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WHAT’S UP WESTSIDE ..................PAGE 2 LETTER TO THE EDITOR ..............PAGE 3 CURIOUS CITY ................................PAGE 4 TRUMP AND GUNS ........................PAGE 5 MYSTERY PHOTO ............................PAGE 9
WEDNESDAY
11.16.16 Volume 16 Issue 3
@smdailypress
@smdailypress
Santa Monica Daily Press
City Hall wants a greater presence in vacant buildings BY MATTHEW HALL Daily Press Editor
A handful of vacant buildings with stalled construction projects will be subject to additional regulation following the Nov. 1 council meeting. Council debated establishing a full-fledged vacant building registry that would have placed additional constraints on vacant buildings but ultimately chose a minor revision to code compliance rules with direction to revisit the issue down the road. According to City Staff, about 29 properties were vacant at the time of their most recent inventory. Of those, only 10 were vacant without some kind of development project or Ellis Act process currently underway. An owner violates no laws by leaving a building vacant, but there are other kinds of violations that can be incurred due to general neglect. Staff said less than one percent of total calls into the City’s code compliance division are about vacant properties but of the 23 complaints received in the last year, accusations included overgrown weeds, trash, abandoned vehicles, fire hazards, squatters and building maintenance. Prior to last week, no rule required construction to be completed on any kind of timeline and despite resident concerns over abandoned projects, the city had no rules to penalize land owners
smdp.com
ACLU, Other Groups Report Post-Election Surge Of Donations BY DAVID CRARY AP National Writer
However, the majority of the council agreed with a staff recommendation that would amend existing nuisance rules to allow enforcement against projects left in a state of partial construction for an unreasonable amount of time. “I just think that not every solution requires more government so I prefer to go to the simpler staff
In the week since Donald Trump’s election, there’s been a dramatic surge in donations to the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, the Sierra Club and other progressive organizations which have pledged to resist any moves by the new administration that would undercut their causes. Within hours after the election was called, the ACLU unleashed feisty fundraising appeals, including one warning that if Trump implemented certain campaign promises, “We’ll see him in court.” The result, according to the ACLU, has been the largest surge of support in its 94-year history, including roughly 120,000 donations totaling more than $7.2 million. “We’ll need to build up the most powerful legal organization mankind has ever known to fight for us over the next four years,” wrote HIV/AIDS and gay-rights activist Peter Staley, who pledged on his Facebook page to become a monthly ACLU donor. The ACLU’s executive director,
SEE BUILDING PAGE 7
SEE ACLU PAGE 6
Matthew Hall
VACANT: The building at 3004 Broadway has become the poster child for problematic vacant buildings.
with partially built projects. Councilwoman Sue Himmelrich pushed for a full vacant building registry including fees for vacant buildings, insurance requirements and additional enforcement. According to staff, developing the registry would be time and cost intensive but would provide the most significant level of regulation. Himmelrich said she hoped a
vacant registry would force property owners to pay attention and that enforcing compliance could be revenue neutral if fees were high enough. “The thing that bothers me is we’re dealing with this on a case by case basis rather than on systematic basis and even if we don’t have a lot of them, it seems we should have a system for dealing with it and not in a random way,” she said.
With this cauliflower puree, you won’t miss mashed potatoes Editor’s note: The Daily Press will publish a series of food stories leading up to Thanksgiving including its annual Recipe Guide on Saturday.
BY MELISSA D’ARABIAN Associated Press
Cauliflower entered the healthy food scene with a bang a few years
ago as clever solution to our lowcarb-seeking starch-loving woes. And with good reason: Cauliflower is incredibly versatile and can be used to replace simple carbs in endless recipes — from cauliflower versions of risotto, pizza crust and couscous just to name a few. While health-conscious folks will likely continue to debate about the
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benefits and shortfalls of the lowcarb-high-fat diets that probably are responsible for mainstreaming these cauliflower swaps, we can all agree that adding more cruciferous vegetables into our diet is a good thing. Cauliflower is super low in calories — about 25 calories per cup — and is a good source of vitamin C, vitamin K, B6, folate and some
minerals. Because of the fiber and protein, it’s also a filling vegetable, which means if you make a stir-fry using cauliflower instead of rice, you’ll actually be satisfied. Its mild flavor means it’s an easy substitute for bland starches like rice or pasta, so parents can usually swap out some or all in recipes without kids turning up their nose.
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Blending or mashing cauliflower is another excellent strategy — add blended cooked cauliflower to sauces or soups for cream-less creaminess and extra nutrition. Mashed or pureed cauliflower may be the most celebrated swap of all, giving low-carb eaters an SEE FOOD PAGE 3
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