MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012
Volume 11 Issue 181
Santa Monica Daily Press
EATING CROW SEE PAGE 4
We have you covered
THE MAKING A RECOVERY ISSUE
Empty wallet? SMMUSD budget projections show worsening finances BY ASHLEY ARCHIBALD Daily Press Staff Writer
Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows, a major development project adjacent to the Huntley. The Wilmont board has come out in support of the Fairmont remodel. While all candidates objected to the onenote characterization of their motivations, they also stated that it shouldn’t matter. The bylaws of the organization define a qualified candidate as one who is a member of Wilmont and sends in a petition for candidacy with signatures from 10 Wilmont members at least 10 days before the election. Any attempt to change those criteria was
SMMUSD HDQTRSThe Santa MonicaMalibu Unified School District has to get its spending under control if it wants to stay out of the red in the very near future, school officials told the Board of Education Thursday. The district shows deficits in each of the next three years, a pattern which will only get uglier if the state government continues to cut money out of public education, said Jan Maez, the district’s chief financial officer. Maez mapped out three scenarios for coming years which she called “Best Case,” “Worst Case” and “Worst Case with Hope.” Only in the best case scenario, which assumes no further cuts from the state level, does the district manage to maintain a fund balance by the end of 2014-15. That balance is still $10 million less than the district has in the bank as the 2011-12 school year comes to a close. In the other two, which assume almost $5 million in cuts from the state level, the district has a negative fund balance. The “with hope” scenario optimistically assumes that the district will have $2 million in unspent funds each year. Although this has happened consistently over the past several years, it is not a budgeted savings and not a sure bet. The negative numbers at the end of the third year in the two “worst case” scenarios could mean that the Los Angeles County Office of Education, which reviews school budgets, won’t accept the budget as it stands. That could mean more cuts on top of the $2.5 million in reductions that the board approved after is Feb. 18 study session, in which it decided to cut positions and increase class sizes at some grade levels.
SEE ELECTION PAGE 11
SEE BUDGET PAGE 9
RACE TO THE WATER
Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com Competitors race to the water during the first-ever 1-mile swim competition section of the Santa Monica Pier Paddleboard Race and Ocean Festival at Santa Monica Beach on Saturday morning. Local Scott Hubberd from the Southern California Aquatics swim club came in first.
Wilmont election goes forward as (un)planned BY ASHLEY ARCHIBALD Daily Press Staff Writer
MAIN LIBRARY Democracy showed its messy side at a neighborhood group’s annual meeting Saturday morning when angry residents demanded and won a chance to elect new leadership over protestations from the organization’s chair. The membership of the Wilshire Montana Neighborhood Coalition, more commonly known as Wilmont, voted 47-4 to proceed with their board election using provisional ballots, but only after a motion was passed to remove Chair Valerie Griffin. Griffin tried to adjourn the meeting before
the vote could be taken in an attempt to stop the election. Other business on the agenda, including a discussion of the new zoning law and crime, was put on hold. Advocates for the vote held that Griffin and other members of her board have operated in secrecy, making decisions that were against the will of the Wilmont membership and inventing new eligibility rules to stymie would-be candidates and maintain their hold on the organization. Some board members, however, accuse the 11 people who tried to get on Saturday’s ballot of being organized by the Huntley Hotel, an outside business interest that has so far opposed the revitalization of the
Gary Limjap (310) 586-0339 In today’s real estate climate ...
Experience counts! garylimjap@gmail.com www.garylimjap.com
TAXES ALL FORMS, ALL TYPES, ALL STATES
BACK TAXES • BOOKKEEPING • SMALL BUSINESS
SAMUEL B. MOSES, CPA
(310) 395-9922
100 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1800Santa Monica 90401