All candidates were given an opportunity to provide written answers to a set of questions provided by SMDP and two sets of answers will be printed each day. Answers are also available online alongside additional information from each candidate.
What is your justification for using government authority to require private property owners to subsidize inflation, fees, utilities and other costs for rent controlled tenants?
I have no justification. Single family home owners should not be penalized with excessive property taxes. The city should tax the big corporate developers responsible for rent gouging and tax them for vacant apartments, unless they give a discount to help recruit police officers to live where they work..
Do government subsidies of homeless services do more to get people off the streets or attract more individuals to the city? Depending on your answer, why should that money continue to flow to service providers or be reassigned to other needs?
Homeless services attract many homeless individuals to the city who are homeless by choice so they can spend their entitlements on drugs. These street thugs are free to roam the city committing misdemeanors with very little enforcement. They sleep and defecate in public. They have taken over Reed Park and the Promenade at night, etc.
Many deserving homeless fall through the cracks because they are afraid to use homeless services. The money should be targeting these homeless so they feel safe, and help them find work so they can develop self esteem through gainful employment.
Why has Santa Monica become a hub of transit innovation including scooters, self driving cars, delivery drones and zero-emission vehicles and is this industry one that should be encouraged to grow here?
The City Council encourages these so called ‘transit innovation vehicles’ to increase revenue. They have taken over the bike paths and are dangerous. The new bike lanes on Broadway are especially dangerous to cyclists, forcing us to ride on the sidewalk until it is safe to enter the lane.
What specific technological, policy or regulatory ideas do you have to address resident concerns about a declining quality of life in Santa Monica?
I have been advocating for a Virtual Town Hall on the City website for grass roots, participatory democracy for transparency and accountability, with forums on issues like District Elections, Crime, Law Enforcement, Homelessness, Water Resources, Auditing the Budget, Tourism, Small
Business, Street Cleaning, Auditing the Budget, Reducing Resident Taxes, Parking, Traffic, etc.
The City Council will not implement such a revolutionary tool to empower residents and give them a voice in City government because it will expose and limit the power of special interests that run this city. It will force the City Council and City Staff to listen to our complaints and suggestions when thousands of their constituents reach consensus through this interactive interface.
What role does tourism play in Santa Monica’s culture, economy and government?
Too much!
Does Santa Monica’s approach to law enforcement need to change and if so, what would you do to alter the department to meet the needs of the city?
The city needs to hire more police officers and find ways to give them incentive to live in the City they police. There is no shortage of housing in Santa Monica there are thousands of units off the market because of rent gouging.
I suggest the City use a two pronged approach:
A. encourage the corporate owners of luxury apartment complexes to give a generous discount to police officers to help SMPD recruit and retain cops who live where they police..
B. If they refuse to help, tax them for every vacant corporate luxury apartment.
How do street vendors impact the experience of using Santa Monica’s public spaces?
The situation on the Pier was out of control for too long. The gangs must not continue to control vending in LA county; this is a county wide problem.
Do you think residents fundamentally trust local government and what can be done to address the feelings many residents have regarding local politics?
I emphatically do not trust the government. They are hampered by their special interest endorsements. If I am elected I would represent only the residents.
I would fight to end the 3 day work week and excessive over time, and use the savings to hire more cops. Our cops are not the kind of cops who beat law offenders, but they’re trained to coddle criminals far too much and their hands are cuffed when it comes to enforcing the law.
I have 10 years in law enforcement and if elected I would meet with the LA County Chief Probation Officer Adolfo Gonzales and Santa Monica Police Chief Ramon Batista to work together to violate
to put repeat offenders back behind bars.
Drug users would be given a choice between jail and rehab paid for by LA County
I would also meet with Karen Thacker, Regional Parole Administrator for Southern California Adult Authority.
There will be a new Sheriff in town soon and the City should work with all outside law enforcement, especially when there is a situation like what occurred May 31, 2020. Many of our off duty officers live an hour or more commute away. If the Santa Monica Fire Department can work with other Fire Departments during wildfire season, why can’t our police share resources with the LAPD, Culver City, the LA County Sheriff, Probation and Parole services, etc. when there is out of control street crime, riots in our city, homeless encampments, etc.?
