Santa Monica Daily Press, August 27, 2016

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WEEKEND EDITION

08.27.16 - 08.28.16 Volume 15 Issue 237

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Gala comes at turning point for PYFC

WHAT’S UP WESTSIDE ..................PAGE 2 EDUCATOR SPOTLIGHT ................PAGE 4 LETTER TO THE EDITOR ..............PAGE 5 CRIME WATCH ..................................PAGE 8 MYSTERY PHOTO ............................PAGE 9

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Santa Monica Daily Press

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City looks to extend tourism fees

Youth center seeking to match City grant BY JEFFREY I. GOODMAN Daily Press Staff Writer

Rodrigo Vazquez went from spending time behind bars to attending UC Berkeley. And as he worked towards his degree, which he recently earned, he played an active role in a support group for other formerly incarcerated students. Known to many as “Froggy,” Vazquez has worked as a program manager at the Pico Youth and Family Center in Santa Monica, instilling in youngsters the lessons he’s learned along his atypical journey. Vazquez is one of four honorees scheduled to be recognized at the Santa Monica nonprofit’s annual banquet, which will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday at the Le Meridien Delfina hotel, 530 Pico Blvd. The 9th annual Hope and Unity Awards Gala is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the PYFC, which provides a wide variety of programs and resources for underserved youths in the area. The event comes at a turning point for Oscar de la Torre’s organization, which recently received

funding from the City of Santa Monica after having its public monies pulled last year. It’s fitting, then, that the theme of this year’s banquet is resilience. “With everything that we have gone through as an organization,” de la Torre said, “the fact that we’re still vibrant and serving the youth of our community is a testament to our resilience as the resilience we inculcate in our youth.” The PYFC is working towards raising $50,000 to match the City’s cash donation, and de la Torre said he hopes to cover the remaining $7,000 gap through this year’s gala. He added that the importance of the center is underscored by the gun violence, police clashes and antagonistic rhetoric taking place across the country. “The PYFC is a solution to many of those problems,” de la Torre said. “We know that our model of providing direct services and advocacy has transformed the way our city approaches youth development. The impact of that is that we have SEE GALA PAGE 5

Judge refuses to suspend California's assisted death law BY JULIE WATSON Associated Press

SAN DIEGO A California judge on

Friday rejected a request by physicians to immediately suspend a new state law allowing terminally ill people to end their lives. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Ottolia said the law will remain in effect for now. He also agreed to allow the physicians to pursue their lawsuit

claiming the law lacks safeguards to protect against abuse. The law took effect June 9 and allows terminally ill adults to obtain a prescription for life-ending drugs if a doctor has determined they have six months or less to live. Advocates argued that terminally ill people could face prolonged, painful deaths if the law is susSEE JUDGE PAGE 7

Todd Mitchell

“ Your Neighborhood is My Neighborhood.”

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Photo by Marina Andalon

STAYING POWER: The City is looking to extend fees for hotel visitors to pay for tourism outreach.

BY MATTHEW HALL Daily Press Editor

City Council took preliminary steps last week to extend and increase fees paid by hotel guests to fund ongoing tourism and marketing efforts. Local hotels pay a self-imposed assessment that contributes to the operations at Santa Monica Travel and Tourism, a nonprofit agency that promotes Santa Monica as a travel destination worldwide. The assessment is due to expire next year and Council’s Aug. 23 meeting included the first step in extending the fees. Extending and increasing the amount of the Santa Monica Tourism Marketing District is estimated to average approximately $4.45 million annually during its 9.5-year operation. The fees are paid by hotels and motels citywide and depend on daily average room rates. About 70 percent of the city’s lodging businesses petitioned to have the District extended with the majority of opposition coming from businesses that offer lower-cost accommodation. Daniel Gregory, operator of the Ocean

Lodge, said the objections were twofold: the length of the assessment was too long and the structure of the increase was disproportionately impactful on less expensive hotels. As proposed, the new assessment would synch with the SMTT budget year and last for 9.5 years. Hotels with average daily rates of $100-200 would pay a fee of $3.25 per night, hotels charging $200-300 would pay $4.25 per night and more expensive hotels would pay $5.25 per night. Assessments would be subject to an annual increase of no more than 25 cents per year. Gregory said if you convert the fees to a percentage, the most affordable hotels would be charging guests a fee of 3 percent on their bill while the most expensive would be charging less than 1 percent. “Guests who can afford it the least, pay the most,” he said. Other affordable lodging operators expressed similar concerns and said the fees were particularly burdensome as they are SEE FEES PAGE 6


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