WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013
Volume 12 Issue 177
Santa Monica Daily Press
LIVING THE GOOD LIFE AT OUR EXPENSE SEE PAGE 12
Bulger jury selection unlike other mob cases
We have you covered
THE CRIME ISSUE
Crime down in Santa Monica SMPD credits ‘all hands on deck’ policy; greatest drop in assaults BY ASHLEY ARCHIBALD Daily Press Staff Writer
DOWNTOWN Crime in Santa Monica is down 9 percent over this time last year, a drop police attribute to an “all hands on
deck” policy that aims to make police a visible deterrent against criminals, officials say. Violent and property-related crimes dropped from 1,549 between Jan. 1 and June 4, 2012 to 1,416 over the same time period this year.
BY DENISE LAVOIE BOSTON The machi-
SEE JURY PAGE 8
Affordable housing tax may be on the horizon BY ASHLEY ARCHIBALD Daily Press Staff Writer
bers of an aspiring model who was strangled to death in her Santa Monica apartment erupted in tears and screams on Tuesday when a jury acquitted a woman
CITY HALL City officials may come to voters as soon as 2014 with a measure to create a local source of funds to pay for affordable housing production in Santa Monica in an attempt to fill the gap left by the loss of redevelopment money. Instead of a new tax, city officials could also join with those from other cities in asking Los Angeles County to release tax revenue that would have flowed to redevelopment agencies before Feb. 1 2012, the day the agencies died at the hand of the legislature, governor and courts. The pronouncement came last week from Andy Agle, director of the Housing and Economic Development Department, in a budget report to the City Council. Agle and his department have been struggling to protect affordable housing developments already being built from the clutching hands of the state Department of Finance, but that does little to replace the roughly $20 million in revenue from the former Redevelopment Agency that was largely used to build apartments for low-income individuals and families. City Hall still has laws on the books that
SEE VERDICT PAGE 11
SEE HOUSING PAGE 10
CASH IN
Photo courtesy Susan Bordelon Photography Artist Carl Lozada browses artwork up for auction at the seventh annual ART for CLARE, a fundraiser held Sunday at Bergamot Station. Lozada also contributed several pieces to the show. ART for CLARE grossed over $50,000 to support CLARE’s work with those struggling with alcohol and drug addiction. Roughly 300 people attended the auction.
Anger follows acquittal in death of aspiring model BY LINDA DEUTSCH AP Special Correspondent
LOS ANGELES Friends and family mem-
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SEE CRIME PAGE 11
Time to put money where your mouth is
AP Legal Affairs Writer
nations of choosing a jury for the longawaited trial of reputed Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger may end up being most notable for how routine they appear despite the notoriety of the case BULGER and the outsized tales of the man at its center. Unlike some other high-profile organized crime trials, jurors in the Bulger case won’t be sequestered and their identities will be revealed after the verdict is announced. Perhaps the biggest challenge will be finding 18 people who can spend the next four months hearing testimony about a long list of allegations against Bulger, including charges that he played a role in killing 19 people. Bulger, the former leader of the Winter Hill Gang, is now 83 years old. Three of his former cronies began cooperating with the government after authorities revealed that Bulger had been a longtime FBI informant. All three — former hitman John Martorano, former partner Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi and former aide Kevin Weeks — are expected to be the prosecution’s star witnesses against Bulger. The gang disintegrated in the years after Bulger fled Boston in 1994. Bulger was one of the nation’s most wanted fugitives for more than 16 years until he was captured in Santa Monica, Calif., in 2011. In some high-profile mob cases, including John Gotti’s 1992 racketeering trial, jurors have been sequestered out of fear they could be intimidated or threatened by the
The greatest drop came in aggravated assaults, which fell by 26 percent from 76 last year to 56 this year, said Sgt. Richard Lewis, spokesperson for the Santa Monica
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