S A N TA M O N I C A
INSIDE
KATHLEEN RAWSON STEPPING DOWN AS CEO OF DTSM, INC.
REFLECTING THE CONCERNS OF THE COMMUNITY smmirror.com
PAGE 4
December 31 – January 6, 2022 Volume CXX, Issue 125
Lawmakers Look to Curb ‘Growing Wall of Illegal Vendors’ on Santa Monica Pier “This issue isn’t about illegal vending, it’s about our community values,” says Councilmember Lana Negrete By DoLorES QUIntana anD Sam Catanzaro Santa Monica City Council is looking at ways to regulate unlicensed food vendors on and around the Pier over an array of concerns including dumping waste on the beach, selling food not up to health code, blocking fire lanes and using unregulated combustible fuels. Since the passage of S.B. 946 in 2018 that decriminalized street vending as a whole, Santa Monica city employees and LA County employees have been working to control the unpermitted vending and the hazards and environmental problems that they say come with it. SB 946 was passed to give street vendors a path to legal vending but has proved problematic in practice since many cities permitting processes are prohibitively expensive and the equipment standards that are scaled towards larger vendors and are again, too expensive for most street vendors as revealed by a report issued by Public Counsel.
org. In Santa Monica, dozens of unpermitted vendors, especially on the weekends, come to the pier to sell food and cause issues by using unregulated combustible fuels, selling food that is not compliant with health codes, dumping waste by the beach and blocking the fire lanes onto the Pier. In a response to these problems, Santa Monica City Council has passed new ordinances to further regulate street vending and has called in additional staff to deal with the issues. During the Dec. 7 City Council meeting, Councilmember Lane Negrete said “me and my colleagues are addressing public safety, environmental advocacy and human rights. This issue isn’t about illegal vending, it’s about our community values, putting our foot down when enough is enough and now is that time.” At the December 7 meeting Council, in a unanimous vote, directed staff to “develop a comprehensive assessment regarding the continued challenges with unpermitted vending activity on and around the Santa Monica Pier.” Lawmakers specified that the report should address ways to “protect public health and safety while promoting Pier businesses and the visitor experience.” City Council will take further action on the assessment no later than February 22. “We need it to stop,” said Mayor Sue Himmelrich. “I think a bunch of us have been
down and witnessed the chaos that ensued, and I think we understand that this has created an emergency for us.” The City currently has assigned up to 45 city employees to handle the street vendor traffic on the weekends, which are the busiest days. This includes three code enforcement officers who are there to work to induce compliance to local ordinances through education, 10 to 15 Public Works employees who clean up improperly disposed refuse from vendors, two SMPD fire inspectors inspect and seize, if necessary, fuels that are not permitted for use and six to ten SMPD officers who are there to enforce ordinances and deal with disputes. The city has hired additional security personnel
from Allied Security to keep vendors off of the wooden pier. Anywhere from once or twice a month, LA County sends six to eight public health inspectors who monitor the vendors for any possible health code violations. The City Council has made it clear that they intend to protect and enforce their city codes with all vendors who seek to sell their food around the Santa Monica Pier, but they seem to be frustrated with the amount of effort that they need to put into that effort. As it stands, there are only 13 available vendor permits allowed on the Pier and all other vendors are required to stay 100 feet from the Pier as stated in the City’s vending ordinance.
Santa Monica Pier, see page 4
New LA County District for Santa Monica More Conservative Sheila Kuehl decries new District 3 By DoLorES QUIntana anD Sam Catanzaro
This month a new map for LA County Board of Supervisors districts went into effect with changes that make Santa Monica’s district more conservative. The new map, which went into effect December 16, adds Porter Ranch, Chatsworth and Granada Hills while removing Mar Vista, Los Feliz, the Southeast Valley and the Cahuenga Pass from the District. LA County Supervisor of District 3, Sheila Kuehl was outraged over the changes and, in particular, was vocal about losing the artistic venues The Ford Theatre, The Hollywood Bowl, LACMA
and Universal Studios which are now divided among Districts 2 and 5. Kuehl gave the commission a written statement that lamented the loss of these important cultural sites and said that she and her staff were “fierce advocates of the arts.” Kuehl added that the process resulted in the “rushed adoption of a strategically manipulated 11th-hour map.” on her blog. Kuehl said that she believes that the map was reconfigured to favor two potential candidates for her seat because she will not be running for re-election. Supervisor Kuehl further stated, “the result of this last-minute marauding is that my District becomes far more centrist (as in, bye-bye any reform to our justice system). “Two non-progressive men, middleof-the-road Democrats who hope to be Supervisors, used the Commission to shape their own dream districts,” Supervisor
District 3, see page 8
The new LA County District 3 map.
Photo: LA County (Official)