The State Assembly Candidates: Santa Monica Votes June 5, 2012

VOTE     VOTE     VOTE

 STATE ASSEMBLY CANDIDATES
  
 RICHARD BLOOM

 BETSY BUTLER

 TORIE OSBORN

 BRAD TORGAN



SUSAN CLOKE
Mirror Columnist
May 25, 2012

Education, environmental sustainability, development and traffic, and social justice are main concerns of Santa Monicans.

The person we elect to be our Assembly Member can help or hurt us as we try to tackle these issues.  Our Assembly Member’s actions in Sacramento make a difference in financing for education, the enhancement and protection of clean air and water, easing traffic congestion, regulations for fair and safe working conditions, the availability of health care and more. 

In alphabetical order, the candidates are: RichardBloom, Betsy Butler, Torie Osborn and Brad Torgan.  On June 5, 2012 Santa Monicans will decide who gets their vote.  To help in this decision, each candidate has been asked to respond to the same four questions.  In their own words the candidates tell us where they stand and what they will do about education, sustainability, development and traffic, and issues of social justice.  

Each question is written below, followed by the answer of each of the candidates. 

Question 1.   EDUCATION:  Santa Monica schools, from nursery schools through college are struggling with tremendous budget cuts.  As a City we have worked to offset those cuts, but more needs to be done.  Please tell us what you have done to protect education funding and what you will do as an Assembly Member. 

Richard Bloom.  “I am a champion for public education and have helped raise City funding to the SMMUSD from $2.25 million (1999) to a projected $14.4 million.   My wife, my children and I received excellent public educations.  I’ve been a PTA Vice-President, coach and volunteer while my children grew.  I believe every child deserves an opportunity for an excellent education.  We must find predictable funding for all levels of education that cannot be touched by the State.  We must assure the public that their money is being spent wisely and for the benefit of our children.

Betsy Butler.  “I would not vote for a budget that did not address the needs of public education.  Last year, my first year in the Assembly, we structured a budget that came as close as possible to protecting public education.  As a result, the budget before us now will require many serious cuts but it increases funding for public schools by $6 billion.  That funding will be contingent on the voters' approval of the Governor's proposed modest increase in temporary sales tax and an equally modest income tax increase on the wealthiest Californians.  I am confident that every candidate will join with me in urging voters to approve that measure and secure this $6 billion in additional funding for our schools.

Torie Osborn.  “California’s future depends on reinvesting in our education system. I have endorsed the work of organizations like the Education Foundation, the PTA and CEPS, because, through their advocacy and work, SMMUSD has been able to absorb some of Sacramento’s draconian cuts, but we must do more to provide schools with reliable state funding. I would work tirelessly to craft a fair tax code (including closing the corporate property tax loophole, instituting an oil severance tax) so that early childhood education, K-12 education, and higher education can begin to recover.  And I would look to bring Santa Monica’s extraordinary education leadership to broader scale.”

Brad Torgan.  “California’s business tax climate is the 3^rd worst in the country, and that’s even with the property tax protections of Proposition 13.  Our overall tax burden is the 6^th highest in the country.  Yet, our spending per K-12 student is 47^th in the country. When our taxes are amongst the highest in the country, but our education spending is near the bottom, our spending priorities are seriously out of whack.  The Assembly needs to put education near the top of its priorities, not the bottom.

Question 2.  SUSTAINABILITY.  Santa Monica is growing its reputation for sustainability, from our solar powered Ferris wheel, to our green streets, to our no plastic bag policy.  Please tell us what you have done to protect the environment and what you will do as an Assembly Member.

Richard Bloom.  “In the Assembly, I’ll continue the legacy I’ve begun on the City Council.  As Mayor, Coastal Commissioner and in other positions, I have been a constant and passionate advocate for environmental initiatives, including protecting our coast and creating Marine Life Protection Areas.  We’ve achieved extraordinary results in Santa Monica because the community is committed and because we deliberately engage the business community.  I helped shepherd the plastic bag, polystyrene and various smoking bans that improve our environment.  I have worked diligently to enact our green building ordinance and implement our green streets, stormwater runoff, water/energy self-sufficiency programs and more.

Betsy Butler.  “I intend to address water issues across the state and implement policies similar to Santa Monica and its reuse of water. My record as a current Assembly member affirms my commitment to the environment.  Both my bill to ban toxics in products used by babies and my electric vehicle bill passed and were signed into law by Governor Brown in 2011.  I have established my record as an early and effective opponent of the unregulated practice of "fracking" by oil companies.  This process threatens our aquifers and must be regulated.  My work has earned me the California League of Conservation Voters and Sierra Club endorsements.

Torie Osborn.  “Under my leadership, Liberty Hill Foundation brought together mainstream environmental leaders and environmental justice groups in a new coalition – Green LA -- to craft a unified progressive environmental agenda for LA. That agenda included LA’s Clean Air Action Plan for the Port of Los Angeles, Green Building Ordinances for the City and County of Los Angeles; it encouraged city departments to give preferred purchasing to green businesses.  If elected I would continue my commitment to practical environmental solutions so that California, whose wind, solar, geothermal energy should make it the global center of the new green economy, can continue to lead on environmental policy.

Brad Torgan.  “When I served as Chief Counsel for California State Parks, I organized opposition to a toll road that would have destroyed a state beach and Trestles, one of the best known surfing spots in California. I also litigated to keep high voltage transmission lines out of State wilderness.  As a member of the Assembly I would fight against special interest exemptions to the California Environmental Quality Act.

Question 3.         DEVELOPMENT AND TRAFFIC.  Santa Monica is experiencing an unprecedented demand for growth and development, with 15 Development Agreement applications currently before the City.  It is also experiencing an unprecedented degree of traffic congestion.  Please tell us your thoughts and ideas about development and traffic in Santa Monica and how those ideas might be expressed in the job of an Assembly Member.

Richard Bloom.  “We are not alone in having traffic congestion but it is definitely a problem.  In consensus processes our community agreed on a cutting edge land use plan, an ambitious bike plan and, through dogged determination, we are realizing the dream of light rail.  All new development must contribute to reducing traffic.  Nearly all new development is “mixed use”, clustered near transit stops.  Many of the solutions to traffic lay outside our borders.  If neighboring cities, especially L.A., were to adopt Santa Monica-style land use rules, regional traffic would ease while economic development/jobs would accelerate.  Legislation should encourage/incentivize this outcome.

Betsy Butler.  “Like many people here I am disappointed in how some local and state officials allow themselves to be bullied or bought by development interests who cynically use the recession as justification for damaging our communities and the quality of our lives.  Every candidate promises to "stand up to the special interests." I am the only candidate who has done so consistently. 

Torie Osborn.  “Bringing more good paying jobs into Santa Monica and the 50^th District is critical, but it will mean also allowing mixed development that requires the creation of affordable housing.  If we locate affordable housing near job centers, it also cuts down on traffic.  Along with the Expo line (which will cut back on the car traffic) we need to increase funding for bike routes, incentivize environmental friendly shuttles that allows Santa Monicans to get around the city without their cars, and expand regional mass transit systems such as the Subway to the Sea.

Brad Torgan.  “As a Planning and Transportation Commissioner in West Hollywood, I’ve seen firsthand the impacts of overdevelopment.  I also see those impacts fighting on behalf of a community organization in Hollywood, trying to prevent massive increases in commercial density in their neighborhoods.  How Santa Monica wants to develop is ultimately up to the citizens of Santa Monica, but there must be recognition that some development issues and impacts are regional in scope and require regional or state solutions.

Question 4.  SOCIAL JUSTICE.  Santa Monica examples of its commitment to social justice include Program to End Homelessness and the enactment of a living wage ordinance.  Please tell us what you have done to advance social justice in your work and what you would do as an Assembly Member.

Richard Bloom.  “I've led the struggle to end homelessness, provided unmatched services for seniors, the disabled and children (our first accessible playground is on the way).  The Assembly should budget a reasonable safety net.  But the State is broke, from years of fiscal irresponsibility.  High unemployment makes things worse.  Revenue measures like those on the November ballot will help.  But true salvation for these programs and for the State of California requires a resurgent economy.  Under my leadership, Santa Monica has proven how we can have both progress and prosperity.  That’s the Santa Monica-style success I ask voters to send to Sacramento.

Betsy Butler.  “I am honored to have the support and endorsement of numerous social justice organizations, including the Consumer Federation of California, Equality California, the National Women’s Political Caucus, the California League of Conservation Voters and the United Farm Workers. Today, I am carrying the strongest legislation in America to protect farm workers from heat illness and death.  I am proud that Cesar Chavez's United Farm Workers, Lily Ledbetter, the California Democratic Party and Planned Parenthood have endorsed as well.

Torie Osborn.  “My entire life has been spent working for social justice, from the early women’s health movement, to national leadership on HIV/AIDS, and the LGBT movement.  Then, leading the Liberty Hill Foundation, I worked with local groups on successful living wage ordinances and environmental justice campaigns.  In Mayor Villaraigosa’s cabinet and at the United Way, I worked to diminish homelessness and poverty. As a Member of the State Assembly, I would champion legislation on equality, poverty and juvenile justice, as well as fight to restore and protect the budgets for education and the safety net.

Brad Torgan.  “Social justice can’t be achieved when one out of every nine Californians of working age – 11% – is unemployed.  Reducing that unemployment rate will require reforming our State’s tax structure and creating a more friendly business climate. “

The candidates, in their own words, have told us who they are.  What they believe. What they will do, if elected.  On June 5, it will be our turn.  It is our right and our responsibility to vote.

We have all heard or even said, “He’s a politician.”  Usually, it’s meant as a put down.  But doesn’t it depend on context?  Can’t being a politician mean being a person committed to public service?  Santa Monica has had the good fortune to be well represented by people of commitment to community and commitment to public service.  Let us use our vote to continue that tradition.

To our candidates, thank you.  It is hard work and worthwhile to run for office.  It is hard work and also deeply satisfying to be able to do good work.  Thank you for being willing to do this work.  Thank you for your commitment to community and for your public service.

What Say You? A Murder of Crows

Native American Crow Carving
Courtesy Judy Wunsch

SUSAN CLOKE                                                         

Columnist, Santa Monica Mirror             

Crow complaints are on the rise in Santa Monica.  Neighbors are complaining about early morning loud noise, crows carrying away fledglings from other bird’s nests, crows frightening off other birds, crows eating garbage and crows making messes. 

Complaints about crows are not new.  Throughout history crows have been labeled schemers, pests, scavengers, tricksters and, even omens of death.  Remember the ominous crows in the classic movie, Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds?

Crows live in large flocks, called “a murder.”  This poetic name was recorded in a 1486 essay on hunting, attributed to Dame Juliana Berners, published in the Book of Saint Albans.  In it, she lists the names of groups of animals.  Ravens and crows get the harshest names. A flock of crows is a ‘murder of crows’ and a flock of ravens is an ‘unkindness of ravens.’ 

Very harsh compared with flock names such as, an ‘exaltation of larks’, a ‘charm of goldfinch’, a ‘parliament of owls’, an ‘ostentation of peacocks’, a ‘congregation of plovers’, and a ‘pandemonium of parrots’.

Crows are highly intelligent animals.  They make and use tools, recognize individual people by their facial features, and crow vocalizations are being studied as a possible language.

Crow intelligence has been recognized in myth and folklore.  Crows were tricksters and ancient ancestors in Aboriginal Australian lore, they were associated with the Irish goddess Morrigan, a crow speaks to Apollo in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, crows are considered ancestors in Hinduism, crows are mentioned in the Buddhist Tibetan disciplines, a crow is said to have protected the first Dalai Lama when he was a baby.

A Native American story tells of the beautiful to hear and see Rainbow Crow who received fire from the Creator and brought it back to earth on a burning stick.  The stick charred his feathers and turned the crow black and the smoke and heat of the fire turned his voice hoarse.  The crow is honored because he brought fire to keep people warm.

Garry George, Conservation Chair for Los Angeles Audubon, said, “We’ve enabled the crow.  Their natural habitat is on open plains with trees for nesting.  We’ve replicated that, to a degree, when we changed the coastal desert ecology of Southern California and planted large, open expanses of grass along with large and well-pruned trees and installed sprinklers.

“But crows are predators.  They eat fledging birds at the seashore, including least terns, sandpipers, herons and egrets.  Audubon would like to see people taking appropriate actions to reduce the incentive for crows to be in our urban areas.”

From the PBS video “A Murder of Crows” we learn about the work of John Mazluff, Wildlife Biologist at the University of Washington, who experimented with crow identification of individual people.  He was able to show that crows could not only recognize individual people but could pass that information on to their fledglings.  We also see the New Caledonian crows solving spatial problems in order to make tools and to use those tools to get food.

Crows are omnivores who will eat anything from insects, worms, grasshoppers, fruits and nuts, grains, seeds, crops and fish to fledglings, eggs from other bird’s nests, garbage we leave out, dog or cat food left outdoors and all carrion.

If they survive the first few years, and the estimate is that fewer than 50% do, crows can live as long as 20 years. They reach sexual maturity between 3 and 5 years of age, usually mate for life, the mother and father crow and siblings from previous seasons, called ‘helpers at the nest’ take care of the crow fledglings.  Crows spend up to 5 years with their parents and family.

“There were always American Crows in this area,” said Kimball Garrett, Ornithologist at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History.  “When the area was largely agricultural the crows that where here were persecuted and shot because they ate the crops.  The crows developed fears and learned to avoid humans. 

“When LA become populated, people changed the ecology of the LA basin by planting large expanses of lawns and installing irrigation systems and fountains and pools, by planting many trees. People left dog and cat food outside for their pets.  People didn’t properly dispose of garbage. 

“As people made the urban areas more habitable for themselves they also made them more attractive to crows.  We created an environment that was good for the crows.   These changes to the natural habitat allowed an artificial growth in the crow population.”

The crows are now happy here and if reducing their urban presence is our goal, it won’t be easy.  There are some obvious things to do. We can be very careful about our garbage, throwing nothing out the window of a car, throwing nothing on the ground, making sure that all garbage is in secure containers.  We can feed our dogs and cats indoors.

Or we could do what the City of Chatham, Canada did and bring in a falconer.  He used his trained hawks to capture, but not hurt, the crows.  Then he released them and the crows did what came naturally to them - they spread the news that there were predators in town.  The crows decided it was too dangerous to stick around.

Or we could take the advice of those who say crows are amazing and intelligent and interesting and we could decide to like them.

I’m going to do a little of both.  My dog food is coming off the porch and into the house.  I’ll let my dog out to bark at the crows if they become a nuisance at my house.   And, as a long time environmentalist, I’ll continue to be careful and dispose of all trash correctly.

And I’m going to look at them in a new way.  I learned so much about crows just through doing the research for this article that I already have a new appreciation for them.  And, I wonder, is it really true that they take care of their elderly parents?

What Say You?

Hometown Hero: Lester Breslow (1915- 2012) An Appreciation

SUSAN CLOKE
Columnist, Santa Monica Mirror

You may have seen Dr. Breslow, a man in his 90’s, taking his regular walk on the Boardwalk in Santa Monica.  Lester Breslow, a physician who pioneered the field of public health, was following his own advice for a long life.  

“Do not smoke.  Drink in moderation.  Sleep seven to eight hours.  Exercise at least moderately.  Eat regular meals.  Maintain a moderate weight.  Eat breakfast.”

These rules, Dr. Breslow’s “7 Healthy Habits” became the foundation for many government programs designed to promote good health and longevity.  What may seem common knowledge to us now is, in large part, common knowledge because of Dr. Breslow’s work.

 The “7 Healthy Habits” for longevity were based on data from the Alameda County Study.  The demographics of Alameda County were reflective of national demographics and that made it a good site for the study.

 In 1965 almost 7000 residents of Alameda County CA were randomly selected and asked to participate in a survey regarding their health habits.  Did they smoke?  How much did they drink?  How much exercise did they get?  What did they eat?  When did they eat?  How much did they sleep?

The first survey was used to create a baseline.  Follow up surveys, coded for anonymity, collected data over a 20 year period and were used to correlate health habits with disease incidence and longevity.

The methodology used in the study provided a mathematical proof that life style, good health and longevity are linked.  His work expanded the definition of public health and explored the inter-relationship of the community, the environment and the individual.

Dr. Breslow had intended to practice psychiatry but he was having doubts about his choice and his mentor at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Alex Blumstein, who became a life long friend, encouraged him to go into the field of public health.

Born in Bismarck, North Dakota in 1915, he was the oldest of four children, his father a pharmacist, his mother a schoolteacher. 

The family moved to the Twin Cities in Minnesota in 1927.  The first in his family to go to college, Lester Breslow received four degrees from the University of Minnesota.  His undergraduate degree in science, his medical degree, his master’s degree in public health and then, much later in life, an honorary degree for his contributions to the field of medicine.

World War II interrupted his career, as it did to everyone who lived through those times.  From 1943 to 1945 he served as a Captain under General MacArthur.  With his training in epidemiology he worked as a physician and also developed preventative medicine programs to protect troops in the tropics from getting malaria and Dengue fever.   He was also responsible for the clearing of returning troops for communicable diseases when they returned to port in San Francisco.

Dr. Breslow was discharged in 1945 and reunited with his first wife and three children.  He wanted to continue his work in the field of public health and talked to the CA State Health Department about his ideas for the prevention of chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.

At first, the CA State Health Department sent him to the San Joaquin Valley to study equine encephalitis and to keep it contained.  Dr. Breslow continued to work for the CA State Health Department for 22 years, rose through the ranks and soon became the Head of the Bureau of Chronic Diseases.

In the post war period the CA State Health Department created the CA Tumor Registry was established to track disease incidence, treatment and survival and that was how the rising trend in the incidence of lung cancer in American women was seen.

In 1965 Governor Pat Brown appointed Dr. Breslow to the position of Director of the CA State Health Department.  But the Director is an appointed position and when Governor Brown was no longer governor, Dr. Breslow became a professor at the Fielding School of Public Health at UCLA.  It was 1968. By 1972 he became Dean of the School, a position he held until his retirement at age 65.

His idea of retirement was an active one.  He kept on working because it made him happy to do so, doing research, mentoring students and giving lectures and talks.

He loved to be on the go and loved the theater and to discover new restaurants.  He also tended his garden and walked every day.  He followed his own rules – no smoking, ate breakfast, sleep 7-8 hours per night, no snacking, weight to height balance, alcohol in moderation and exercise.

Dr. Breslow received great recognition in his lifetime, he was the advisor to Presidents, the recipient of prestigious medical awards including the Lienhard Award from the Institute of Medicine, the Sedgwick Medal from the American Public Health Association and the University Service Medal.  He died in April of 2012, at the age of 97.  His long life is a testament to his work and we are his beneficiaries.

My thanks to Devra Breslow.  She is a talented, professional woman in her own right and Lester’s wife of 44 years.  Without her help this column could not have been written.

What Say You? Santa Monica College

SUSAN CLOKE

Columnist, Santa Monica Mirror

Pepper spray?  Used on Santa Monica College students?  How could that be?  It’s not who we are, not as a city, not as a community and not as an institution of higher learning.  But it happened.  According to the SMFD, who were called to the Campus, thirty people suffered the effects of pepper spray.  Most of the injured were treated on campus by the SMFD.  Three people were taken to the hospital to be treated and were released.  The College announced it would pay any medical bills.

I believe I speak for the many, both at the College and in the community, when I say I am sorry.  As a member of the Santa Monica community I apologize to the students who were hurt and to any students who were frightened or were intimidated into being silent by their fear.

The College Police Department will hold an internal investigation of the officer and the incident, as they must.  And the College will hold an independent review.  I think that’s appropriate and I hope one result will be the preparation of policy and protocol documents protecting students, their right to protest, and reaffirming the feeling of safety and belonging for students that has long been the hallmark of the College.

Why were students protesting?  They came, most, but not all, to oppose the concept of “contract classes.”   Simply put, students currently pay $46 per class unit.  Contract classes would be offered to students who couldn’t get into the classes they needed/wanted and would cost $180 per class unit.  Due to the already deep cuts in State funding for community college education students often don’t get the classes they want.

For some students, such as students enrolled in State Universities who are coming to SMC to take summer classes that will transfer to the 4-year schools, these classes would be a bargain.  For most Santa Monica College students it would be unaffordable.

The issue of contract classes surfaced at the March 6 meeting of the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees. The Trustees had been looking for ways to keep the doors open for students and teachers, to provide options for students who needed classes.  They saw contract classes as a practical alternative made necessary in response to the devastating decline in education funding from the State, which has caused a tragic number of students to be turned away from community colleges.

The Trustees approved a summer, contract class pilot program. Approximately ten students leaders who attended the meeting expressed their opposition.

By the Trustee meeting of April 3 the students, who had been at the March 6 meeting, were joined by approximately 100 students, mostly coming to voice their opposition to the concept of contract classes, saying they saw it as eroding the mission of the community college as a place where education was available to all.

It was at the April 3 meeting, when more students showed up than the meeting room could accommodate, that students waiting to get in were pepper sprayed.  An overflow room, with an audio feed, had been set up and some students went into that room but many students wanted to be in the same room as the Trustees, saying it was important the Trustees see their faces during the discussion and vote.

The details are in dispute.  Some are saying students were too loud, pushed too hard and rushed the door.   Others are saying there was no threatening action on the part of the students that could justify the use of pepper spray by the Santa Monica College police officer.  A video, on the LA Times website, shows students standing in the doorway and hallway and chanting, “Let us in.”   Next the video shows students running and crying and people calling out for help.  Some students are chanting, “Shame.”  It is a chaotic scene.

The Pepper Spray Incident, as it has come to be known, startled students, the local community and made the national news.  It led to a week of campus protests, press conferences and action.  It focused attention on the contract class proposal.

On Friday, April 6, right before Spring Break and with students and faculty preparing to go home for Easter and Passover, the Trustees held a special meeting.  This time the meeting was held at the Main Stage on Campus, an auditorium that accommodates several hundred people.  It was full.  No one was turned away.

The meeting began with College President Chui Tsang speaking movingly of his own start at a community college.  An immigrant, he became fluent in English, went on to a university, earned his doctorate and is now President of the College.  He said, “I want all students to have the opportunities I had.”

President Tsang presented the Trustees with a recommendation that they cancel the proposed, summer pilot program and postpone implementing any self-funded classes pending a campus-wide dialogue.

Board Chair Dr. Margaret Quiñones-Perez then opened the public hearing and for over two hours students from Santa Monica College, from Community College Associations and faculty members spoke.

Most students spoke of their opposition to the concept of contract classes saying, “providing special access to education to those who can pay extra fees hands the politicians in Sacramento a way to further decrease public funding for the community colleges.  What you hope would be a short-term action to fill a gap is a funding mechanism they will seize and make permanent.”

 “You are not creating a system of options, you are creating a system of entitlements.  Sacramento should be looking at closing the corporate loophole in Prop 13, not at further cutting funding for education.  We should be looking for community and college partnerships.”

Students told trustees they shouldn’t try to solve problems for Sacramento, but should instead stand together, trustees, faculty and students and that together they would have a strong voice.

Students repeatedly asked to be included in the decisions that affect them and thanked the trustees for holding the special meeting.  Jasmine Delgado, the Vice-President of the Students Association said, “I am here to talk about the future.  Through shared governance we can create innovative, local solutions.  We can do this.”

There were also students, although fewer in numbers, who supported the idea of contract classes.  One student, here on a visa, said he was required to be enrolled in a certain number of classes or he would lose his visa and be deported and he was willing to pay extra for the contract classes.  Another student said that they too were willing to pay more so they could get, in a timely way, the classes they needed to transfer to a four-year college.

Faculty speakers were divided on the issue of contract classes, with more of the faculty speakers in favor.  But faculty and student speakers spoke in one voice of the need for dialogue and for working together. 

Speakers also spoke to the pepper spray incident.  One faculty member said to the Trustees, “It was well know in advance of the April 3 meeting that a large number of students wanted to speak why the heck didn’t you hold your meeting in a larger venue?”

Student comments ranged from,  “I attempted to attend the April 3 meeting.  I want you to know that we didn’t rush the police officer at the door, we didn’t provoke his actions and we were completely unprepared for the pepper spray   Thank you for hearing us today.”  To the opposite extreme of a student saying he “knew the students had been deliberately provocative.”

At the end of the meeting it was clear that the Trustees, had gotten out ahead of the students on this issue, but were now listening.  In the words of one student,  “let us step back and re-imagine the future.”  

It was a rocky week at the college.  With good people all around, with educators wanting to teach and students wanting an education the College succeeded in coming to a solution that recognized the democratic principle of the consent of the governed.   The Trustees voted unanimously to cancel the summer pilot program and to postpone offering any contract classes pending a full, campus-wide discussion of the issue.

I say we can help by adding our voices to those of the students, faculty and staff at the college.  We can urge Sacramento legislators, as was suggested in the meeting, to look at the corporate loopholes in Proposition13.  We can support the tax measure Governor Brown has proposed, which will raise funding for higher education.  We can let our elected officials know we support higher education.

What Say You?

Hometown Heroes: Pancho Barnes and Donald Douglas Sr.

March 30, 2012

SUSAN CLOKE

Columnist, Santa Monica Mirror

Pancho Barnes
Photo by George Hurrell
Copyright Estate of Pancho Barnes

Pancho Barnes (1901- 1975) joined 19 other women pilots, including the most famous woman aviator of the time, Amelia Earhart, as they took off from Santa Monica Airport.  The women were flying in the first Women’s Air Derby. 

It was 1929, nine years earlier women had won the right to vote, there were approximately 2000 licensed pilots in the U.S and fewer than 30 were women.  It was a sign of the importance of the race that so many of the woman pilots were competing.   Among the celebrities attending the event was humorist Will Rogers.  He dubbed it the “Powder Puff Derby” and the race is still known by that name.

Pancho Barnes, born Florence Lowe to socialite Pasadena parents, went with her grandfather to the first national Aviation Meet held in Dominguez Hills in 1910.  He told her that someday she would be able to fly and she believed him.  The adventurous and self-named Pancho became the first woman stunt pilot in Hollywood and flew in Howard Hughes’ film “Hell’s Angels”, she organized the stunt pilot’s union, was a founding member of the Ninety-Nine’s, a close friend of Chuck Yeager, and a test pilot herself.   In 1930 Pancho challenged and beat Amelia Earhart’s speed record of 184 mph, flying her beloved plane, the Mystery Ship, at 196 mph.

It was the golden age of flying in America.  It was the time of Lucky Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis and America was in love with flying and fliers.   Pancho Barnes exemplified the spirit of adventure and the daring of the early aviators.  Airplanes were the stuff of dreams.  There were no commercial passenger planes.  But all that was about to change.

Donald Douglas Sr.
Boeing Archives via Wikipedia

The same year Pancho and her grandfather went to the Aviation Meet in Dominguez Hills, Donald Wills Douglas (1892-1981) was in Virginia, watching as Orville Wright qualified the Wright Flyer for the U.S. Army.  Douglas wanted to know everything there was to know about planes, but he never learned to fly one.    That didn’t stop him from designing and building some
of the most famous airplanes of the 20^th century at his company, Douglas Aircraft, located in Santa Monica, California. 

Douglas came to Los Angeles in 1920, rented his first office on Pico Blvd and formed the Davis-Douglas Company to build the Cloudster for Davis.  When the Cloudster didn’t fly as expected, Davis left the company and Douglas continued as the Douglas Aircraft Company.

With an early commission from the Navy for a new folding-wing torpedo plane (the DT-1) and funded with the help of LA Times publisher Harry Chandler, the Douglas Aircraft Company was on its way.  By 1924 he had relocated Douglas Aircraft Company to the old Herman Film Corporation building on 24^th and Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica.

Under contract to the Army Air Corps, Douglas Aircraft debuted the open-cockpit Douglas World Cruisers, the first planes designed to circumnavigate the globe.   The first 4 World Cruisers tool off in March of 1924 from Clover Field.   (Clover Field was the original name of Santa Monica Airport, in honor of WWI pilot Lt. Greayer Clover.) 

In September of 1924 two of the World Cruisers completed the 28,945-mile journey.  Over 200,000 people were at Clover Field to watch them land and to celebrate.

Douglas aircraft went on to build mail carriers, army cargo planes, medical evacuation planes and even the first successful plane that could take off and land on water, the Douglas Dolphin. 

Then, in the 1930’s, came the Douglas Commercial (DC) planes: the DC-1, a 12 passenger plane, followed by the transcontinental, 14 passenger DC-2, and the iconic, 21 passenger DC-3.  Before the beginning of WWII over 800 DC-3 airplanes were flying in the U.S.   Built in Santa Monica, these planes first flew out of Santa Monica Airport.  The DC planes led the development of the national aircraft industry and the City of Santa Monica changed to accommodate the new industry.

A sign Douglas had posted at the DC-1 construction site in Santa Monica read, “When you design it, think how you would feel if you had to fly it!  Safety first!”

WWII transformed the airline industry and Douglas Aircraft was at the center of that change.  Douglas became President Roosevelt’s go to man for warplanes. Thousands of warplanes took off from the Santa Monica Airport on their way to join the U.S. and Allied Air Forces.

During WWII Santa Monica Airport was hidden under a raised “town” with houses, streets, trees and farms with barns and animals.  Movie studios became part of the war effort and created the camouflage to protect the airport from being visible to enemy aircraft from the air.

Donald Douglas was a brilliant engineer and a visionary person.  He built a company that changed the world and the world recognized his contributions. 

Did Pancho Barnes and Donald Douglas know each other?  I think they must have, but I couldn’t find any record of that.  What I do know is that Pancho Barnes and Donald Douglas are emblematic of our history and the skill and vision each of them brought to their work is an essential part of the ethos of Santa Monica.

Links:

Visit the Museum of Flying at the Santa Monica Airport to learn more about the history of aviation, and the important role it played in the history of the Santa Monica.   Information, www.museumofflying.com

Pancho Barnes has been memorialized in the film, “The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club.” http://www.legendofpanchobarnes.com/film/index.php

and in the Lauren Kessler 2000 biography, “The Happy Bottom Riding Club: The Life and Times of Pancho Barnes.”

She is also portrayed in “The Right Stuff” a 1979 book by Tom Wolfe about the U.S. manned space program and in the 1983 film  “The Right Stuff” based on the book.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Right_Stuff_%28film%29

Donald Douglas has been memorialized in the Wilbur H. Morrison 1991 biography, “Donald W. Douglas: A Heart With Wings.”

and in the PBS series
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/chasingthesun/companies/douglas.html

Greayer Clover: for more information and for his writing
http://www.ourstory.info/library/2-ww1/Clover/SuzanneTC.html

What Say You? 710 Wilshire Boulevard

710 Wilshire Building.  Arthur Harvey, Architect

SUSAN CLOKE

Columnist, Santa Monica Mirror

For all its life 710 Wilshire Boulevard, “the Santa Monica Professional Building,” has housed small businesses and professional offices.  Now it is the subject of public debate in the City.  The owner, Alex Gorby of Maxser and Co. Ltd., is proposing the retention and adaptive reuse of the landmark building and the building of a 285-room hotel, with ground floor retail and restaurant uses, to be located on the existing parking lot immediately to the south of the Santa Monica Professional Building.

 A Spanish Colonial Revival style building and a City Historic Landmark the 710 Wilshire building is easily recognizable and well liked.  Designed by Los Angeles architect Arthur E. Harvey, who also designed the Embassy Hotel Apartments on 3^rd Street.  In 1928, the year 710 Wilshire was built, at six stories and 40,638 square feet, it was the largest building in the neighborhood.

If developed as proposed the old and new buildings together will total approximately four times the size of the existing, approximately 40,000 square foot 710 Wilshire building.  A development of the size proposed would not be allowed under current zoning.  In materials submitted to the City in 2010 Maxser and Co. stated: “The alternative of building a smaller 135-room hotel consistent with current zoning is not economically viable.” 

So, in order to apply for development rights over the current zoning, the 710 Wilshire Boulevard project opted to go the Development Agreement route through the City approval process. They are one of 14 major developments currently in the City’s Development Agreement queue.  In the downtown area the Development Agreement applicants include, among others, the Miramar Hotel and a Marriott Hotel.

A Development Agreement (DA) is a contract negotiated between the City and the developer.  The City Council Members are responsible for representing the interests of the City as they have the final say on the terms and conditions of the DA.  The premise of a DA is that the benefits the City would achieve would justify the breaking of the City Zoning Code.  Additionally, in a DA, deal points can be very broad.

In the case of 710 Wilshire one deal point, the preservation of the Landmark Building was not negotiable and is included.  But there are other issues to be negotiated:  the size, the height, the massing, the scale, the aesthetics of the proposed design, all are up for discussion.  Parking, bicycles, transportation funding are on the table.  Local hiring programs, student internships, and more – a list of conditions the City finds to be of sufficient importance and benefits to offset the additional benefits to the developer. 

The City is addressing, but has yet to resolve, many of the issues listed above and the plan for review by a joint committee composed of members of the Landmarks Commission and the Architectural Review Board is a good idea.

Where the 710 Wilshire DA is weakest is on the terms of a living wage requirement.  In fact it’s downright off in its wage proposals and it includes a provision which gives the City Manager the authority to reduce the required wage standards, under certain conditions, instead of meeting of going through a public process at City Council.

Elsa Mercado

I spoke with Elsa Mercado, who currently works at the Viceroy, and is a shop steward for the hotel union.  Born in El Salvador,  she lived in a beautiful area with mountains and rivers and was surrounded by her extended family.  She and her many cousins were very close to each other and saw each other every day.  She dreamed of becoming a nurse. 

One day a man came to the house of one her cousins and asked for help changing a tire.  After getting help with his tire the man let them know he was an investigator for the government of the then president.  Her cousin had organized against the president, as had Elsa Mercado.  The man took her cousin away and for fifteen days no one knew where he was.  Some agriculture students found him lying in a field, he had been badly beaten and they brought him home.  Shortly after that war broke out and life was in danger.  Finally, poverty and war and family problems made her decide to try for a better life in the United States.  Elsa Mercado had dreams for herself and her three daughters.

For thirteen years Elsa Mercado lived in California without her daughters.  At first she worked in factories where the wages were very low and the work very hard.  Places we would call sweatshops.  When she got a chance to work at a hotel, she jumped at it.  Of working at the Viceroy Hotel she said, “We have rights, we have a dignified wage, we have health care and other benefits, and we have the liberty of saying what is right and what is wrong.”

Now her daughters are here in California, all are working and, at the same time, one is studying to be a teacher, one is studying to be a lawyer, and one is studying to be a nurse.

Elsa Mercado said, “I believe my plan is to continue to work at my job and also to work for the union in the defense of people who work.  We are asking for a dignified wage of $15/hour and rights and respect from all the hotels that will be opening in Santa Monica.”

Setting livable wages and requiring reasonable benefits is allowable in a Development Agreement.  Santa Monicans made it clear that they support the concept of a dignified wage, that it is important, during the time the City discussed and passed the Living Wage Ordinance.

I join in asking the City Council Members to require that the Development Agreement for 710 Wilshire include requirements, for as long as the hotel is in business of, in Elsa Mercado’s words, “a dignified wage and rights and respect.”   

What Say You?