S A N TA M O N I C A
REFLECTING THE CONCERNS OF THE COMMUNITY smmirror.com
July 2 – July 8, 2021 Volume XCV, Issue 100
INSIDE MAN CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER IN CONNECTION TO MAIN STREET SHOOTING HAROLD DWAYNE WILLIS FACES STRING OF CHARGES
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Lana Negrete Appointed as Santa Monica’s Newest Councilmember Council now has first majority not backed by SMRR, Santa Monica Forward By SaM CatanZaro
Lana Negrete has been appointed as Santa Monica City Council’s newest member, marking the first time the majority of the city’s lawmakers are not backed by Santa Monica for Renters’ Rights (SMRR) and Santa Monica Forward. On Tuesday, June 29 Santa Monica City Council appointed Negrete to fill the seat vacated by Kevin McKeown earlier this month. Negrete, a native Santa Monican and local business owner, was sworn in by City Clerk Denise Anderson-Warren following the appointment. She was selected from 34 eligible candidates for the appointment with a term through November 2022. “It’s a special privilege to serve the community I love as a member of the City
Council,” Negrete said. “I am ready and excited to roll up my sleeves and get to work with my Council colleagues and City staff as we lift up community-wide recovery and a strong future for Santa Monica.” Negrete was born and raised in Santa Monica and is the owner of the Santa Monica Music Center. As a mother, she has been active in the local PTA and cares deeply about education and youth empowerment, particularly through the arts, according to the City. “Councilmember Negrete is a lifelong resident who brings a wealth of knowledge about the issues impacting youth and families, renters, and small business owners,” said Mayor Sue Himmelrich. “We warmly welcome Councilmember Negrete and look forward to our work together to bring about Santa Monica’s bright future.” Negrete, the third Hispanic on Council, is the only Santa Monica renter on the dais, the City noted. Councilmember McKeown was also a Santa Monica renter. In her application, Negrete expressed an
Photo: City of Santa Monica
Members of Santa Monica City Council following Tuesday’s appointment of Lana Negrete. Top row (left to right): Christine Parra, Lana Negrete, Phil Brock, Oscar de la Torre. Bottom row: Gleam Davis, Sue Himmelrich, Kristen McCowan.
interest to work towards solutions to address homelessness and to “work together as a collective to create sustainable solutions to the city’s issues, expand programs that need further expanding and to thoughtfully address the concerns of all residents from all corners of
the city. A council that works together to serve the people of the city who depend on them.” Following her appointment, Negrete resigned from her position on the newlyNewest Councilmember, see page 4
Black Lives Matter Sues Santa Monica Over Handling of George Floyd Protests Federal complaint alleges violation of constitutional rights By SaM CatanZaro
Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and protestors have filed a federal lawsuit against Santa Monica officials and police over the handling of mass demonstrations that broke out in the wake of George Floyd’s killing last year.
The complaint, filed Monday in Los Angeles federal court, alleges that the citywide curfew issued on May 31, 2020 following George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis was intended to suppress political protest and violated demonstarots’s constitutional rights. Floyd died in May 2020 after being arrested by police and held on the pavement by the knee of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who last week was convicted of murder and sentenced to prison for 22 and a half years. The complaint filed Monday also accuses
the SMPD of false arrest, assault and battery of over 300 protesters shot with projectices by officers. Plaintiffs further allege that the SMPD targeted protestors for arrest, transported them to a makeshift jail and told them that if they came back into Santa Monica they would be arrested. According to the complaint, the SMPD violated the constitutional rights of protestors “by preemptively banning peaceful assemblies, kettling the demonstrators, subjecting them to unlawful force, arresting and detaining them tightly handcuffed on buses for hours, without access to bathrooms, water, or food” In addition, the plaintiffs state that the “policies and failure of policies, including the failure to train its officers in constitutional responses to peaceful demonstrations, caused the unlawful action taken against plaintiffs.” The complaint also accuses SMPD of suppressing a peaceful protest while just blocks away looters taking advantage of the unrest and plundered hundreds of local businesses. The plaintiffs contend the complaint applies to around 300 individuals arrested by the SMPD in addition to over 300 individuals who were subjected to direct force by officers. Among the actions the plaintiffs are seeking include the expungement of protestors’ arrest
Photo: Sam Catanzaro
A protestor in Santa Monica on May 31, 2020.
records and compensatory damages. The complaint names as defendants the City, 10 as-yet unnamed officials and former SMPD Chief Cynthia Renaud–who was forced to step down in the wake of the department’s handling of the incident. The City, when reached for comment, said it was reviewing the complaint. “The City of Santa Monica is reviewing the civil complaint related to regional activities in the spring of 2020. The City of Santa Monica has not yet been formally served with the complaint,” a spokesperson for the City wrote in a statement. The SMPD deferred to the City’s statement when reached for comment.