Santa Monica Daily Press, May 31, 2014

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MAY 31-JUNE 1, 2014

Volume 13 Issue 167

Santa Monica Daily Press

ELECTION LETTERS SEE PAGE 4

We have you covered

THE AIRPORT OPINION ISSUE

Shriver spends $1M, leads supervisors cash race

City opens registration for summer camps BY MATTHEW HALL Editor-in-chief

CITYWIDE The City of Santa Monica has opened registration for its 2014 summer camp season and organizers are actively soliciting for participants. The city by the sea is offering 35 unique camps over the summer season between June 16 and August 8. Local youth of all ages can choose from options including sports, fitness, performing arts, culture, science and imagination. Bob Gibson, Regional manager of Los Angeles Super Soccer Stars runs a soccer camp in Santa Monica and said the camp experience allows students to develop skills more quickly than they might in an extended program but that skill development is only part of what camps offer. “If you do anything intensely, you’re going to improve, but also added to that is the social element. It isn’t just the aspect of what they’re going to get out of the camp,” he said. Ebba Valenzuela, Program Supervisor for the City of Santa Monica, said social interaction is a significant benefit of a camp experience. “A lot of kids are shy or they don’t have brothers/sisters/development in their lives or they haven’t been to camp and are scared to leave,” she said.“Then they meet friends and they enjoy it.” Valenzuela that in addition to the added intensity of a camp, the week-long experience allows organizers to create theme weeks. She said students who choose to repeat a performing camp for several weeks may find themselves exposed to different cultures and styles of music. “I can see the success in the camp repeats,” she said. “You can tell they SEE CAMP PAGE 9

BY DAVID MARK SIMPSON Daily Press Staff Writer

WESTSIDE Former Santa Monica Mayor

buildings dates back to 1935. In the current process, the Landmark Commission has authority to override Planning Commission if a project meets a specific set of historic benchmarks but only after the Planning Commission has already approved the project. Two Landmark com-

Bobby Shriver has received nearly $1.9 in contributions to his supervisor campaign, with $1 million of that coming from his own pocket. The primary election in the race to replace termed-out Third District Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky will be held this Tuesday. Former State Senator and Assemblywoman, Sheila Kuehl, follows Shriver in contributions with more than $1.2 million. Thanks to a 1996 law, Shiver’s decision to donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to his own campaign means that anyone else who wants to donate to Shriver is capped at $300. It also means that there’s no limit to how much the other candidates can accept. He got into politics in 2004 at the age of 50 after a dispute with City Hall over the height of his hedges. He served on the Santa Monica City Council until 2012 and announced his candidacy for Supervisor in January of 2014. Shriver, whose uncle was former President John F. Kennedy, recently boasted that he raised the $880,000 through more than 3,200 contributions of $300 or less. Actors Tom Hanks, Rob Lowe, Chevy Chase, Harvey Keitel, and Larry David donated to the campaign, as did musicians Tom Petty and Quincy Jones. Blockbuster director Steven Spielberg also donated to Shriver’s campaign. Shriver has more than half a million dollars on hand, he said. “Our campaign is unique in that we have not received any outside ‘super’ donations from individuals or organizations,” said Shriver’s campaign strategist Bill Carrick in a release. “In the case of one of our opponents, a single contribution of $75,000 from an outside interest group was accepted along with many additional, individual contributions in the tens of thousands of dollar

SEE CONDO PAGE 11

SEE CASH PAGE 3

Matthew Hall matt@smdp.com

ALUMNI: Brianna Spencer and Shari Walker spoke about their YWCA experience on May 29.

YWCA celebrates years of life altering services BY MATTHEW HALL

make or break time in their lives. “What we do is, the staff and residents work together to create what we call life plans, it's not a case management plan, it's not an individual achievement plan, it's a life plan because it doesn't stop here, it continues long after they leave here,” said Program Director Maria Abenes. Applicants for the program must be former foster youth, single women without children, between the ages of 18 and 22, academically / vocationally motivated,

Editor-in-chief

14TH ST For the past 16 years, a small home at the corner of 14th and Pico has served as a lifesaving haven for young women aging out of the County's foster care system. The facility, operated as part of the YWCA's Transitional Housing and Education, held a “Sweet 16” party on May 29 to celebrate 16 years of providing foster youth with a home, food, social support and vital services during what can be a

SEE YWCA PAGE 10

Planning Commission balks at condos BY DAVID MARK SIMPSON Daily Press Staff Writer

CITY HALL The Planning Commission was not impressed with plans for a 21-unit condominium project proposed for the Pico Neighborhood Wednesday night. Residents spoke largely in opposition to the project, bashing, among other things,

its design, its size, and the impact it would have on the current residents. Commissioners voted unanimously to continue discussion of the project at a later date, recommending that the developer go first to the Landmarks Commission. The Landmarks Commission would analyze the historical value of the six current buildings proposed for demolition. At least one of the

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