INSIDE SCOOP
OPINION
BULLETS ON THE BEACH
PARENTING
PAGE 3 BUSH SAVED THE PLANET
PAGE 4 QUIT STRESSING ALREADY PAGE 12
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2007
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Volume 6 Issue 73
Santa Monica Daily Press SYMBOL RISING AND SHINING SEE PAGE 7
Since 2001: A news odyssey
THE WHAT’S UP ESSAY? ISSUE
CULTURAL AWARENESS
A TRIBE ON A QUEST New Zealand natives land in Santa Monica to build a legacy
STORY & PICTURES PAGE 8
Christine Chang news@smdp.com
KIWIS IN THE MIST: Water is released upon a 100-yard sand sculpture fashioned in the shape of a large fern leaf on Monday as part of a New Zealand celebration at Santa Monica Beach.
Back in black: City has a surplus BY KEVIN HERRERA Daily Press Staff Writer
CITY HALL There’s an extra $1.3 million sitting in City Hall’s coffers, but chances are none of it will be spent anytime soon. City staff is recommending the council wait until later this year, when they draft a new budget, so as to get a better grasp of
what they face in the future. A structural deficit may loom in 2009. If City Council decides to open its checkbook, staff has asked that the money be spent only on unfunded or under-funded capital improvement projects because the cash is what is commonly referred to in City Hall as “one-time moneys.” The council could also designate broad categories to which the funds could be
GABY SCHKUD (310) 586-0308
applied, such as transportation management/circulation improvements, which would include acceleration of the traffic signal synchronization plan and neighborhood traffic studies, according to Carol Swindell, City Hall’s director of finance. “We would like for the council to hold off on spending the reserve until after they have had a chance to look at the whole spectrum of community needs,” said Swindell, who is
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in the process of preparing her first budget as finance director for Santa Monica. Swindell was hired by the council in December. The council is expected to discuss the surplus, as well as other mid-year budget adjustments, tonight during a special session, which will be dominated by financial SEE SURPLUS PAGE 14
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