhoods To put 8,874 or more units in visual and physical perspective, this will add 1,250 units in each of the seven council districts or 25
Our City Council, see page 8
August 07 – August 13, 2020
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OPINION
Nursing Home Visitors: Improvement, but Not Much TOM ELIAS Mirror Columnist
The good news in California nursing homes this summer is that some are allowing their residents to see visitors at long last, but almost exclusively outdoors and in very controlled circumstances where the guests have little chance to see what’s happening inside the homes. This small, far-from-universal change is largely the result of a slight improvement in a key state guideline governing nursing homes. The change: The state Department of Public Health (DPH) no longer merely recommends that nursing homes allow residents to designate one person to visit during the COVID-19 pandemic if the visitors distance, don masks and other personal protective equipment. In late June, the DPH began mandating that nursing home denizens “shall” be allowed to pick a guest. That’s a big improvement for the relatively few residents of the homes who now get occasional visits. Previously, all visitors had been banned from the homes, even state inspectors. This amounted to carte blanche for many nursing home managements to reduce staff (especially with state staffing requirements suspended early on) and keep disabled residents in bed for days at a time. Even on days when they’re allowed out of bed, staffers often stash them back there around mid-afternoon because workloads are so large they would not otherwise have time to serve dinner to all their patients. Essentially, visitors have lost their previous role as the main watchdogs over nursing home practices. The intent of the original visitor ban was to keep the coronavirus plague out of the homes. That policy has failed, what with about 49 percent – almost half – of all California COVID-19 deaths occurring among those residing in nursing homes, as of early July. “(The ban) has been an extreme hardship
Our City Council, from page 6 massive six-story buildings covering two lots along with resulting traffic jams from the first day of construction – a wonderful prospect to look forward to! And with no planning commission review process, how do you feel about these 175 six-story buildings all looking similar – like big building blocks with small protruding balconies reminiscent of computer punch cards – thanks yet again Richard Bloom for selling his constituents down the river. The entire city is being up-zoned – truly growth on steroids and the public is not even involved! “Forever Construction” Plus or minus 9,000 units in eight years is a colossal amount of housing – just picture a six-story block building on every downtown block and every block of the 10 boulevards and primary arteries throughout the city – replacing one-story commercial buildings which represent well over 50% of the development on
Photos: Getty Images
for most nursing home patients,” said Lori Smetanka, executive director of the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long Term Care. “It has led to significant physical, social and psychological harm for many thousands of residents. Their needs are worsening without families to visit them.” She added that even when virtual visits via services like Zoom and Facetime are arranged, “they often prove disruptive to residents, especially those with cognitive impairments.” That adds to a climate described this way by one 76-year-old physically handicapped nursing home resident who retains all his mental faculties: “The nursing home establishment makes people feel like ‘throwaways,” he wrote in an email. “We feel much like abandoned pets or children with disabilities. This makes it difficult to maintain the attitude and motivation you need to feel like a human being in here.” Lawyer Tony Chicotel of the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform
organization describes the last four months for a typical resident of this state’s nursing homes as “very much like solitary confinement,” adding that most are even worse off than that, because they share rooms and get little privacy outside their own thoughts. “This is institutionalized isolation,” Chicotel said. “Some call it a form of solitary confinement. It’s become inhumane and cruel. This has been done to people without any consultation or due process. And the no visitor policy has been a colossal failure, too.” In fact, most of the COVID-19 that has so severely hit nursing homes came into them with staffers, who often must work two jobs because of their low pay. Even if one home where they work is “clean,” they can become infected at their second job or in crowded conditions where they live. Then there’s assisted living, where residents often pay large sums for rooms and apartments. They also have had no visitors, reports Chicotel. But unlike nursing home
residents, they are allowed out for excursions, medical appointments or other needs. The rub, says Chicotel: On their return, most assisted living homes require residents who leave even for short times to quarantine for 14 days, never leaving their rooms during that time for any reason. As a result, few ever leave and many residents suffer isolation similar to nursing home patients. If a society can be judged by the way it cares for its grandparents and other elders, what does all this say about California and the rest of America, where the same situations apply almost everywhere? Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, “The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It,” is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net
those blocks. And the neighborhood’s first sign of these projects will be a posted demolition sign – i.e. no opportunity to know about the project and no opportunity for community input! “But it won’t matter if the public doesn’t like the project as they have absolutely no recourse anyway” – quoting the Chair of the Planning Commission. More Tax?! With our city’s existing infrastructure and future lack of financial resources, these policies and numbers cannot meet our sustainable goals. Water independence, trash recycling and energy generation will be relics of the past while the decline of tourism, the loss of small retail, affordable housing, pension funding, school education and cutting our library funding 43% will continue to plague our city. And Santa Monica already ranks at the bottom of the list for park space per resident. With the expansion of infrastructure and other city services, everyone’s taxes will also expand! These housing bills will only increase Santa
Monica’s affordability crisis. It’s Time to Act With increased density, we’re choosing a city of hand sanitizers instead of sunlight and blue skies. This nine-bill, knee-jerk reaction by Richard Bloom in collusion with developers and others will provide homeowners and the developers who buy their homes with substantial profits while 70% of the residents will be further deprived. What is important is Santa Monica’s overall “quality of life,” or as my colleague, Thane Roberts says, “this is a battle for our city’s soul.” Where Did We Go Astray? In 2010, with substantial resident input, Santa Monica completed a seven year process creating the city’s general plan, the LUCE. This established the “intent of the city to be generally a low scale community” including three and four story buildings with 30 and 45 foot height limits, while recognizing the “loss of significant character defining buildings.” however, it wasn’t long after the adoption of the
LUCE that the City Council and administration started to think of it as “LOOSE” and started supporting projects that significantly exceed height and density limits. And now we have these proposed state laws. What Can You/We Do? Stay tuned next week as we will continue the story with realistic alternatives to this very real dilemma and of our City Council’s complete lack of standing up on residents’ behalf – so what else is new! Until then, By Ron Goldman for SMart (Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow) Thane Roberts, Architect, Robert H. Taylor AIA, Ron Goldman FAIA, Architect, Dan Jansenson, Architect, Building and Fire-Life Safety Commission, Samuel Tolkin Architect, Mario Fonda-Bonardi, AIA, Planning Commissioner, Phil Brock, Santa Monica Arts Commission. For previous articles see www.santamonicaarch.wordpress.com/writing
August 07 – August 13, 2020
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SANTA MONICA CITY LEADERS GIVE S.M.P.D. AN “A” FOR THIS?
Photo credit: Scott Taylor
SURE. IF “A” STANDS FOR ABUSE. On May 31, in response to a Black Lives Matter demonstration on Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica police attacked the crowd with a violent frenzy of rubber bullets and tear gas. In her first media interview after the mayhem, Interim City Manager Lane Dilg said S.M.P.D. deserved “an A” for its actions — which included violence toward demonstrators while our business district was overrun by criminal looters.
Cities across the country are taking tangible steps to rein in this kind of policing while enhancing social programs. But here in Santa Monica? Our City Council just passed a budget that cuts social services and gives more money to the S.M.P.D. More money for police — and brutal cuts for everyone else. Help our city leaders get their priorities straight. Because Black Lives Matter.
RALLY AT S.M.P.D. HEADQUARTERS WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 5PM UNTIL DARK Join us at 333 Olympic Drive to make your voice heard. Visit SantaMonicans4Democracy.org for more info.
Santa Monicans for Democracy Student Organizing Committee: Martin Guerra, Santa Monica College Class of 2023; Bardo Lopez, Santa Monica College Class of 2020; David Valle Lopez, SAMOHI Class of 2018; Richard Kerr, James Madison Memorial High School Class of 2016; Karen Portillo, SAMOHI Class of 2009; Carlos Rodriguez, SAMOHI Class of 2017; Jordan Schott, Willamette University Class of 2021; Steering Committee Founding Members: Craig R. Miller, resident of Ocean Park since 1983; Andrew Nasatir, resident of Ocean Park since 1989.
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August 07 – August 13, 2020
Getty Experiences Dozen COVID-19 Cases Among Staff Staff members at both Getty Center and Getty Villa test positive for virus By Sam Catanzaro
While both remain closed to the public, a number of staff members at the Getty Center and the Getty Villa have tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). According to the Los Angeles Department of Public Health, there have been six confirmed cases and three non-confirmed symptomatic cases of COVID-19 among Getty Center staff. In addition, three staff members tested positive at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades. “We filed a report to the County, which is required of any workplace that has three cases reported among workers in a 14-day period. Our protocol is to do an immediate investigation and our own contact tracing.
None of the individuals contracted COVID-19 in the workplace, and none had come to work with fevers,” said Lisa Lapin, Vice President of Communications at Getty. “For privacy reasons, I cannot specify in what area these individuals work, but they do not work together.” According to Lapin, while the Getty Center and Getty Villa sites are closed to visitors and most staff have been working from home, it has had some employees on-site throughout this closure period to protect and maintain the collections and grounds. “Any ill worker remains home and quarantines. We practice social distancing and workers wear masks on our sites. If there is an individual who tests positive, we immediately inform any employee who may have possibly been within a distance,” Lapin said, noting in addition the presence of temperature monitoring stations on-site and protocols requiring employees remain physically distanced from each other. As of Tuesday, public health officials have identified 195,614 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County, and a total of 4,758 deaths. In Brentwood, there have 214 confirmed cases and three deaths.
The Getty Center.
Photo: Sam Catanzaro
Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement Demands Justice for Muxe Burger King Employee By Timothy Michael In response to the death of Angela Martinez Gomez, a Muxe identity employee at a Burger King in Santa Monica, local community members of Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement (Familia:TQLM) rallied on Friday July 24th to demand Justice for all essential workers. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted everyone across the country, and the world, but especially LGBQ+, non-binary, and third gender workers who are more likely to be underemployed, not have workplace protections, and has led to some of them losing their lives. Angela Martinez Gomez, who was a 15 year employee of Burger King, died on July 6th 2020. Workers at the Burger King franchise report that Angela, along with other workers, wasn’t given adequate personal protective equipment (ppe) and worked while having COVID-19 symptoms. Since Angela’s death, workers have filed a complaint with state and local authorities about the work conditions that have made them feel unsafe. Besides Burger King, local and federal governments haven’t done enough to protect all essential workers, including ensuring employers aren’t putting the safety of their workers on the line, as well as enforcing protections for workers. Allegedly Gomez worked for a week while displaying COVID-19 symptoms before walking out on a shift, one of her colleagues, Yolanda Santiago Garcia, claimed in a complaint to OSHA and local public health agencies. The complaint also alleges that a manager misled workers about Gómez’s cause of death, blaming it on the hormones that Gómez, a
transgender woman, was taking. Some employees of this particular Burger King also went on strike after Gomez’s death and held a vigil outside of the fast food location, holding signs that said “Say her name” and “Trans Lives Matter.” Video posted online show cars lined up outside of the restaurant as protestors socially distanced and passersby honked in support. A community Event Organizer for Familia:TQLM Jennicet Gutierrez said, “We’re organizing this rally today because we know that our LGBTQ+, non-binary, third gender, indigenous communities are especially vulnerable during this time. All essential workers are vulnerable right now. Burger King, the local and federal governments have failed in protecting our communities. We’re concerned corporations are putting profits over the lives of our people. The government has failed in holding corporations accountable. We’re speaking out because of our concern that these communities will disproportionately be impacted by COVID-19 and it will lead to more loss of life.” She continued by stating “One of those we’ve lost is Angela Martinez who had COVID-19 symptoms yet had to go to work at Burger King. What we know from workers is that Burger King didn’t provide personal protective equipment to all of their employees nor offered paid leave to workers like Angela who had symptoms of COVID-19 but still went in to work. As Angela’s story is covered, it’s important to highlight Angela’s Muxe identity given that vulnerability this community faces. Muxe people are a third gender, outside of the binary of just man or woman. It is a mistake to consider Muxe people as part of the trans community given that they can identify as both
Photo: Toi Creel
The Burger King on Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica where Angela Martinez Gomez worked.
men and women and don’t fall into the typical binaries of the LGBTQ+ community.” A muxe person is defined as “an individual assigned male at birth who behaves outside roles traditionally associated with masculinity. Sometimes referred to as a third gender, muxe identity pre-dates Spanish imperialism in the
Zapotec region.” Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement works at local and national levels to achieve the collective liberation of trans, queer, and gender-nonconforming Latinxs through building community, organizing, advocacy, and education.
August 07 – August 13, 2020
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FILM REVIEW: “Taste The Nation With Padma Lakshmi”
BEHIND THE SCREEN By Kathryn Whitney Boole There is a plethora of streaming food shows to choose from right now. There’s something comforting and peaceful, not to mention edifying, about watching experts in the art of preparing food do their thing. Full disclosure – my favorite show to fall asleep to is Diners Drive-Ins and Dives. Most of these shows are built on the charming, quirky and flamboyant personalities of their hosts and focus on the preparation of the food and entertainment value of creating delicious dishes. Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi is refreshingly different. Lakshmi’s personality is more lowkey than the other food show hosts. She is graceful and genuine, two traits that don’t usually belong to one with her model looks. Life has brought her way more than her share of physical and emotional anguish. The show is in its first season and all ten episodes are available to stream. Featured are the cultures and histories of Americans who contribute to our cornucopia of spices, cooking styles and dining habits. Each episode usually ends, if appropriate, with Lakshmi helping to create an authentic meal
of a particular culture outdoors, in the setting that their ancestors would have inhabited. The concept of the series is to use food as the portal to a deep examination of all peoples, their assimilation and their survival in our country. The stories that Lakshmi and her crew draw from their subjects are extraordinary. The show delves deep into the cultures that have built our country’s population. The food is the portal through which Lakshmi enters each region to uncover the mysteries and richness of the culture behind its people, a collection of societies that make our country the most diverse collection of thinkers and influencers in the world. Her secret – she is an immigrant herself and had to develop a great social courage growing up and doing business as an immigrant woman in the US. Lakshmi was host of the wildly popular Top Chef on the Food Network for almost 10 years. Fluent in five languages, she has published 4 books, 3 cookbooks and a memoir. She emigrated from India with her single mother at the age of 4 and grew up in Manhattan and Los Angeles County. She had to deal with bullying and racial aggression as a child and self-loathing as a young adult. Lakshmi has endured several painful medical ordeals over the years, including a car accident as a teen that left her with a fractured right hip and shattered arm. When she was
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Rated TV MA 30 Minutes per Episode Documentary streaming on Hulu Season 1 (10 Episodes) Released June 18th
Photos: Courtesy.
“There’s something comforting and peaceful, not to mention edifying, about watching experts in the art of preparing food do their thing,” writes Kathryn Whitney Boole.
“discovered” as a model, photographers did not shy away from her 7” scar. In addition to hosting food shows, she has acted in several major films including the 2003 Bollywood film, Boom. She has written fashion articles for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. She is an American Civil Liberties Union ambassador for immigration and women’s rights.
I met Lakshmi several years ago, at a presentation for Top Chef at the Television Academy. She comes across as highly intelligent, warm and most certainly not full of herself. She has a message, a universal message to all Americans. Her style is to sneak up on people who are the least suspecting and extract the feelings of hardship and joy in their search for acceptance in our country. She reaches those who most need to be reached, and brings to the surface the courage, heart and value of our immigrants during a political climate that is not kind to them. Lakshmi had a hard time selling the concept for Taste the Nation. Repeatedly she was told “no” by networks. Finally Hulu offered to pick up the series, due to her tremendous persistence. As she puts it, “I remember something my grandfather said to me. He said, ‘Whenever you go to sleep, I want you to feel like you did something good today.’…You don’t always have control over what happens to you, but you have control over how you react.” Kathryn Whitney Boole has spent most of her life in the entertainment industry, which has been the backdrop for remarkable adventures with extraordinary people. She is a Talent Manager with Studio Talent Group in Santa Monica. kboole@gmail.com
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August 07 – August 13, 2020
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