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Santa Monica Daily Press THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015
Volume 14 Issue 193
CLIMATE AWARD SEE PAGE 5
Fresco and Parry appointed to Planning Commission after heated exchange BY DAVID MARK SIMPSON Daily Press Staff Writer
CITY HALL It says something about the significance of development issues in Santa Monica that one City Council member had to coaxed back to the dais after storming off during a debate over appointments to the Planning
Turning a page on childhood literacy Masons’ donations promote summer reading
Commission. Longtime Landmarks Commissioner Nina Fresco will replace Jim Ries on the Planning Commission and current commission Chair Jason Parry was reappointed. Carter Rubin, who was appointed in March and up for reappointment on Tuesday, withdrew his
name before the meeting. His seat was not filled during the meeting. Rubin, a staff member of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, declined to comment to the Daily Press about his reason for choosing not to seek reappointment though he said he plans to stay engaged in the community. Because Rubin declined to seek
reappointment, Councilmember Pam O’Connor asked that council delay the vote on all three commission seats. “I wasn’t expecting there was going to be an empty seat,” she said. “I didn’t have a chance to interview the folks. And now that there’s another open seat, there could be some people who didn’t
apply who might be interested in applying.” “There are two seats we knew would be open,” Mayor Kevin McKeown responded. “I could see the argument for the unexpected third seat, although frankly, the incumbent decided not to request SEE PLANNING PAGE 8
Council defunds PYFC
BY JEFFREY I. GOODMAN
BY DAVID MARK SIMPSON
Daily Press Staff Writer
Daily Press Staff Writer
CITYWIDE They only last for a couple days, but they could have a lifelong impact. Temporary book fairs sprang up this week at Will Rogers and Franklin elementary schools, where hundreds of students in summer learning programs were invited to pick out new books to read. Organizers hope the books — which are offered for free thanks to donations from the Santa Monica Palisades Masonic Lodge — encourage the students to develop their language skills as they make progress on their paths in education. “It’s been really well-received,” lodge member Scott Gilbert said of the program. “The kids look forward to it. It’s exciting to see it affect so many so kids.” The local Masons have supported childhood literacy efforts for several years and regularly contribute to Raising A Reader, a nonprofit organization that partners with agencies across the country. “We’ve raised a lot of money towards (Raising A Reader), but that program wasn’t making its way into Santa Monica, and we wanted to find something that was local to us, where we could make a difference,” Gilbert said. “We still
CITY HALL After years of strife and a night of protest, City Council voted 4 to 2 not to fund the Pico Youth and Family Center in it’s biennial budget. Dozens of members of the public came out to speak in support of the youth-based nonprofit run by Board of Education Member Oscar de la Torre, but members of council expressed concern that it had become too politicized. Last year, council allotted $190,000 to the program — a one-time payment meant to encourage the nonprofit to apply for grants. City officials have long alleged poor bookkeeping at the PYFC, a claim that de la Torre has long denied. “When we gave that money last year, there were a lot of promised made about applying for grants,” Councilmember Ted Winterer said. “And we haven’t seen any of those applications for grants so I’m just frustrated that we’re continuing to hear the same story year in and year out about changes but we’re not seeing those changes at a substantive enough level.” Several councilmembers
Nicholas Salazar
PROTEST: Supporters of the Pico Youth and Family center gathered for a march on City Hall Tuesday night.
agreed with Winterer’s point and noted that the other grant programs are both meeting City Hall’s standards and meeting the needs of the populations that the PYFC aims to help. Councilmember Sue Himmelrich said that while the
other programs are offered, they’re not all reaching the same population that’s being served by the PYFC. She proposed allotting the organization $190,000. “I’ve been to their events,” she said. “They clearly reach a lot of people. I heard from peo-
ple who attended the Olympic (High School) graduation ceremony that of the three speakers, two of them mentioned PYFC and how the program had helped them. I think that havSEE PYFC PAGE 6
SEE BOOK PAGE 9
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