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MONDAY, JANUARY 12, 2015
Volume 14 Issue 53
Santa Monica Daily Press
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO SEE PAGE 3
We have you covered
THE COUNCIL MEETS TOMORROW ISSUE
City Hall: Nativity scene regulation getting easier BY DAVID MARK SIMPSON Daily Press Staff Writer
PALISADES PARK Once again the holidays survived a season without nativity scenes in the parks.
Complaints and hours spent dealing with the regulation of unattended displays in Palisades Park have reduced dramatically since City Council’s ordinance went into effect three years ago, city officials said in a recent report to council.
For years, local church groups set up nativity scenes in the park, but in 2012 council banned unattended displays. The decision came following a holiday season in which atheists stuffed the ballot box, winning all but a handful of the slots allocated
for the displays. During the first year of the ban, city officials spent about 80 hours answering questions and providing information regarding SEE DISPLAY PAGE 8
Council preview: Water rates and labor rules BY DAVID MARK SIMPSON Daily Press Staff Writer
CITY HALL Water, workers and parks will be the big three topics at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Aside from stricter regulations on outdoor fitness trainers — an issue the Daily Press wrote about last week — council will consider implementing penalties for waterwasters and review City Hall’s policy for employing contract workers. City officials have been discussing penalties for high water users since July and, in their most recent report to council, note that the penalties won’t hit until August. All water users would be expected to consume 80 percent of what they did during the same timeframe in 2013. All residents would be given a threshold allowance. In a Stage 2 water shortage (that’s where we’re at right now), all single-family customers will get a threshold of at least 22 hundred-cubic-feet (HCF) of water every two months. One HCF equals 748 gallons. Multi-family homes will be allowed at least a 11 HCF per unit every two months in a Stage 2 water shortage. They too will be asked to reduce by 20 percent over their 2013 baseline, if they exceed the threshold. These thresholds are meant to keep things fair for residents who already did much to reduce their water usage in 2013. Commercial water users must adhere to the 80 percent cut without any threshold. Businesses that can prove they’ve done everything possible to reduce their water consumption can get an exemption. Users, residential and commercial, will SEE PREVIEW PAGE 5
Manage Your Team
With
Jeffrey Goodman jeff@smdp.com
NOW OPEN: Brooke Rodd has transitioned from digital to physical sales with a recently opened store on Ocean Park Boulevard.
From online to Ocean Park: Local designer opens brick-and-mortar boutique BY JEFFREY I. GOODMAN Daily Press Staff Writer
OCEAN PARK BLVD Thanks in part to the strong following she developed through her website, clothing designer Brooke Rodd has had items sold through popular online
Confidence
COMMERCIAL I CUSTOM RESIDENTIAL I TENANT IMPROVEMENTS
retailer Zappos and been featured on the Sundance Channel’s “All on the Line” show. But the Web success still left her with a void. “I’ve been online for almost five years now, and I realized pretty fast from being online that I didn’t want to be a wholesaler,”
Gary Limjap (310) 586-0339 In today’s real estate climate ...
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said Rodd, who made her first foray into the brick-and-mortar world last month when she opened Jellyfish on Ocean Park Boulevard. “I enjoyed the connection with people more than just having the quiet, eSEE STORE PAGE 5
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