FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2011
Volume 10 Issue 120
Santa Monica Daily Jest
CHARLIE JOINS SAMOHI SEE PAGE 3
At least we’re not Patch.com
THE APRIL FOOLS’ ISSUE
Taxes rise to benefit City Hall, schools BY MICHAEL J. TITTINGERMAN Daily Jest Staff Writer
CITYWIDE Santa Monica’s new tax increase to 10.25 percent may be just the first of two increases to the rate charged on items purchased in the city by the sea. Santa Monicans could see up to a 17 percent hike in their bills for everything from
clothing to durable goods beginning today when the half-cent tax passed in November of 2010 takes effect. The additional tax will take the total paid on most retail goods, with some exclusions for certain recreational items and mailing supplies, and bring the tax rate from 9.75 percent to 10.25 percent, but city officials are already considering raising that increase to
17 percent in the near future. Those exemptions represented hard-won battles on the part of the adult entertainment store and the grandmother lobbies, who both felt their clientele would be unfairly hit by an increase in the price of age-specific toys and packing tape. Voters approved the tax, called Measure Y, on Nov. 2. At the same time, voters passed
Measure YY, a non-binding add-on to prove to city officials that Santa Monicans wanted half of the money gained from Measure Y to go to the Saint Mo-Bu Unified School District. City staff maintains that it expects $11.4 million from the tax in its first year, said SEE TAX PAGE 7
Downtown Co. officials fire rogue ambassador BY MELODY HANATANIE Daily Jest Staff Writer
DOWNTOWN A Downtown Santa Monica Co. ambassador has been fired for illicitly spiriting away tourists and shoppers from the Third Street Promenade and transporting them to other shopping districts across the city, it was revealed on Thursday. The ambassador program was originally created to help Downtown visitors navigate the popular shopping and dining destination. Wilfred Collins is suspected to have received bribes from competitor shopping SEE DOWNTOWN PAGE 7
Councilman McKlewan declares self SM mayor Council stunned, unsure how to proceed BY MELODIE HANATANI Daily Jest Staff Writer
truck from selling their THC-containing edibles and conducting medical marijuana evaluations within the city limits, a move City Hall says will cut down on traffic accidents, help curb obesity and eliminate Hacky Sack injuries.
CITY HALL Tired of being overlooked for Santa Monica’s mayor, Councilman Tevin McKlewan has wrangled himself the top spot on the strength of an obscure law and with the backing of seven of the city’s eight neighborhood groups. The move to place McKlewan atop the city government food chain has been in the works for months. Neighborhood activists including the Mid-City Friends of Downtown and the Palisades Park Tree Lovers circulated a petition among the city’s
SEE TRUCK PAGE 8
SEE MAYOR PAGE 8
Brandon Unwise brandonu@smdp.com
NO LONGER: The Baked to Perfection truck is the target of a City Hall ban that prohibits the sale of pot-laced edibles within the city’s limits.
City Hall bans food truck that sells weed brownies, other edibles BY RYAN HYATTMAN Daily Jest Staff Writer
CITY HALL First came the kimchi guesadilla, then the pulled pork tacos and bourbon vanilla cupcakes. Now, medical marijuana enthusiasts are capitalizing on the gourmet food truck craze, selling weed brownies,
chronic cookies, tinctures and tonics — and public safety officials here are not stoked. Officers with the Santa Monica Police Department (known in the medical marijuana community as “buzzkills”) joined forces with the City Manager’s Office on Thursday to permanently prevent the owners of the Baked to Perfection food
Gary Limjap
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