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SANTA MONICA SPA OWNER PLEADS GUILTY TO HOARDING AND PRICE GOUGING N95 MASKS
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January 8 – January 14, 2021 Volume LXX, Issue 75
Santa Monica to Pay Police Officers Overtime for May 31 Unrest Claim settled between City of Santa Monica and police union By Sam Catanzaro
Santa Monica lawmakers recently approved a settlement to pay Santa Monica police officers overtime for work during the May 31 civil unrest and looting. On December 29, 2020, Santa Monica City Council unanimously approved a settlement to pay Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) officers $85,000 in overtime wages for work related to the events of May 31. “The City does not admit the allegation, or any entitlement to overtime compensation, but to avoid the expense and burden of further litigation, we recommend settlement,” said Santa Monica City Attorney George Cardona at the meeting. On May 31, rioters, taking advantage of a peaceful protest against the police killing of George Floyd, looted hundreds of Santa Monica businesses. The SMPD was criticized for its response to the event, at one point firing tear gas and rubber bullets on a crowd of protestors while just blocks away looters tore through downtown Santa Monica. Former SMPD Chief Cynthia Renaud stepped-down months later due to her handling of the unrest. The recent settlement covers only lieutenants and captains represented by the union Santa Monica Police Officers’ Association (POA), who had filed a claim against Renaud and Interim City Manager Lane Dilg on August 25. The union sought
A member of the National Guard stands by in Santa Monica following a day and night of unrest in Santa Monica.
overtime compensation between May 31 and June 12, citing its contract with the city that provides overtime compensation for officers working special events. “On or about May 31, 2020, then Chief of Police Cynthia Renaud ordered all Lieutenants, Captains, and the Acting Deputy Chief to work during a special event related to protests that occurred between May 31, 2020 through June 12, 2020 resulting in work full 18 hour days during the period of protests,” reads the
claim. “Like a concert or marathon…a protest is a unique occurrence that constitutes a special event outside normal duties as management employees.” The settlement also modifies the city’s contract with the POA. Changes include: narrowing the definition of a special event, giving the police chief discretion to pay overtime during special events, limiting union members’ ability to grieve an SMPD Chief’s decision relating to overtime pay for special events.
Photo: Sam Catanzaro
Photo: Margaret Gazey (Facebook)
Santa Monica police form a barricade amid May 31 protests.
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January 8 – January 14, 2021
Santa Monica Spa Owner Pleads Guilty to Hoarding and Price Gouging N95 Masks
Niki Schwarz of owner of Tikkun Holistic Spa pleads guilty to one misdemeanor count of hoarding and price gouging By Sam Catanzaro
A Santa Monica spa owner has pled guilty to hoarding and price gouging N95 masks. On Tuesday, Santa Monica resident Niki Schwarz, owner of Tikkun Holistic Spa at 1460 4th Street, pled guilty in Los Angeles federal court to one misdemeanor count of hoarding and price gouging. The crime carries a statutory maximum sentence of one year in federal prison. In an October plea agreement, Schwarz admitted that in February she
began accumulating N95 respirators in anticipation of a shortage that would be caused by COVID-19. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, from the beginning of February until the end of June, Schwarz accumulated nearly 20,000 N95 masks that had been manufactured by 3M (list price ranging from $1.02 to $1.27) and Alpha Pro (list price of 86 cents). In March, the United States government designated N95 respirators as “scarce materials” under the Defense Production Act of 1950 due to the overwhelming need of health care providers dealing with COVID-19 patients to use personal protective equipment. Schwarz admitted that she obtained the N95 respirators for the purpose of reselling them at above-market rates, and that she sold the masks for up to $15 each. Schwarz “accumulated and resold the masks at prices in excess of the prevailing market prices willfully, that is, with knowledge that masks had been designated as scarce materials and with knowledge that accumulation of the designated materials to resell in excess of prevailing
The building that houses Tikkun Holistic Spa.
market prices was unlawful,” according to the plea agreement. On March 1, an associate informed Schwarz that the associate was going to stop selling N95 masks because she believed it was crime – and that price gouging could result in one year in prison – but Schwarz continued to sell the masks at inflated prices.
Photos: Google
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Food Review: Soul-Warming Dumplings Arrive in Santa Monica
By Kerry Slater
A dumpling restaurant recently opened in downtown Santa Monica–its third Westside location–bringing simple yet flavorful Chinese food to the table. This fall, Dan Modern Chinese opened in downtown Santa Monica at 1403 2nd Street. The restaurant–which also has locations in Sawtelle, Playa Vista and Pasadena–replaced short-lived ramen spot Ippudo that closed over the summer. “Dan Modern Chinese is a modern take on traditional Chinese cuisine, featuring hand-made dumplings and noodles, wokfried rice, vegetables and other delicious delicacies,” the restaurant’s website reads. “Here is a finesse to each dish on the menu which comes from the techniques used to prepare our food, and also the use of fewer ingredients, letting the food speak for itself. Dishes are flavorful and clean.” Does Dan Modern Chinese’s selfassessment hold up to scrutiny? For the most part, yes, though like many restaurants amid the pandemic, the delivery process slightly hampers the final product. I ordered for lunch two types of
Photo: Kerry Slater
Pork soup dumplings (left side of plate) and steamed chicken dumplings (right side of plate) surround garlic bok choy from Dan Modern Chinese.
dumplings: pork xiao long bao (soup) and chicken steamed, each order containing five dumplings. The soup dumplings were by far the superior dish. The rich and savory broth of the soup dumplings immediately filled my palate after biting into the delicate bao. There was just the perfect amount of ground pork inside the dumpling–enough to add texture while letting the soul-warming broth shine. Even though these dumplings were not piping hot upon arrival, they still travel well due to the thin dough (doesn’t
get chewy) and just overall deliciousness. The steamed chicken dumplings did not hold up during the delivery as well. The dough was thicker than the xiao long bao and without the added moisture of the broth, the steamed dumpling became a bit tough after the 15-20 minutes travel time. The chicken itself–also ground–was very delicious: lightly seasoned with spices I could not figure out. If these buns were fresh out of the steamer, they would be phenomenal, but that will have to wait a few months until in-person dining returns.
The baby bok cho was top-notch, almost as good as the soup dumplings. Cooked with a simple sauce similar to the soup dumplings and ample garlic, this is a dark leafy green that even vegetable-aversekids may enjoy. In addition, there were a few cloves of caramelized roasted garlic, adding a memorable crunch of umami. One of the highlights came at the very end of the meal: slurping up the remaining broth from the steamed dumplings and the bok choy. Even though it had become lukewarm, its soul-warming properties remained; a few sips of pure, flavorpacked comfort food. The total bill was just under $30, pricey, but it could have easily fed two people for lunch. After six dumplings and a healthy serving of bok choy, I was full and have enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow. While there are cheaper options for Chinese food on the Westside, the quality and simple yet bold flavors of Dan Modern Chinese make it worth checking out when in the mood for dumplings. Value: 6.5/10 Taste: 8/10 Quality: 8/10 ———————Overall: 7.5/10
January 8 – January 14, 2021
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Photo: C&O Trattoria (Facebook)
Longtime Venice Italian Restaurant Forced to Close After 28 year run, Venice’s C&O Trattoria closing By toi Creel
A Venice restaurant that has been around for nearly 30 years is closing its doors. C&O Trattoria, located at 31 Washington Boulevard in Marina del Rey, has has been serving up traditional Italian favorites to Venice’s beachside community since 1992. Recently due to struggles stemming from COVID-19 restaurant restrictions and a disagreements with the landlord, Debbie Singer, Co-owner along with Robert Singer of the C&O Restaurants, says C&O Trattoria will be closing its doors. “Up until March when the pandemic hit, we were a thriving business with employees who had been there since 1992,” Singer said. “When the pandemic hit we were forced to close.” The owners were planning on reopening while they consolidated operations at their other Marina restaurant C&O Cucina, doing takeout and delivery. “We had some problems the city could have helped with and our landlord could have helped with. We could have potentially reopened,” Singer said. Singer says they tried working with the
landlords, mainly to get rent reduced. They were aiming for a partnership, however the parties weren’t able to come to an agreement. “There was a desire on both sides but I don’t think they understood our financial position. There were some problems with the property itself, and a dispute over rent forgiveness and deferral,” Singer said. Singer added the style of the restaurant which included welcoming large groups to celebrate events and functions, also worked against C&O Trattoria because of the pandemic. “Part of the charm is large groups of people getting together,” Singer said. “That’s not happening during COVID and we’re not even encouraging that to happen during COVID.” Despite the closure, Singer says C&O Restaurants is still holding on. Located a eight blocks east on Washington Boulevard, C&O Cucina is still open and available for carryout while a comeback for the Trattoria is a possibility. “We loved serving everybody and celebrating everyone’s occasion at our location. We hope to open a C&O Trattoria at the beach once COVID is over,” Singer said. “I think if landlords and tenants can work together during this then some restaurants will survive,” she added.
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Santa Monica Fire Department Rolls Out Vaccinations SMFD helps with rollout across county By Chad Winthrop
Beginning last week, Santa Monica Fire Department firefighters and paramedics were among the first fire departments in Southern California to be offered the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine. “This is a critical milestone in keeping all frontline medical personnel safe as they prepare for an increase in the number of cases across the county, which is occurring as local hospitals are overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients,” the City said in a press release. In addition to SMFD frontline personnel receiving the vaccine, SMFD leadership helped the roll out of the vaccine to 20 fire departments across Los Angeles County. The effort was coordinated by an Incident Management Team (IMT) comprised of experienced fire chiefs and supported by the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Agency.
“The Santa Monica Fire Department is working hard every day to protect the safety, health, and wellbeing of our community,” said Fire Chief Bill Walker. “It is critical that we ensure our Firefighters are available to respond to all emergencies and by getting vaccinated, we hope to keep them ready and available throughout this pandemic.” The planning effort is led by Tom Clemo, serving as the IMT Planning Section Chief, who also serves as Deputy Chief with the Santa Monica Fire Department. Chief Silvio Lanzas, who serves as the Fire Chief of the Glendale Fire Department, is the Operations Chief, coordinating the movement of the vaccinations to firefighters across the region, which is organized into Central, Foothill and Beach Divisions. The Santa Monice Fire Department is the first City of Santa Monica department to receive the vaccine. Distribution to other frontline workers will occur in the coming weeks and months aligned with State of California guidance on vaccine prioritization.
SMFD RN Catherine Borman administers the vaccine to Chief Bill Walker
Photos: City of Santa Monica
Pali Riptide Baseball Club Tryouts January 9th and 10th at Pali Rec Center By Staff Writer
The Pali Riptide Baseball Club is preparing for a spring season and welcomes players across all ages and experience levels! Pali Riptide has secured spots in a local league across various age groups and several of our club teams are still considering players. If your son or daughter is interested, evaluations will be the weekend of January 9th at the Palisades Recreation Center. Saturday, January 9th – checkin 2:15, evaluations start at 3pm Sunday, January 10th, checkin 11:15, evaluations start at 12:00 The Riptide will also be offering clinics at the Rec Center multiple times a week, beginning January 11th– all baseball players welcomed Pali Riptide is a program meant to compliment local leagues for those players looking for additional training and competition. We will be following all local safety guidelines and restrictions: Temperature checks before all workouts, Masks are mandatory and Parents will be asked not to watch near the fields Please email paliriptide@gmail.com to RSVP and hold your spot for evaluations or if you have any questions.
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Assemblymember Richard Bloom Announces Intention to Run for L.A. County Supervisor State rep. looking to replace Sheila Kuehl By Sam Catanzaro
With incumbent Supervisor Sheila Kuehl signaling she won’t run for re-election, former Santa Monica Mayor and Assemblymember Richard Bloom has announced he will run for County Supervisor. This week State legislator Richard Bloom announced he will run to succeed Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl who has decided she will not seek a third term. Bloom is a former Santa Monica Mayor and longtime resident of the Third Supervisorial District. “I am running for L.A. County Supervisor because I want to build on Supervisor Kuehl’s progressive legacy and tackle the many critical issues that we face. I will fight for humane solutions to our housing and homelessness crisis. Along with investment in affordable housing, that will mean doubling down on improving our public health, mental health, and justice systems. It also means committing to equitable economic recovery and growth as we strive not to return to
‘business as usual’ but to create a more just LA County with opportunity for all,” Bloom said. By August, an independent redistricting commission will determine new Board of Supervisor district boundaries. While redistricting brings with it some unavoidable uncertainty, Bloom said he is moving ahead with his campaign and continuing to gather support for his run. Bloom was elected to represent Assembly District 50, which includes Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, West Los Angeles, Malibu, Agoura Hills and dozens of westside neighborhoods within the County’s Third District, in 2012. “In the Assembly, he has made a name for himself as a strong environmental leader, a stalwart advocate for affordable housing, renter protections, and services that address the root causes of homelessness,” his campaign said. “Bloom has distinguished himself as a progressive who understands the importance of economic development – skills that will be critical in guiding the County forward in the aftermath of the pandemic. As Mayor, he helped guide Santa Monica past the Great Recession, dramatically increasing jobs while helping to grow “Silicon Beach”,
Richard Bloom at a State Senate Health Hearing in 2019.
hospitality/tourism and the entertainment industry in a way that maximized the benefits for all.”, Before his election to the State Assembly, Bloom served for more than a decade on the Santa Monica City Council and as the city’s Mayor. For nearly 30 years, Bloom practiced family law and subsequently and consecutively
served as Executive Director of two nonprofits, Levitt & Quinn Family Law Center and PATH, a homeless services and housing agency. Bloom was born in Philadelphia and moved to Southern California at the age of three. He is married to Robbie Black, a healthcare professional. They have two adult children, Zac and Emmett.
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OPINION
School Board Dilemmas – Campus Construction Planning and New Member Appointment
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Between crafting COVID-era return-toschool plans, fine-tuning Distance Learning, developing major district-wide campus improvements, giving fair process to the Santa Monica High School History Building (slated to be bulldozed this summer along with the cafeteria, main administrative building, a gym, and a wide swath of mature trees and greenspace), and appointing a new member to fill the SMMUSD School Board vacancy, our School Board has a lot on its plate. And our newly-elected City Councilmembers, Phil Brock, Christine Parra, and Oscar de la Torre, have full plates too, arriving in office aware that “change” is needed in Council’s approach to local governance. So they recently joined Mayor Sue Himmelrich to reject the “build, baby, build” Council m.o. of the past decade, ending negotiations with the proposed developer of the City’s land at 4th/5th & Arizona. In contrast, our SMMUSD School District leadership remained in place postelection, and Board Members appear still to be processing the message from voters that local over-development and over-building is less in favor. By passing three large school district facilities bond measures (BB, ES, SMS) since 2006, Santa Monicans have shown strong support for significantly renovated or new learning spaces for our students along with great infrastructure for technology. For the amount of public money that’s being handed over to the District, we’d expect to see elementary school classroom buildings thoughtfully brought up to snuff to last another almost-100 years. But instead, in December District Staff asked the School Board to approve an almost $100 million first round of random, smaller construction projects on district elementary and middle school campuses, with no Boardapproved individual campus plans or a district-wide facilities improvements Master Plan in place. Implementation of these projects would spend down the remaining unallocated $100 million out of the original $485 million SMS school district facilities bond measure passed by Santa Monica voters in 2018 and tee up another bond ask by the District in 2022. The projects list was drawn from campus plans developed quietly over the past year by district staff, in a process dubbed “Campus Assessments”, and which alarmingly feature significant new construction on every campus and reduction
of many large open spaces. Our City is park-poor, so Santa Monicans have a vested interest in keeping school campus open space relatively unchanged, as the public has used these spaces for decades as our de facto neighborhood parks. With a majority of residents living in multi-family housing, these school campus playgrounds are where babies take their first shaky steps, and older children learn how to throw balls and ride trikes; to climb on jungle gyms, play handball and tetherball, shoot baskets and kick soccer balls. A driver of these informal campus plan designs apparently is the au courant Project Based Learning (PBL) model of instruction, which the Superintendent and School Board have been moving District education towards for several years. PBL allegedly requires much larger classroom spaces for team teaching and group learning. But it seems to have produced a serious intent in the proposed plans to overbuild each campus despite some declining enrollment. PBL also was cited by District Staff as a main reason for the planned demolition of the History Building at SAMOHI, despite the fact that it’s unclear yet whether PBL will become a truly enduring, effective, and dominant model of educational instruction. This building to facilitate PBL also potentially decimates other historic campus resources and fails to consider the community’s long-term and customary reliance on these spaces as our parks. These decades of public use are formally and legally recognized in the City’s joint use agreements and Playground Partnership with the District, which allow the City to offer school fields and open spaces to the public for recreational use during non-school hours. The District has both a legal and a moral obligation to preserve these spaces for customary public use & to not allow over-development on the sites to materially reduce them. As the City inevitably densifies over the years, balancing the needs of PBL building to enhance student learning against keeping these spaces “undeveloped” for student health and community use is a must. Interestingly, while PBL is the main guiding principle, the projects list prioritized preschool building more than almost anything else, including a $2.3 million Pre-K/Kindergarten Consolidation at Grant, a $16.4 million new Pre-K/T-K/Kindergarten building at Roosevelt, and a $23 million new one-story Early Education/Kindergarten Classroom Building and field / playground updates at Will Rogers. McKinley would get a $29.4 million new Classroom and School Support building, while Franklin would
SMART, see page 11
January 8 – January 14, 2021
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Photo: Sam Catanzaro.
“Between crafting COVID-era return-to-school plans, fine-tuning Distance Learning, developing major district-wide campus improvements, giving fair process to the Santa Monica High School History Building (slated to be bulldozed this summer along with the cafeteria, main administrative building, a gym, and a wide swath of mature trees and greenspace), and appointing a new member to fill the SMMUSD School Board vacancy, our School Board has a lot on its plate,” writes SMart in their latest column.
SMART, from page 10 get a $7 million “makerspace”. Why all the preschools? And what is a “makerspace”? Apparently “makerspaces” are spaces where students can build things. “Makerspace” activities do already occur in many traditional elementary school classrooms. Teacher/author John Spencer, who is a creativity and makerspace expert, explains that a “…..makerspace can take the form of [just] a mobile cart that can be shared between classrooms….” Hmmm. The projects list and collection of campus plans debuted for the first time at the School Board’s December 9th meeting, with the list scheduled to be approved as a Consent Item (as in, without discussion) by the Board on December 17th. That’s right, folks - $100 million of your tax dollars as a Consent Item. Due to an extended return-to-school plans discussion, the Board ended up postponing its consideration of the projects list until the new year. Has the District’s planning process taken a wrong turn? This query does not seek to undermine the PBL learning approach, which FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NUMBER: 2020206171 ORIGINAL FILING This statement was filed with the County Clerk of LOS ANGELES ON 12/03/20. The following person (persons) is (are) doing business as 1. SANTA MONICA POSTAL SERVICES 1626 MONTANA AVE, SANTA MONICA CA. 90403. The full name of registrant(s) is/are: DIMITRIS PAPANIKOLAOU 1626 MONTANA AVE, SANTA MONICA, CA. 90403. This business is conducted by An Individual. The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on 07/2016. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime). Signed DIMITRIS PAPANIKOLAOU. This Statement was filed with the County Clerk of LOS ANGELES County on DEC. 03, 2020. NOTICE: IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUBDIVISION (a) OF SECTION 17920, A FICTITIOUS NAME STATEMENT GENERALLY EXPIRES AT THE END OF FIVE YEARS FROM THE DATE ON WHICH IT WAS FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK, EXCEPT, AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION (b) OF SECTION 17920, WHERE IT EXPIRES 40 DAYS AFTER ANY CHANGE IN THE FACTS SET FORTH IN THE STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 17913 OTHER THAN A CHANGE IN THE RESIDENCE ADDRESS OF A REGISTERED OWNER. A NEW FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT MUST BE FILED BEFORE THE EXPIRATION. THE FILING OF THIS STATEMENT DOES NOT OF ITSELF AUTHORIZE THE USE IN THIS STATE OF A FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME IN VIOLATION OF THE RIGHTS OF ANOTHER UNDER FEDERAL, STATE, OR COMMON LAW (SEE SECTION 14411 ET SEQ., BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE). SANTA MONICA MIRROR to publish 12/11/2020, 12/18/2020, 12/25/2020, and 1/1/2021
aims to engage students not necessarily served by traditional education. That’s a good thing. But it’s fair to ask the District whether our campuses can adequately serve the PBL model without extreme over-building. Several district parents and local leaders have asked the School Board to press “pause” on any further action to get significantly more community input and address concerns of historic resource preservation, large builtspace footprints, the role of preschools, and potential loss of open and recreation space. Approval of the proposed projects list by the School Board before this occurs and without formally approved plans or a Master Plan would set a bad precedent and legitimize projects and plans the public hasn’t even seen yet. The Board also is being asked to prioritize sustainability issues such as adaptive reuse of existing buildings, where possible, versus wholesale new construction, to quantify projected utility and maintenance costs and staffing needs for large, expensive new buildings (with any increased costs straining annual operating resources), and to compile a facilities improvements projects Master Plan and an implementation plan to manage impacts to elementary and middle school communities during what may be many years of construction on every campus. To its credit, the Board appears to be listening to the public feedback and observers hope it will table the projects list for now and put these issues onto its upcoming meeting agendas for close study and public discussion. Although the School Board’s January 14th meeting agenda is not published as of this writing, it’s rumored that the Board will consider historic preservation issues next week. To fairly balance student learning needs against the costs to Santa Monicans of years of new construction and the public’s need to still access and use campus open spaces,
fields, black tops, and play equipment for recreation, the Board must facilitate a very public, noticed, considered, methodical, & transparent process going forward. With public money and years of construction on the line, it’s important to get this right. And regarding the appointment of its new member, the Board also is getting vocal feedback on the imperative to respect voters’ wishes and appoint Jason Feldman to the Board vacancy. His standing for the position includes (1) that he was the 4th highest vote getter after election winners Jon Kean, Maria Leon-Vazquez and Jennifer Smith; (2) he is a civil rights attorney bringing valuable legal expertise to the Board; and (3) he has children at SMMUSD schools, one of whom has special needs as do over 13% of students in the District, many of whom are students of color. Feldman would be able to represent many different students’ perspectives on the Board. No other potential appointee brings this set of credentials to the table. So please keep an eye on the January and February School Board agendas for opportunities to speak up or write to the Board regarding school campus development issues. The vacancy appointment will be made at the January 14th School Board meeting. Be sure to tune in. By Ann Hoover, guest columnist for SMa.r.t 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, Marc Verville CPA Inactive For previous articles see www. santamonicaarch.wordpress.com/writing Ann Hoover is a former attorney and served as a PTA Co-President at Franklin Elementary School. She was a member of
the SMMUSD Facilities District Advisory Committee from Spring 2016 until this past November. The proposed long range campus plans can be viewed here: https://simbli.eboardsolutions.com/ Meetings/Attachment. spx?S=36030435&AID=83633&MID=4504
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#1 IN TRANSFERS #1 IN TRANSFERS
Classes start February 16 smc.edu/spring
SANTA MONICA COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT BOARD OF TRUSTEES Rob Rader, Chair; Dr. Louise Jaffe, Vice Chair; Dr. Susan Aminoff; Dr. Nancy Greenstein; Dr. Margaret Quiñones-Perez; Dr. Sion Roy; Barry A. Snell; Joshua Elizondo, Student Trustee; Kathryn E. Jeffery, Ph.D., Superintendent/President Santa Monica College | 1900 Pico Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90405 | smc.edu