TUESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2004
Volume 3, Issue 292
FR EE
Santa Monica Daily Press A newspaper with issues
Council hopefuls answer the $6M school question
DAILY LOTTERY SUPER LOTTO 1 28 29 40 43 Meganumber: 20 Jackpot: 10 Million
FANTASY 5 14 22 25 36 39
DAILY 3 Daytime: Evening:
65 8 098
DAILY DERBY 1st: 2nd: 3rd:
11 Money Bags 06 Whirl Win 05 California Classic
RACE TIME:
1:47.98
NEWS OF THE WEIRD BY CHUCK SHEPARD
In August, the International Paralympic Committee rejected quadriplegic British rugby player Mark Fosbrook for the upcoming Paralympics because he is too able-bodied. Fosbrook has no feet, and two fingers at the end of each arm, but he was rated 4.0 in functionality, with 3.5 the highest level allowed to compete.
TODAY IN HISTORY ON OCT. 19, 1781, British troops under Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Va., as the American Revolution neared its end. ■ In 1765, the Stamp Act Congress, meeting in New York, drew up a declaration of rights and liberties. ■ In 1812, French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte began their retreat from Moscow. ■ In 1864, Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early attacked Union forces at Cedar Creek, Va.; the Union troops were able to rally and defeat the Confederates.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
(Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of installments posing questions to City Council candidates. Each Tuesday leading up to Election Day, candidates will be asked a question by the Santa Monica Daily Press. Their answers appear in alphabetical order). By Daily Press staff
CITY AT LARGE — The City Council earlier this year agreed to commit a minimum of $6 million to the local school district annually for the next five years. But how to do that without taking from somewhere else in the city budget remains an issue. Elected officials hope that voters this November will pass a 2
SAMUEL GOLDWYN US (POLISH-BORN) MOVIE PRODUCER
Horoscopes Make your own plans, Capricorn
2
Local Candidates battle it out live
3
Surf Report Water Temperature: 67°
3
Letters to the Editor It’s that time of year
4
Opinion Another fall day in LA?
5
Mommy page Learning your environment
10
State Airport plans rev up
13
National Early voting: Beat the rush
14
Classifieds Get some class
17
People in the News Keep the vote in
BY JOHN WOOD Daily Press Staff Writer
INDEX
20
See CANDIDATES, page 6
Return to sender: Shriver goes it alone Election mailers upset City Council candidate
“Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist ought to have his head examined.”
percent tax hike on tourists who stay in local hotels, which would generate about $3.5 million a year. Those running for four City Council seats vary in their predictions on whether the measure will pass, but offer their ideas on what should be done if it doesn’t. This week’s question: Measure N proposes to raise the hotel bed tax by 2 percent, thereby generating about $3 million that would go directly to local schools. If the measure fails, how will you keep City Hall’s promise to give the school district a minimum of $6 million annually? Where would you take money from in the already tight budget in order to fund the schools?
City Council candidate Bobby Shriver went on the offensive Monday, distancing himself from a batch of campaign literature distributed throughout the city last weekend. Paid for by the well-funded local tourism industry, the mailers tied Shriver to City Councilman Herb Katz, an independent seeking re-election, and took aim at two controversial local issues — homelessness and excessive City Hall bureaucracy. Both Katz and Shriver denied advance knowledge of the mailers, which were produced by a recently formed independent political expenditure committee calling itself “Santa Monicans for Change.” Election law prohibits candidates from communicating with independent committees,
which can endorse any candidates or issues they choose. Shriver, who canvassed Ocean Park over the weekend, said he was chastised by some residents for apparently sending confusing mailers. Shriver’s campaign has sent several mailers of its own, including one on homelessness. All of them tout Shriver as an independent candidate. “I have to be careful,” Shriver said. “I haven’t been around (Santa Monica politics) long. People are just forming their first impression of me. It’s not like I’m Ken Genser, who’s been around for 20 years. I have to be very careful of what’s out there.” In a statement issued to the press Monday, Shriver reiterated that he was running as an independent candidate and said, “I am requesting that any individuals or organizations planning to publish materials using my name either not do it, or make it clear that I am not aligned with their organization or any other candidates they may support.”
John Wood/Daily Press With trash strewn across the beach, the storm runoff west of Pico Boulevard emptied straight into the ocean Monday, as Santa Monica’s water filtering system was overloaded by the season’s first significant rain. Health officials recommend staying out of the ocean for at least three days after heavy rains.
Flotsam emerges to the surface after season’s ‘first flush’ BY KATHLEEN BISHOP Special to the Daily Press
THE BEACH — An overcast sky, free-flowing storm drains and warnings not to swim in the ocean can only mean one thing — the impact of the season’s first rainstorm has hit local beaches. Friday night’s rain inducted the city and surrounding areas into the region’s official rainy season. As the showers continued into the week, dirt and trash that settled on city surfaces over the summer spilled onto the beach. “We call it the ‘first flush phenomenon,’” said Craig Perkins, director of Santa Monica’s envi-
See MAILERS, page 8
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ronmental and public works management department. “That sounds kind of bad, but that’s really what it is. “The first couple of storms clean out the streets and the alleys and the parking lots that have accumulated residue for the past nine months,” he added. “That’s a lot of extra contamination going into the ocean.” Perkins said the last time Santa Monica had measurable rainfall was in April — about 181 days ago. Cleaning up debris along the shore might take longer than a week, said Ruben Harow, a crew See FLUSH, page 7
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