S A N TA M O N I C A
INSIDE Federal Court Uphold City’s Homeshare Ban
REFLECTING THE CONCERNS OF THE COMMUNITY smmirror.com
PAGE 10
March 15 – 21, 2019 Volume XXI, Issue 35
City Asks to Halt Summer Election Petition for writ filed with the California Court of Appeals. By Sam Catanzaro
A conceptual plan of the Civic Center Multipurpose Sports Field recently approved by the California Coastal Commission.
Drawing: Ann Bowman Hoover.
New Park Coming to SM Civic Center Multipurpose Sports Field Scores Big at the Coastal Commission. By Staff Writer Last week, the Civic Center Multipurpose Sports Field’s Coastal Development Permit application (CDP) was unanimously approved by the California Coastal Commission. Field supporters had generated over 125 pages of pro-field public correspondence, including letters of unqualified support from State Senator Ben Allen, the School Board and many other elected and civic leaders. Numerous community members provided public testimony or came to the meeting to show support, including representatives from Santa Monica College, the Recreation & Parks Commission, neighborhood groups, sports organizations and Santa Monica High School. “A field in our Civic Center to serve
TAX
thousands of children and adults was worth the two-plus decades of exhausting advocacy by a determined community,” said Recreation & Parks Commissioner Maryanne LaGuardia, a leader of the effort since the mid-nineties. The City has three conditions to comply with in connection with receiving the CDP, but City Staff have assured field supporters that compliance will not be an issue and will not slow down the time-to-field. The first two conditions involve the City developing and implementing a parking and transportation demand management plan, reporting data annually to Coastal for five years and restricting the number of parking permits issued at the Civic Center. The third condition, imposed at the meeting by the Coastal Commissioners as the result of public correspondence and testimony, is a commemoration of the Belmar Triangle community, which was one of Santa Monica’s African-American neighborhoods before it was razed in the 1940s and 1950s to create the Civic Center area and the Civic Auditorium. “Learning that history, the taking of homes and businesses from a minority community, has always helped cement and fuel our com-
mitment to ensure that this long-promised field becomes a reality and that the Civic Center area remains one of public and not of private use” said Ann Hoover, Co-Chair of Santa Monica High School PTSA’s Civic Center Task Force. “The field has always been the right thing to do for all the kids in our town, for SAMOHI, and for our Civic Center”, said Jaleh Mirhashemi, co-founder and Chair Emeritus of the Task Force. Former Recreation & Parks Commission Chair, Phil Brock echoed that sentiment: “I am excited that all the residents who helped in this quest for more open space will see SAMOHI students and kids from all over our community on that field beginning in 2020”. The next major step in the process will be for City Council to award the construction contract in June 2019, followed by the anticipated groundbreaking of the project in August 2019. “This was the biggest hurdle for fast-tracking the sports field,” said City Manager Rick Cole. “We’re excited about inviting everyone to the groundbreaking this summer.” According to the City, this $8 million project is set to be complete in July 2020.
The City of Santa Monica is asking the California Court of Appeals to rule that the city does not need to hold a special election this summer to choose a new City Council. Under a judge’s recent ruling, as of August 15, the current sitting members of Santa Monica City Council will be serving illegally in contempt of the court. The current council was elected in an at-large election, which the court has ruled is discriminatory towards Latino voters, and has ordered the city to switch to district-based elections. The case, Pico Neighborhood Association, et al. v. City of Santa Monica, 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 CVRA and discriminates
ELECTION, see page 12
Photo: Courtesy.
The seven-district map drawn by the plaintiffs.
Sweet Home Santa Monica
Samuel Moses, CPA
Dan & Charlee Nessel | 310.365.0195 | 310.755.8180
100 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica
Dan@NesselHomes.com | Charlee@NesselHomes.com | NesselHomes.com
310.395.9922
Lic# 01349526 ©2018 Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties is a member of the franchise system of BHH Affiliates LLC.
01349526
Lic# 01309674