The Practice of Gratitude

SUSAN CLOKE

Columnist

Gratitude infused the love I felt as I looked around the full Sunday morning brunch table.   I’ve been thinking lately about the value of gratitude in the personal, daily experience of life and about its meaning in human history.

So, when both eating and talking had slowed a little

I turned the discussion at the table to the subject of gratitude.  Asking not only what people were grateful for but also what meaning they assigned to gratitude.

Our three-year-old cousin, the youngest at the table, happily said, “penguin” and held out the adorable stuffed penguin which is her constant companion.

Her eleven year old sister thought and then said, “‘I know I’m able to do cool things other kids can’t.  I go to a great school.  I have understanding and kind people always around me.  I can go swimming.  I go to swim practice every day and that makes me part of a community where I am welcome.”

Our ten year old cousin said, “I’m grateful for nature.  Gratitude is being happy about something.  I’m happy for the things people do for me and I happy to be able to move, to do sports, to run and to play the piano.”

 “I’m grateful to have had such wonderful parents who only wanted me to be happy and were generous to me all their lives,” said their Nana, at 73 the oldest person at the table.

Gratitude became the subject of general conversation and ideas came from everyone, of all ages, bouncing back and forth across the table, starting with “I’m grateful for the Big Bang.” 

“On a daily basis, gratitude is a constant recognition of acts of kindness and generosity.  Recognizing what others do for you.” 

“It feels like being grateful is a luxury.  If you don’t have food you only have one problem and gratitude is a luxury.  If you have food than you have the possibility of having many problems.”

“Imagine the gratefulness our great grandmother must have felt to come to America and live the life she had.” “Sometimes it takes a change in circumstances.”

“I remember being a teenager and coming back from my NOLS

(outdoor education) trip in Utah.  I turned on the faucet and warm water came out.”  That comment got the laughter of recognition.  One of other cousins, in her 40’s, added “like standing in the shower with hot water pouring over you.  It feels like a miracle.”  “It’s like you have to lose something to really understand gratitude.”

“Little things can mean everything.”  “What you do with gratitude – is it a feeling or a practice or both?  Is the practice of gratitude graciousness?”

“If you’re doing something and people are not recognizing it that can be annoying.  So don’t do it for recognition but because it is the right thing to do.”  “Yes, and just feel sorry for the person who can’t feel gratitude.” 

“It’s a shift in perspective that makes you creative.  It’s a consciousness to remember to be grateful when you’re rushing through and doing the normal busy-ness of life and then you realize how wonderful it is to be in this big web of a family.  It’s a rush and makes me feel great and it makes me treasure people.”

Where does gratitude come from?  Why do some people feel it and others not?  Why do some people feel it more than others?

Christmas gives us a special opportunity to think about gratitude.  Christmas is now a commercial holiday and, as such, is as much about giving and getting material objects as it is a religious celebration.  Holidays can be times of joy and fun and they can be times of complicated emotions and relationships.

Don’t get me wrong here.  I love parties and celebrations. I love presents.  I love getting them and I love giving them.  I love the anticipation - especially when I think I’m going to make someone happy.   I’m also very aware that parties and present giving can be emotionally loaded and sometimes cause unhappiness or feelings of debt and obligation.

Before there was a Christmas gratitude was already the subject of philosophers and writers.  Cicero, (b. 106 BCE) the Roman philosopher, orator and theorist said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”

Not to be discounted is Piglet, of Winnie the Pooh, who “noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.” 

Gratitude is at the core of an honorable life and to live without it leaves an emptiness.  It is an outward expression of empathy.  Gratitude is a gift we give and a gift we receive.

Thinking about gratitude together is the gift I hope to share with you this holiday season.

With All Best Holiday and New Year Wishes and with gratitude.

What Say You? Water Quality and Santa Monica Water Independence

 "SANTA MONICA WATER.  LOCALLY SOURCED.  BETTER THAN BOTTLED!"

City water is now used at all City meetings and events.

Photo credit Thomas Poon, City Water Resources Department

What Say You?  

Water Quality and Santa Monica Water Independence  

SUSAN CLOKE,

Columnist

Water is the issue.   We are in an extended drought.  The City is focused on water.   Setting and meeting water conservation standards; creating opportunities for public reuse of stormwater through regulations, incentives and rebates; meeting the Council mandated requirement for water self-sufficiency by 2020; and water quality are the goals.

History

Many of us learned our Angelino water history from the Jack Nicholson / Faye Dunaway movie “Chinatown.”  Water wars, and the taking by force of the Owen’s Valley water to satisfy the water needs of the burgeoning city of Los Angeles are the back-story to the growth of the City of Los Angeles.

Santa Monicans have a different history.  In 1917 Santa Monica voted against annexation with Los Angeles even as the City worried about water supplies.

And a very Santa Monica story goes with that vote:  “When an Annexation leader claimed he had had no water in his home the opposition arranged for the fire department to go to his home and record on camera as the fireman took a 100 foot stream of water from the fire hydrant in front of his house.”  (Stella Zadeh)

It didn’t hurt that many Santa Monicans were connected to the new film industry and that they filmed the 100’ stream of water going from the hydrant to the house as part of the anti-annexation campaign.

It was the 1917 vote that kept Santa Monica an independent city.  Now the goal is to achieve water independence.

Currently the City supplies 60 – 65% of its own water needs and buys the rest from the MWD. (Metropolitan Water District) This is a steadily changing number as the City moves toward the 2020 date for water self-sufficiency.

Quality

City water now exceeds the water quality standards set by both the State of CA Department of Drinking Water and the Federal EPA.  This is due to the fact that, as of 2010, City water is treated by reverse osmosis.  Reverse osmosis is a process for cleaning water which forces the water through micron sized pores to capture the smallest molecules of contaminates.

Usage

“Water usage in the City is driven by the commercial sector,” said Gil Borboa, the Water Resources Manager for the City.  “We’re really a small city of fewer than 90,000 residents, but on any given summer day we often have a population of as high as 300,000 people.”

Borbora added, “Every customer, both residential and commercial will be asked to reduce their water usage to 80% of what they used in the same month of 2013.”

Water rationing, as some are labeling it, is “really a misnomer” said Borboa.  “What we have is a proposal for a mandatory 20% reduction in water use from the base year of 2013. This proposal will go to Council in January and start in April, if approved.”

Residential homeowners who have already changed their gardens to water- conserving gardens and reduced their total water use to 22 HFC (hundred cubic feet) or less per billing cycle will not be required to reduce their usage. Usage information is on the City Utilities bill.

Santa Monica also provides grants, rebates and incentives to help homeowners convert to water conserving gardens and to the use of cisterns and other stormwater capture and reuse devices.   www.smgov.net/water

“Conservation is only part of the answer,” said Borboa.  “We also need to increase our water supply.  Most of our current water supply comes from the Charnock wells.  About 35% is imported Northern CA water bought from the MWD.

“Our current water usage city-wide is about 13,500 Acre Feet. (‘AF’. An AF is 326,000 gallons or the equivalent of a football field covered with 1 foot of water.)  The 2020 demand is anticipated to be approximately 15,490 AF.

Water Independence

 “We are now pumping 9000 AF.  For self-sufficiency we will need an additional 5000 AF of supply and, at the same time, the conservation of 1500 AF.  The 5000 AF will come from three new wells, currently proposed for the Olympic median, and the use of the planned conservation measures,” said Borboa.

 “If we do both we will be able to meet the total gap between what we use and what we need to be able to supply by 2020.

“Our groundwater assessment for the aquifer which supplies Santa Monica shows 300,000 AF of storage in our basins. Basins are recharged by precipitation and deleted by pumping.

“Santa Monica has gone through a series of droughts in its history and we don’t take our groundwater supplies for granted,” said Borboa.

The City is also considering rate increases and is expected to hear the proposed rate increases this December.   “Rate increases are necessary,” said Borboa, “because the Water Resources Agency is funded through the sale of water.  We will need to pay for ongoing operations and maintenance; the replacement of infrastructure built over 50 years ago; running our water treatment plant; digging new wells to meet the goal of water self-sufficiency; and running the water quality lab.

“Water rate increases to be heard by the Council are proposed at 9% for the first year and 13% for each of four subsequent years.”

Santa Monica currently draws its groundwater from the Arcadia, Olympic, and Charnock  basins.  Basins that the City has traditionally used. 

In 1923 the city voted to build the Arcadia plant, to build a five million gallon reservoir at Mount Olivette, and to purchase water-rich land on Charnock Road.

In 1948 Santa Monicans voted to replace the previous mount Olivette reservoir and to fund well construction under the San Vicente median.  In 1958 the City voted for a bond to construct a 25 million gallon reservoir at the Riviera Country Club.

Meeting the Goal

“The continuation of groundwater management in conjunction with conservation and stormwater reuse are all necessary to ensure water self-sufficiency,’ said Borboa, “and we’re well on our way.”

I say, conserve water, plant a stormwater garden, be a steward of the environment.  Drink Santa Monica Water. Here’s to your health! 

What Say You?

What Say You? RESIDENTS and THE ZONING ORDINANCE

What Say You?  RESIDENTS and THE ZONING ORDINANCE

SUSAN CLOKE

Columnist

The Planning Commission, concerned about resident opposition to the current red-line version of the proposed new zoning code, called a Town Hall Meeting at Lincoln Middle School for the evening of November 19.   

It was open mike, no time limit, no bells going off, no speakers being cut off.  Intermixed with specific comments regarding the proposed code, people spoke of their frustration with the process.  Amy Aukstikainis, of Northeast Neighbors spoke to great applause when she said; “We’ve been submitting comments for over two years to the City without reply.”

Major themes were water, traffic, re-adaptive use of existing buildings, parking, housing, historic preservation and protection of neighborhoods and residences. 

Over-development of the City was a repeated concern raised by speakers saying over-development will devalue the quality of life for residents, harm the character of the city and derail Santa Monica’s long-term fiscal health.

Using the ‘fiscal health’ term has become something of an insider’s ironic joke as some of the speakers saw the term as a stealth entry into the statement of purpose - with an undefined meaning and as not appropriate to a zoning code. 

The proposed zoning code is a lengthy and technical document but the audience showed it had done its homework.  The three most common requests were the removal of Activity Centers, continuing the requirements for “A” lots, and the elimination of Tier 3 zoning.

Commissioners were asked to remove Activity Center concepts from the document saying neighborhood-serving businesses were already thriving in Santa Monica and Activity Centers were a concept that didn’t ‘fit’ Santa Monica.  They argued that existing businesses were in the neighborhood to serve a need and were successful, in part, because they were woven into

the fabric of the neighborhood. 

Commissioners were asked to keep the “A” lots (think of surface parking lots next to residences) at the current standard, thus providing a buffer between commercial and residential, and to continue to be required to provide a landscape edge.

Commissioners were asked to ban Tier 3 development because of the concern that residential neighborhoods would be overly impacted by the height and density of the Tier 3 developments, especially as proposed on Wilshire Blvd.

In the surprise move of the evening, Armen Melkonians of Residocracy announced, “The LUCE was faulty from day 1.  We need to revisit the LUCE EIR.  Residocracy will be putting an e-petition on the Residocracy web site for people to sign.  The e-petition will request a revisit of the LUCE EIR.”  He received a standing ovation from the audience.

There were only a handful of supporting speakers in the room.  One was Hank Koning, a well-known and award-winning local architect and a former Planning Commissioner.  He spoke of paradoxes in the discussion. Challenging the assumptions of many of the speakers he stated,  “We need to build more housing in order to have less traffic.  Wilshire Blvd Tier 3 housing would do just that.”

The Town Hall meeting started at 7:00 pm and ended just before 1:00 am.  Commission Chair Jason Parry, Commission Vice-Chair Richard McKinnon and Commission Members Amy Anderson, Sue Himmelrich (Council Member-Elect), Jennifer Kennedy and Gerda Newbold listened carefully to testimony and did not speak themselves.

The audience of about 200 to 300 people thanked them for holding the meeting and for allowing people to applaud and to show audience support for other speakers.

Was this audience a self-selected group of oppositionists or do they reflect general and widely held sentiment in the City?  When asked that question, Sue Himmelrich, a current Planning Commissioner and Council Member-Elect said, “After walking the neighborhoods for 3 months I believe this is a more vocal but accurate expression of the sentiment in the City.  We have had a Council majority that didn’t represent the people.  I hope I’m part of the beginning of building a coalition that changes the Council.”

Planning Commissioner Richard McKinnon said, “From knocking on thousands of doors during my campaign for Council, I learned there’s a generalized discontent about development and a sense the City is going the wrong direction.  They are less vocal but not so different in their opinions from the 2 or 3 hundred people who came to the Town Hall meeting and who have been participating in the discussion on the proposed zoning code for 2 years. They all feel they’ve been blown off.” 

OPA Board Member Mary Marlow was asked if she was hopeful that the meeting would bring results.  She responded, “The majority of the Planning Commission is out of sync with residents of the city.  The 4-person majority of Jason Parry, Gerda Newbold, Jim Reis and Amy Anderson have resisted many thoughtful, resident initiated changes to the draft zoning code. Residents mistrust the City and made their mistrust clear at the Town Hall Zoning Meeting.”

Danilo Bach of NOMA summed up the tenor of the meeting saying, “What happened here tonight reflects the depth of anger and mistrust of the present City government.”

David Martin, Director of Planning and Community Development for the City, was at the Town Hall Meeting.  He invited residents’ ongoing participation, saying,  “The comments we received at the Town Hall Zoning Meeting were valuable and will be important to the process as we begin the Planning Commission's official review of the red line draft.  The next meeting will be held on December 3.  It will be the first in a series of 7 Planning Commission meetings to review the redline, with the last meeting scheduled for January 28, 2015.”

Now it’s up to the Planning Commission.  Will they provide a point-by-point response to the issues raised?  Will they explain how they will handle public comments on the proposed zoning code?  The Town Hall meeting, difficult as it was, could be the start of a dialogue that replaces mistrust with trust.  A trust that will be realized only if the process becomes more reciprocal and the proposed document reflects the discussion.

What Say You?

What Say You? Bergamot Station. Art, Artists and the Expo Line.

Rendering credit: Frederick Fisher Partners
"Keep Bergamot Bergamot.  Focus on the Arts."  Joe Coriaty of Frederick Fisher Partners

What Say You?   Bergamot Station.  Art, Artists and the Expo Line.

SUSAN CLOKE

Columnist

Pausing to catch her breath, the speaker at the podium explained she had raced up the steps to Council Chambers.  She was part of the overflow audience in the lobby below waiting her turn to speak at the Council hearing on the future of the Santa Monica arts venue, Bergamot Station.

The public hearing was a testament to the democratic process and, just in case anyone didn’t already know it, a display of the wealth of artists and artistic knowledge that is an essential part of the Santa Monica ethos, a distinguishing character of Santa Monica culture.

More than 100 people spoke to the Council about the importance of Bergamot Station.  Speakers expressed their concern that Bergamot remain an open, inviting, accessible and vibrant arts center.  They used words such as authentic and asked that site development continue and expand the focus on the arts. 

The Council was warned against formulaic entities that could be built anywhere, but if built at Bergamot would diminish the meaning of Bergamot Station in a way that could not be reclaimed.  They spoke of Bergamot being a nationally known center for the arts.  They spoke about the arts and about environmental sustainability, about education and community.

The issue was not whether or not to develop.  The issue was how much development.  What would be the character of that development?  How would it be financed?  Who would be the developer? 

Many thoughtful and thought provoking ideas were presented and discussed.   William Turner, a gallerist, and member of the Bergamot Station Gallery Cultural Association, talked about the stakeholders and proposed the formation of a ‘working group’ to pair with the City and the developer.

The tantalizing information of interest in Bergamot Station from the stellar musical group Jacaranda and from Cal Arts and UCLA to be cultural non-profit partners shows both the importance of Bergamot Station in the arts world and the continually increasing opportunities for the arts in Santa Monica.

At the conclusion of over 4 hours of public testimony it was the Council’s turn.  Council Member Kevin McKeown opened the discussion on Bergamot saying, “We must build, but do it without losing the authenticity of Bergamot and the existing galleries and Museum.” 

Council Member Gleam Davis said, "Everyone agrees that Bergamot is special and that we have to keep it special.  The question is how to bring Expo into the mix and maintain what has organically developed over the last 20 years.”

Council Member Tony Vazquez then moved that “the Worthe team be selected as the partner for the project and that a working group be formed to work with the development team and the City.”

Vazquez specifically excluded the staff recommended language that the “vision be affirmed” as he wanted the vision to be part of the work of the development team, the working group the City and the community.

McKeown seconded the motion and Davis asked for a friendly amendment for setting time frames for the stages of the process.

Council Member Winterer suggested that the development team be asked to form a working group for Council approval.  Winterer suggested that would help expedite the process as the Worthe team had a good knowledge of the stakeholders.

Council Member Holbrook suggested that it would be a mistake to select the Worthe team as it was clear that extra, nearby land was going to be needed to meet the goals of the project and that the TOD team, also under consideration, already owned nearby land.

There was general discussion among the Council Members about the importance of the labor peace agreements  (a term of art for a specific type of agreement between unions and employers) which the Worthe team and the union had already completed; the importance of phasing the project to first renovate the gallery buildings; how to protect the galleries and the museum; and questions about how to continue the subsidy to the Big Blue Bus and other financial considerations.

It was after midnight when the motion to select the Worthe team as the development partner was passed.  Council Members Vazquez, McKeown, O’Day, Davis and Winterer voted yes.  Council Member Holbrook voted no.  Council Member O’Connor was not present.

Gallerist William Turner said, “We’re thrilled that the Council heard us loud and clear.   They got the need to protect and preserve the valuable and fragile resource that is Bergamot.

“We’ve received tremendous support from the Neighborhood Groups and the Santa Monica community.  Artists, students, residents, community members and visitors all benefit from the work of Bergamot Station.  People depend on the free and open access to the arts that defines Bergamot Station.  It’s important that we tread carefully and don’t lose what we have as we reach for more.

“We’re ecstatic that the Council accepted the idea of the formation of a working group.  There’s no way to get a better product than to work with stakeholders throughout the process.

“All teams were persuasive but we’re very comfortable with the Worthe team as they had, as part of the team, the architects who were here at the beginning when we first formed Bergamot.  Their proposal seemed to best get what is needed now.”

Fred Fisher of Frederick Fisher and Partners, the architects with the Worthe team said, “My partner Joe Coriaty and I were so fortunate to be in at the beginning of Bergamot Station and now, to be here again and to have the opportunity to design an arts center at the 26^th and Olympic stop on the Expo Line is to be part of the next generation of life in the urban growth of the City.  For us, as architects, it doesn’t get better than that. 

“We know we’re in for an intense process and that this is just the start of an engagement with gallerists, the museum, residents and neighbors, the community and the City.  The shape of the project will come out of the process but the process needs the participation of all the stakeholders.”

The City of Santa Monica slogan “We do the right thing right” was evident at the September 9 hearing for Bergamot Station.  It was shown in the respect and thoughtfulness of the public speakers, the quality of the teams being considered, the work of staff and the deliberations and decisions of the Council Members.

Bergamot Station was once a train station.  With the Expo line the train will be back.  It’s also another beginning.  An optimistic beginning of imagining and shaping the future of the arts at Bergamot Station.

What Say You?

Hometown Hero. Councilman Bob Holbrook

Councilman Bob Holbrook
photo credit Susan Cloke

Hometown Hero.  Councilman Bob Holbrook

SUSAN CLOKE

“I feel kind of broken hearted.  Our community is kind of fractured now,” was Councilman Bob Holbrook’s response to how he was feeling about his decision not to seek another term on the City Council.

His first elected office, in 1982, was as a School Board Member.  Jean Ann Holbrook, his wife, suggested he run for School Board. That was the beginning of his 32 years of elected office in Santa Monica.

“After two terms on the School Board I ran for Council and I’ve often joked that the reason for my successful run was, as President of the School Board, I had handed out the diplomas at the Samohi graduations and so I was known by so many families.“

“When I graduated from Samohi there were about 13 million people living in California and now there are about 40 million.  We’re fortunate to live in Santa Monica but we are part of the Los Angeles metropolis and there are more people and more people driving and that means more cars on our roads. 

“I really believe the light rail will help.  I think many of our traffic problems can only be solved with regional solutions.  It’s part of why I’m working on Bobby Shriver’s campaign for LA County Superintendent.  He’s a terrific guy and I’m doing my best to help him get elected.”

Holbrook was born at St. Catherine’s Hospital on 4^th Street in Santa Monica.  It was 1941 and the year before St. Johns Hospital was built.

During WWII Bob and his sister, Cherie, lived with their grandmother at 550 10^th Street and attended Roosevelt Elementary.

After the war, his father returned from the Navy, and they moved to Ocean Park.  Bob and Cherie went to John Muir, John Adams and Samohi.    “My sister Cherie was a great student and it was a tough act for me to follow her,” said Holbrook.

“Still I decided to go to college.  In our last semester at Samohi everyone took a class to prepare us for the work world.  We learned how to fill out applications, go to interviews, etc.  It was a very practical class. 

“It was in the Ocean Park Library, doing my homework, and I found out from the reference book I was using that I was eligible to go to college.  Because of the Great Depression my parent’s hadn’t been able to go to college so my going was a big deal in my family.”

“I went to SMC and I also worked at McCarthy Drug Store on Montana Avenue.  The owner, Tom McCarthy, was the Mayor of SM at that time and he gave me my first exposure to what it meant to be in politics.

“I liked him.  I learned so much from him.  He was a good guy and always helping everyone. 

“After SMC I went to USC to study to be a pharmacist.  After that I joined the California Air National Guard.  It is the only time in my life I’ve been away from California for so long.  I spent six months in Texas and Alabama being trained by the Air Force.

“They asked me to enlist and become an officer.  I had different ideas.  I wanted to come home and marry Jean Ann.  I came back to California and got a job working as a pharmacist at Thrifty Drug Store.

“Jean Ann and I married in 1967.   Our first house was on 10^th Street near where I’d lived with my Grandmother.   Our three children, Bob Jr., Cindy and Craig were born soon after.

“By1982 we had 3 kids in their early teen.  Jean Ann talked to me about the School Board.  The School and the College Boards were going to split into two Boards.  That meant there would be open seats on the Boards and Jean Ann suggested I run for the School Board.

Holbrook did run and was elected and served two terms.  He then decided not to run again as his own kids would be out of the school system.

It was 1990 and he decided to run for Council.  He was the second highest vote getter in that election.  Holbrook went on to serve continuously on the Council for six terms.  He will not run again.

When asked about Council memories, Holbrook said, “There are so many it’s hard to know which ones to tell.”

“I think of the new parks we’ve been able to build.  That’s a tremendous achievement for a city.  Our parks are beautiful and well used and I hope we keep on building more.

“There were very moving personal moments that connected me to people in the City.  I think of the recent dedication ceremony at Woodlawn Cemetery in honor of Santa Monicans who died in service to the Country. 

‘I think of the rose garden in front of City Hall.  At first I didn’t support changing the rose garden because it had been built by Gold Star Mothers to honor their sons who had died in war.  But I asked staff to contact the Gold Star Mothers Organization and they were pleased with the idea for the fountain idea and a dedication plaque to their sons.  We even had Gold Star Mothers who came to the Ken Genser Square dedication ceremony and that was good.

“I was told that ‘Tongva’ means bread maker.  It is a name for the earliest people here in Santa Monica.  By naming the park Tongva we honored the people and our history.

“What is a problem for me with Tongva Park is that you have to tell people where the park is, how to get there and where to park their cars, because that’s not clear.

“What I like best in Tongva Park are the ‘rivulets’, the little streams of water where my grandchildren like to play.

“I also remember the wonderful feeling when Santa Monica helped Bayou La Batre after it was devastated by hurricane Katrina. We did that on behalf of everyone in the City.  You may know Bayou La Batre because it was featured in “Forrest Gump.”  

“After the hurricane we called their Mayor who told us they’d lost just everything and that they didn’t even have the equipment to begin the clean-up.  We sent trucks, equipment, forklifts and cranes.  City employees, like Joe Lawrence volunteered time.  It was great to be able to do so much to help and great to see how everyone in the City came together to support the effort.

“And I’m particularly proud of the Public Library.  It’s a beautiful place and a great service for the people of Santa Monica.

“It’s also the case that there will always be difficult people.  It goes with the job. Once, a long time ago, a man speaking in the public comment period told us he had asked God to kill Rick Sement (a reporter with the LA Times) and that God had done what he wanted.  He then proceeded to use the remainder of his time to pray.  He stood at the podium and said, ‘Dear God please kill Bob Holbrook.’   Now, it’s a funny story but then it was scary.”

“While I don’t think we’d allow someone to use their public comment time that way now I do think we’re having a harder time overall talking to each other.  We seem to be getting more vitriolic and I believe that’s not good for the City,” said Holbrook.

Development projects often bring out the vitriol and Holbrook has faced his share of criticism because he is often in favor of development projects.  He thinks they are necessary for the economic well being of the City.  Holbrook has supported some, but not all, of the hotel and commercial projects.  He has also supported housing projects.

“In the last 10 years we’ve built a significant number of apartments and condominiums all through the City but especially in the downtown area. 

“Many of those buildings include low-income housing.  I wish some of those low-income units could go to Santa Monicans who need them but there are rules that come with the Federal funding that preclude us from giving precedence to local residents.

“The Related projects on Ocean Avenue have both super expensive condominiums and low-income housing.  The idea being that building housing will let people live close to where they work and so traffic will be reduced. 

When asked what he wished for new Council Members and for the City, Holbrook listed public safety as his first priority.  “We have the finest police, fire, and paramedics and we need to keep our people safe,” he said.

“I wish for tranquility. To set aside personal/political differences and be able to have a real discussion instead of just criticism and argument.

“I realize there will be changes and I hope the changes will be ones that make people comfortable.

“Make sure the City is financially strong.

“Water independence is an essential goal.

“Use the job of being a Councilman to help individual people and use being a public servant to do good.”

Holbrook tears up when he talks about former Council Members Ken Genser and Herb Katz.  “I can’t talk about being on the Council without talking about Ken and Herb.  Ken and I started as adversaries and we ended working together to solve problems.  We became more than colleagues, we became friends.  Herb and I were always friends.  Losing them, those were the hardest times on the Council.

Bob Holbrook didn’t always vote the way I wanted him to, but he always listened.  Words that describe Holbrook are respectful, helpful, sympathetic and thoughtful.   I look forward to using those same words to describe future Council Members.

What Say You? Of Cormorants and Council Candidates

Black Cormorant Santa Monica Beach July 2014
photo credit Susan Cloke

Santa Monica summer at the beach.  Surfers, children splashing in the waves, junior lifeguards in training, long distance ocean swimmers, runners.

Beach walks at sunrise and sunset.  Dolphin sightings, sandpipers poking in the sand for their breakfast, pelicans flying low across the water and then diving for fish, the choreographed dance of the Black Cormorant.

The glory of summer in Santa Monica makes it even harder to get one’s mind around the fact that the local election season is now open.

The early start is an indicator of the controversies swirling around town.  Key issues will be the scale and urban character of new development and the existing and continuing increase in traffic.

Look to the defeat of the Hines Project.  Add to that the ongoing opposition to the height and scale and character of the proposed development at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel and to other developments in the application queue.  Development is the main argument.

The Hines defeat is particularly telling.  A major new community organization in town, Residocracy.org, flexed considerable muscle and brought about the defeat of the Hines project.  SMCLC (Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City) had previously opposed the Hines project and was ready with a lawsuit.  In a show of unanimity all the Santa Monica Neighborhood Organizations, OPA, NOMA, PNA, MidCity Neighbors, NENeighbors, Wilmont and Friends of Sunset Park joined together in asking the City Council to reject the Hines project.

The organization that brought Rent Control to Santa Monica in the late 1970’s SMRR (Santa Monicans for Renters Rights) publicly opposed the Hines project and key SMRR leaders spoke against the project at the Council hearing.

There was a split in the SMRR-endorsed Council Members.  On the SMRR website, Sonya Fox Sultan, SMRR Steering Committee, wrote of the SMRR opposition to the Hines project, concluding with “SMRR endorsed Council members Kevin McKeown, Tony Vasquez, and Ted Winterer voted NO.”  She did not write that SMRR endorsed Council Members Pam O’Connor, Gleam Davis and Terry O’Day voted YES.

Is the split in SMRR endorsed Council Members an indicator of conflict at the upcoming August 3, 2014 SMRR Convention.  Does the division of SMRR votes on the Council reflect a division within SMRR?  How will it effect SMRR endorsements?  What does it mean for the election and the next Council?

14 candidates have pulled papers to begin the process of getting the necessary 100 Santa Monica voter signatures on a candidate petition to qualify for the ballot.  The candidates are: currently serving Council Members KevinMcKeown and Pam O’Connor and former Council Member Michael Feinstein; Planning Commissioners Sue Himmelrich, Jennifer Kennedy, Richard McKinnon and former Planning Commissioner Frank Gruber; Recreation and Parks Commissioner Phil Brock; community activist Jerry Rubin; and community members Nick Boles, TerenceLater, Jon Mann, Ken Robin and Whitney Scott Bain.  Still unknown is whether or not Council Member Bob Holbrook, whose term is up, will run again.  (note: campaign websites are per the City Clerk's office and as of press time.)   Election day, November 4, is almost 4 months away but campaigning is full on.

Current Mayor Pam O’Connor, a five time SMRR-endorsed candidate is not expected to receive another SMRR endorsement nor the campaign and financial support that goes with the SMRR endorsement.

O’Connor is expected to run a vigorous campaign.  Early endorsements include LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and LA City Council Member Mike Bonin.  O’Connor has worked with both of them on regional transportation issues and bringing the Expo Line to Santa Monica.  Other early endorsements come from State Assembly Member Richard Bloom and Santa Monica Council Members Gleam Davis, Terry O’Day and Bob Holbrook.

The community organization SMCLC (Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City) moved quickly to endorse Kevin McKeown, Sue Himmelrich and Richard McKinnon, saying:  “Santa Monica faces a historic election…when residents will have a chance to fundamentally change the current council, from one where the majority largely rubber stamps a steady onslaught of high-density, traffic-clogging overdevelopment – to one that will act for residents, not developers.  The scale, character and livability of our City is at stake.”

NOMA Chair Danilo Bach and Landmarks Commissioner Margaret Bach are also supporting Richard McKinnon and opened their home this past week for a neighborhood ‘meet and greet.’  McKinnon spoke about good governance, development issues, social services, sustainability, the airport and transportation.  

McKinnon said, “Santa Monica is a great city.  However the community is fractured at the moment and residents have lost trust in their elected officials.  The whole world wants to come to Santa Monica, to our low-scale city of beaches and parks and sunlight and trees.  I understand that there will be development but I want it to be sympathetic to the City.”

Sue Himmelrich invited supporters to her house over the weekend for speeches and tacos from a Taco Truck.  (An ink stamp on the back of your hand from the campaign was what you showed at the taco truck).  Kevin McKeown and Tony Vazquez, current SMRR Council Members, and Denny Zane, an early SMRR leader and former Council Member, were there to support Himmelrich.  Zane told the group of about 70 people, “We need to be allies for a community that has a human scale and we do not need to be a world class destination, we need to be a city of residents.”

Himmelrich, an attorney with the Western Center on Law and Poverty, promised “a transparent Santa Monica government.”  She called the Hines project “just wrong” and said that she had given both money and legal advice to support the referendum that defeated the project.  “People are above corporations and our City is the right scale now and we need to keep it that way.”

Michael Feinstein’s community meet and greet this week was at the destination surf shop, Zuma Jay’s on Main Street.  Former Los Angeles City Council Member Bill Rosendahl introduced Feinstein saying, “He has a passion for the issues which are important to all of us.  The bay, the ocean, shutting down the airport, and making good development decisions.” 

Feinstein spoke about his work with the Green Party, his concerns about climate change, closing the airport, capping the freeway, building new parks throughout the city, creating a public solar utility, protecting and expanding Bergamot.  Feinstein said, “I see the big picture.  I talk with everyone.  I think government should be open.  And I believe anything is possible.”  

Frank Gruber, former Planning Commissioner, entertainment attorney, writer and blogger at http://thehealthycitylcoal.com will hold his first campaign event Friday July 25.  For more information email choosefrank2014@gmail.com.   Gruber said, “I’m running to continue the tradition of more than 30 years of progressive government in Santa Monica.”

Phil Brock, Recreation and Parks Commissioner and Chair, talks about Santa Monica and why he is running.  “I stayed in the city I was born in… It’s the openness of Santa Monica that we like.  It’s that magical combination of great schools, superb green space, the ocean, the cool breezes and the notion that a city could be more humane, more livable and more unique….”

Even at this early date there are front-runners, contenders and candidates the public hasn’t yet met.  All Candidates are invited to participate at the City Council Candidates Forum held by Residocracy.org

and the City Neighborhood Groups.  Open to the public.  Monday July 28.  Santa Monica Main Library.  Martin Luther King Auditorium.  Doors open at 6pm.  Event 6:30 to 9pm.

I start my day with an early morning beach walk.  With the wonderful feeling of my feet in the sand and in the water.  I think about how we elect leaders and the money we spend.  I wonder why campaigns are volatile and issues urgent.  Then I remember that politics cares about us even if we don’t want to be bothered.  That the decisions made by our elected leaders impact the quality of each Santa Monican and that it is only by caring about politics that we take care of ourselves and of future generations of Santa Monicans.

What Say You?