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Santa Monica Daily Press THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2015
Residents sue former city manager Transparency Project lawsuit targets Rod Gould’s current employment BY MATTHEW HALL Daily Press Editor
Volume 14 Issue 235
CULTURE WATCH SEE PAGE 4
City begins minimum wage outreach First informational presentation says local impact will be less than in Los Angeles BY MATTHEW HALL Daily Press Editor
CITYWIDE The wheels are in motion
to bring Santa Monica’s minimum wage in line with neighboring Los Angeles with outreach forums to provide information about the
subject and an active request from city staff for input into the process. Santa Monica is considering local rules that would raise the minimum wage in a way similar to a recently passed law in Los Angeles. As of July 1, 2016 Los Angeles will begin raising the min-
imum wage annually to $10.50, $12, $13.25, $14.25 and $15 by 2020. The rules allow small companies to delay implementation for a year and have an additional year exemption for nonprofits that help the disadvantage or receive a majority of funding from govern-
ment grants. The increases are indexed to inflation and an enforcement office will be established. Local officials have said they will use the Los Angeles rules as a SEE WAGE PAGE 9
CITYWIDE Three residents have filed
a civil suit against former City Manager Rod Gould alleging his current employment by Management Partners, Inc. is a violation of Santa Monica’s anticorruption law. The law, known as the Oak’s Initiative, is supposed to prevent public officials from reaping personal gains based on their time working for the City. However, the rule has never been enforced locally due to questions over its scope, implementation and constitutionality. The three plaintiffs in the current case, Mary Marlow, Elizabeth Van Denburgh and Nancy Coleman are all members of the Santa Monica Transparency Project, an all-volunteer organization that describes itself as concerned about openness and accountability in city government. According to their complaint, Gould should be prohibited from working for the company because Management Partners was hired to provide several services to Santa Monica under Gould’s tenure. Gould retired in January of 2015 and moved to Marin County. In May he was hired by Management Partners, Inc. Marlow filed a complaint with the City Attorney’s office over the incident earlier this year but no criminal case was launched. City Attorney Marsha Moutrie said her office had a conflict of interest investigating those it works for and is therefore unable to move forward with complaint. The case
Courtesy photo
CRASH: A car sparked a fire when it hit a building on Montana Ave.
Car slams into Santa Monica restaurant, sets off blaze Montana Avenue closed as crews respond to fire BY JEFFREY I. GOODMAN Daily Press Staff Writer
MONTANA AVE A car rammed into the
SCHOOL PREP
Morgan Genser editor@smdp.com
back of a Santa Monica restaurant’s building Wednesday morning, sparking a fire that injured one person and prompting the closure of Montana Avenue and the shut-
Back to school fever continued this week with an event sponsored by the Santa Monica Police Activities League. SEE OAKS PAGE 8
SEE FIRE PAGE 8
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