WEEKEND EDITION
INSIDE SCOOP
COMMENTARY
CITY TAKES HOME TECH AWARDS PAGE 3 FRENCH STATE OF MIND PAGE 4
MAY 31-JUNE 1, 2008
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Volume 7 Issue 171
Santa Monica Daily Press
YOUNG TROOPS DRY OUT SEE PAGE 17
Since 2001: A news odyssey
THE MOVING ON ISSUE
Talarico receives new job
BUSINESS
BY MELODY HANATANI Daily Press Staff Writer
SMMUSD HDQTRS Less than two years into
an assessment district. The walkways along Main Street were swept only twice a year until the MSBIA began contributing money to pay for enhanced services about three years ago. The grant, which will soon expire, allowed the MSBIA to free up some of its contribution. “The grant itself was an improvement over what existed,” Gary Gordon, the executive director of the MSBIA, said. The association has held several meetings with merchants and landlords to discuss the proposal over the past year, the majority of which have expressed support for the assessment district, store owners pointing to the need for clean streets in order to attract customers. “If a street looks shabby, you’ll lose customers, so I’m willing to chip in if we have to,” Susan Amenta, the owner of clothing bou-
her term, Superintendent Dianne Talarico on Friday was tapped to head the Burlingame School District, her departure the latest in an exodus of top administrators over the past few years. The announcement comes more than a week after Talarico reportedly told a group of parents she received an offer to oversee a district in Northern California, hoping to move to the San Francisco Bay Area where her husband works as a specialist in school business services. The name of the district was withheld pending its governing board appointment, which took place Friday morning. “It was my intention to obtain a better balance between my professional and personal life and I really wanted to return to a school district that would allow me to live with my husband and get the support that one needs when serving in a leadership capacity,” Talarico said. “There are complex and difficult positions that we choose for ourselves as school superintendents, but it always helps to have a listening ear.” Talarico and her husband will reside in between their respective commutes to work — hers being about 15 miles south and his about eight miles north. Her exit is among a number of resignations by top administrators the past several years, including former Superintendent John Deasy, Chief Academic Officer Donna Muncey and former Santa Monica High School Principal and Senior Director of Secondary Education Ilene Straus in 2006. Mike Matthews, who served as an interim superintendent and left in 2006, returned last year to serve as the assistant superintendent for human services. The most recent departure was Deputy Superintendent Tim Walker, who resigned earlier this month. Located in San Mateo County, the Burlingame School District is a small K-8 organization with roughly 2,400 students,
SEE MAIN STREET PAGE 12
SEE DISTRICT PAGE 14
Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com
MADE FOR SHOPPING: Shoppers walk down the Main Street sidewalk in front of Patagonia clothing store on Friday afternoon. Main Street property owners are planning to vote for a new assessment district to provide $88,000 a year to pay for sidewalk maintenance and tree lighting.
Keeping the streets fresh and clean Main Street landlords consider paying up for area maintenance BY MELODY HANATANI Daily Press Staff Writer
MAIN STREET Property owners in this Ocean Park commercial district, representing a blend of high-end stores and mom and pops, will soon decide whether to chip in more than $88,000 a year to keep the area in tip-top shape. City Hall will mail out ballots next week to 157 property owners along Main Street between Pico Boulevard and Dewey Street, asking them to establish an assessment district that will bring in enough money to maintain sidewalks and ornamental tree lighting. The Main Street district is the second commercial center in the city considering an assessment district. Downtown landlords are also voting on forming a new property-based assessment district, which if approved, would bring in
more than $3.6 million a year to pay for enhanced maintenance and customer service. While downtown property owners had to sign off on a petition before voting on the ballot measure, Main Street landlords were able to skip that first step altogether, proposing their assessment district under a different state law. Both ballots are expected to be counted by the City Clerk on July 22. The assessment, estimated at approximately $88,632 a year, would continue the current level of sidewalk maintenance and tree lighting along Main Street, made possible at the moment because of a grant the Main Street Business Improvement Association (MSBIA) received from City Hall last year. The $85,000 grant was used to pay for festoon lighting and sidewalk sweeping as well as a consultant who suggested forming
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