Santa Monica Daily Press, July 03, 2010

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JULY 3-4, 2010

Volume 9 Issue 201

Santa Monica Daily Press

FORD ON THE REBOUND SEE PAGE 7

We have you covered

THE HAPPY BIRTHDAY USA! ISSUE

Concerns grow following plane crash at Penmar BY NICK TABOREK Daily Press Staff Writer

SMO Residents opposed to noise from planes that fly over Sunset Park and Ocean Park after takeoff from Santa Monica Airport were raising safety concerns on Friday, a day after a small plane that took off from SMO crashed at Penmar Golf Course in Venice. The pilot of the small plane, Robert R. Davenport, 60, was killed in the crash, which occurred just after 6 p.m. Friday near the eighth hole of the golf course, authorities said. Davenport was the only person onboard the Cessna 152, and no bystanders were hurt. But for some Santa Monica residents, the SEE CRASH PAGE 8

Photo courtesy Fred Heredia

FATAL IMPACT: A plane that departed from SMO crashed at the Penmar Golf Course in Venice on Thursday night. The pilot was killed on impact.

Council to mull sales tax increase BY NICK TABOREK Daily Press Staff Writer

CITY HALL Santa Monica voters in November could decide whether to increase the local sales tax by a half percent, a move that would bring in an estimated $13 million per year in additional revenue for City Hall. The City Council on Tuesday is set to consider placing the measure on the Nov. 2 ballot. A majority on the seven-member council would have to agree in order to place the initiative before voters. As a “general tax” that would not restrict how the revenue could be spent, the proposed increase would require approval from a simple majority of voters to pass, rather than from two-thirds of the electorate, according to City Hall. The twothirds requirement applies to “special taxes”

that limit the uses of revenue. A poll of 500 registered Santa Monica voters in the past week found that 63 percent of respondents believed City Hall has “great” or “some additional” need for revenue to pay for services, according to a City Hall report. Without being given detailed information about the proposed sales tax increase, 59 percent of those polled said they would support the measure. When additional information was presented, support for the tax hike was 64 percent, according to a City Hall report. The poll, conducted by Fairbank Maslin Maullin Metz & Associates, was said to have a 4.4 percent margin of error. City Hall staff is recommending the sales tax ballot initiative as a way to protect services as rising expenses, the recession and the state of California’s budget crisis have dam-

aged Santa Monica’s financial outlook. In the budget for this fiscal year, the City Council opted to spend $4.1 million in one-time funds and also cut spending and raised some fees to close a $13.2 million budget gap. Finance Director Carol Swindel has estimated the budget gap could be as high as $53 million by 2015 unless officials make cuts to programs or find new sources of revenue. In a report on the proposed tax increase released late Thursday, Kate Vernez, assistant to the city manager, said Sacramento has diverted more than $40 million out of City Hall’s budget in the past six years, including $21 million from Santa Monica’s Redevelopment Agency last fiscal year. The report said one-quarter of the rev-

Michelle Terris news@smdp.com

GOING IN STYLE: Visitors to the Santa Monica Pier pass by the relatively new restroom facility that is in the running for best in the nation.

Pier bathroom in the running for nation’s best BY KEVIN HERRERA Editor in Chief

SM PIER It may not have fresh-cut flowers, fireplaces or a crystal chandelier, but what the restroom facility at the Santa Monica Pier does have is some “whimsical” architecture and environmentally-friendly features, placing it on a list of the top 10

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