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Santa Monica Daily Press TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015
Rick Cole takes his seat at City Hall
Volume 14 Issue 197
SPECIAL OLYMPICS HOST SEE PAGE 6
the Subtle changes as key agreement expires Feeding homeless is a SMO UPDATE:
sweet act
Local candy company, theater center partner to support OPCC
NEW CITY MANAGER RICK COLE
is officially on the job in Santa Monica. The Daily Press spoke with Cole about his priorities, goals and plans.
BY JEFFREY I. GOODMAN DP: What projects, topics, or ideas do you hope to embark on that are not already under way in the City? Cole: In addition to pursuing the City’s ambitious policy goals and capital construction projects already under way, as the new City Manager I want to establish a few key strategic initiatives. Some may be new, some may simply be elevated in priority. I think the best way to do that, however, is not to start the job with preconceptions, but to spend the first weeks observing and listening - both out in the community and inside the city organization. Then I’m committed to sit down with the City Council, probably in a retreat format — which will, of course, be a public session. I want to work collaboratively with the Council to establish the City’s most important priorities. Some I will take personal leadership on, others will naturally fall to others in the organization to champion. DP: What will be the largest immediate challenge? Cole: I think it is pent-up energy to address a number of issues. Naturally after a long-term city manager retires and there is an interim period prior to a successor coming on board, the Council, the community and the staff are anxious to move forward on various concerns that they may feel need SEE COLE PAGE 11
Daily Press Staff Writer
O’Day suggested that council review ways to reduce emissions at the airport. The Airport Commission had previously recommended the passage of an ordinance that would ban models of aircraft that emit above a certain amount of pollution. Attorneys warned that this too would invite litigation. “I’d like to offer a motion that we direct staff to, not regulate, as I think we heard that word come out earlier, but to consider strategies as an operator to reduce the air pollution from our airport,” O’Day said in May. “Those strategies ought to be practical and we ought to look to examples in our community like some of the ones that we’ve heard
MAIN ST. Apparently, once you p.o.p., you can’t stop looking for ways to make a difference. A local candy company is partnering with a Santa Monica performing arts organization to help feed hundreds of people in need every day. The toffee treats that p.o.p. candy co. makes in small batches will soon be sold at Edgemar Center for the Arts on Main Street, and half of the proceeds will be donated to OPCC’s food program. “We’ve always wanted to contribute to a charity and give back to the community,” said Bill Waiste, who founded the candy company eight years ago with his now-wife, Rachel Flores. “But we’ve never been able to do it in a way that we thought was meaningful.” That changed after Waiste started donating his company’s treats to Samoshel, an OPCC-run homeless shelter, to boost the spirits of the clients. He was inspired to learn more about the nonprofit agency, which provides food, housing and social services to homeless people, domestic violence victims, addicts, veterans and at-risk youth. So he met with officials and toured facilities, including a center for homeless women with developmental disabilities. Waiste was particularly fascinated by the demand on the organization’s food services. According to officials, OPCC serves more than 3,570 meals per week on a budget of about $2,300. That’s
SEE PARK PAGE 8
SEE OPCC PAGE 11
Courtesy image
PARK?: July 1 is an important date for anti-airport activists who hope to convert part of the property into a park.
BY DAVID MARK SIMPSON Daily Press Staff Writer
SMO This is the way a key agreement over the future of the airport ends: Not with a bang but a barbeque. On Wednesday, a key agreement between the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and City Hall that dictates control over the Santa Monica Airport expires. Opponents of the airport have had the date circled on their calendars for years but don’t expect empty skies on July 1. Airport Commissioners had talked about shortening the runway with the coming of the expiration, or banning aviation tenants from airport land. City attorneys warned, however,
that this would invite litigation and City Council has opted for a measured approach. Airport2Park, an organization whose goal is apparent in its name, is hosting a State of the Park barbeque from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Airport Park. “There will be a barbeque and games for the entire family,” Airport2Park Foundation President Neil Carrey said in a release. “We’d like everyone who wants to see the asphalt turned into green space to come along, and we hope all the members of the City Council who helped make this possible will join us too. We’re looking to see the planes removed and work begun on the park as soon as possible.” In May, Councilmember Terry
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