TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2004
Volume 4, Issue 9
FR EE
Santa Monica Daily Press A newspaper with issues
Light rail in Santa Monica gains steam
DAILY LOTTERY SUPER LOTTO 2 8 22 39 44 Meganumber: 16 Jackpot: $17 Million
Construction on the first half of rail line between Los Angeles and Santa Monica likely to begin soon; $500M for second half still needs to be raised
FANTASY 5 8 10 15 29 33
DAILY 3 Daytime: Evening:
712 364
BY JOHN WOOD Daily Press Staff Writer
DAILY DERBY 1st: 2nd: 3rd:
06 Whirl Win 01 Gold Rush 11 Money Bags
RACE TIME:
1:47.05
NEWS OF THE WEIRD BY CHUCK SHEPARD
Laurie David is the social-activist wife of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” TV star Larry David, well known for speaking out on, and rallying other activists on environmental issues, such as the need for energy conservation. According to a report in the September Atlantic Monthly, David shuns commercial airliners to get to her speeches (even though the increase in fuel usage to carry a person of her size would be negligible), preferring to make special trips each time by private jet, which a New Republic columnist calculated uses as much fuel in one cross-country round-trip as a Hummer uses in a year.
CITY HALL — The money is in place and construction likely will begin early next year on the first half of an estimated $1 billion light rail line that eventually will connect downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica, transportation officials said Monday. The first phase of the project
will connect downtown Los Angeles to the intersection of Venice and Robertson boulevards in Culver City, via USC and 10 other stops. That part alone is expected to cost $490 million and be open to the public by 2010. It will cost another $500 million to extend the rail line from Culver City to Santa Monica, officials said. That money hasn’t been raised yet.
“It’s been hard work to get it this far, and it’s very exciting,” said Santa Monica City Councilwoman Pam O’Connor, also a board member for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is in charge of the project. “Concurrent with (the first half) we need to work on phase two. The real benefit of the line comes from when the total length of the line to Santa Monica is complete.” Richard Thorpe, MTA’s chief project management officer, projected there will be 45,000 daily riders on the rail line by 2020.
Fares will be equal to what’s charged on other modes of public transportation. If the line were open today, the fare would be $1.25, Thorpe said. A special meeting of the Santa Monica City Council was held midday Monday at the conclusion of a bus tour of the proposed 9.6mile line. Transportation officials and elected leaders munched on deli sandwiches and chocolate chip cookies while Thorpe presented the plans, which go before the MTA board of directors in January. Thorpe said work will See ON TRACK, page 4
Gang violence at the top of Genser’s agenda
A heartfelt day
TODAY IN HISTORY
(Editor’s note: This is the second article in a weekly series examining the priorities of four residents elected on Nov. 2 to serve on the Santa Monica City Council.)
In 1765, Frederick County, Md., repudiated the British Stamp Act. In 1903, singer Enrico Caruso made his American debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, appearing in “Rigoletto.” In 1936, Life, the magazine created by Henry R. Luce, was first published.
QUOTE OF THE DAY BY JOHN WOOD "As democracy is perfected, the office of President represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
Daily Press Staff Writer
H.L. MENCKEN John Wood/Daily Press Children leave the SMC campus this past weekend after their families received gift baskets filled with food for the Thanksgiving holiday, provided by the Heartfelt Foundation.
INDEX Horoscopes Go along with plans, Scorpio
2
Surf Report Water Temperature: 61°
3
Opinion Letters to the editor
6
State President Schwarzenegger?
8
Mommy page Kids don’t need a best friend
10
National
See GENSER, page 4
Running up the tab to track city employee time (Editor’s note: This is part of an ongoing series that tracks the city’s expenditures which appear on the upcoming Santa Monica City Council consent agenda. Consent agenda items are routinely passed by the City Council with little or no discussion from elected officials or the public. However, many of the items have been part of public discussion in the past). BY KATHLEEN BISHOP
Gay marriage heats up again
12
Special to the Daily Press
15
CITY HALL — Elected officials are expected to spend $416,000 tonight, mostly to keep tabs on City Hall employees. The bulk of spending —
International U.S. entry costly
Comics Tickle your funny bone
16
People in the News Starving actor
As he prepares for a record fifth term on the City Council, local planning consultant Ken Genser said his top priority KEN GENSER is to reduce gang violence in Santa Monica and bridge a perceived disconnect between residents and the police department.
20
$361,000 — will pay for a contract with Kronos, Inc. to expand its automated timekeeping system to all city employees. The police department has used the system since 1998 and the solid waste division started using it at the beginning of the year.
GABY SCHKUD
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$45,000, with a maximum five percent annual increase for the next four years. Another $50,000 will go toward continuing work on the Urban Runoff Management Plan with contracted consulting firm Brown and Caldwell. The dollar amount is the maximum allowable for Brown and Caldwell to put together a follow-up workshop about the plan. The plan is part of See CONSENT, page 5
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