Meet Terence Later

Name: Terence Later

Age: Timeless

Occupation: Producer

Neighborhood of residence: Santa Monica Opa, Noma

Own or rent: Rent

Marital status/kids: Single

Party affiliation: Independent much like Bernie Sanders

SURVEY

1. Should Santa Monica provide more city sponsored services to homeless individuals including establishing a sober living facility in city limits?

With the influx of the homeless from DTLA straight west we need to bolster our facilities for crisis management… This is a serious issue that must be addressed.

2. Does the solution to traffic require life be made easier or more difficult for drivers?

The solution must be made easier because it has been made more difficult for the last 20 years. I believe that residents should be entitled to free parking and that the traffic can be alleviated by reducing the development.

3. Does the city have too many alcohol outlets and should there be stronger limits on acquiring alcohol licenses?

For the historic licenses - no. New licenses should be at a major premium.

4. What percentage of your daily travel needs are met using something other than a private car?

I walk, skateboard, and certainly bike more than 50% of the time and am a big proponent of the Jake Bike.

5. What, if any, apps are on your phone/computer/tablet right now were developed by a Santa Monica company?

My website, VoteNowForLater.com was designed in Santa Monica by a single woman powerhouse local that came to Santa Monica to follow her dream. I also have the Big Blue Bus and Santa Monica Bike Share apps, Snapchat, FanBrags, Dog Vacay, and a number of the local eateries.

6. The city’s zoning rules now allow for marijuana dispensaries but the city has delayed implementing the clause. Has the city been too cautious, too reckless or just right in its approach to marijuana?

Just right. Do you need a joint, just call me - marijuana is easy enough to get.

7. What is your definition of overdevelopment and what is your plan to prevent it?

Santa Monica’s current state is that of over-development. I like Measure LV as a way of putting development back in the voters hands however I don’t support Armen Melkonians for city council because he wants to take down the Santa Monica airport ‘yestreday'.

8. Hobbies?

Supporting local businesses, hanging out with dogs in Dogtown, saving historical landmarks much like Chez Jay and the Carousel Cafe. I am all about everybody’s right to have the Starbuck’s however I don’t feel this should be at the cost of a historical property over 75 years old.

9. Do you spend more time streaming video or watching cable TV?

Both, I stream and have cable.

10. All cities have struggled to find money for affordable housing in the past few years. Is the current ballot measure raising the local sales tax the appropriate way to fund affordable housing?

No, we could raise private monies for affordable housing. I personally have raised millions of dollars for charities for those in need from those who can afford to help with regularity. Raising taxes on folks is not the way to do this when we are in a time where every little dollar matters.

11. How have you been involved in the Santa Monica Community in non-election years?

By working to preserve historic landmarks such as Chez Jay and the Carousel Cafe as mentioned and also by campaigning and being actively involved with Santa Monica Civic, Dog Beach Now, and Unleash the Beach. I am a huge proponent of a dog beach for our residents and will work tirelessly to see this through.

12. Have you ridden any of the attractions at Pacific Park? If so which ones and how often?

Just yesterday I was on the pier for the Opera event and the Chamber of Commerce Mixer and my campaign team can often be seen relaxing by riding the ferris wheel.

13. How aggressive should the city be in its pursuit of closing the airport?

Not aggressive at all. We have spent far too much money fighting this battle with the FAA and it is a large waste of the city’s resources against a tactical emergency asset. I am not a proponent of closing the airport - it is an emergency resource to have the ability to fly in and out of Santa Monica in case of a major disaster or terrorist attack, much like the one that happened in a small scale at the Santa Monica college.

14. To what degree should Santa Monica integrate with the surrounding municipalities?

In every way possible. In the chance that the disaster may befall us and that the airport gets closed, high-rises will spring up in every area of the city surrounding it. We need to make alliances to be sure that the communities around us are slow-roled as well.

15. Businesses often talk about the difficulty of working in Santa Monica. Why is the current level of regulation appropriate and should the city do more to encourage and support the business community?

The city should absolutely do more to support it’s local businesses and make it easier for business owners to open and sustain businesses, particularly the businesses that have been a cornerstone of the community for decades. In addition, we need to be employing locals for sustainability and to promote better community. Alliances need to be cultivated and created - the basic atmosphere for businesses to create synergy with one another and to create jobs for everyone in Santa Monica and especially the youth graduating college without a job. The constant threatening and misinformation that has been dispersed from our city’s PR city to alarm all of our neighbors has created an adversary relationship with neighboring communities that needs to be healed. The traffic generated by Santa Monica alone has impacted every one of the surrounding communities in a 50 mile radius.

16. What is the correct approach to operating the Santa Monica Airport?

Bio-Fuel, more agreeable take off and landing patterns, electric planes, and solar power planes much like the one that just circumvented the globe for the first time. Everybody involved in the aerospace industry going back to Charles Lindbergh and The Wright Brothers, owes a debt of gratitude to the Santa Monica airport. It should never be reduced to a brass plaque buried somewhere amongst the 227 acres that the current city government unlawful and unrighteously are attempting to cannibalize just to say 'this is what happened here'.

17. Where do you stand on the local ballot measures (GS, GSH, LV, SM and V)?

GS - In the event that the tax gets voted in I certainly support it being dispersed in that manner. I am not for raising taxes of any kind but instead better management of funds.

SM - No. We need government transparency to clean up this city and stop the monetary graft.

V - No. The SMC already has 630 Million dollars that won’t be payed off until 2038.

LV - Yes on LV. Over-development is rampant and we need the communities help to stop it.

GSH - No. We are against raising taxes on our community members. No more bond fatigue.

QUESTIONS

Please provide at least 100 words on each of the three questions. Candidates have a maximum of 600 words for the combined answers in this section.

Why are you running for council, what makes you qualified to lead, and what role do you see yourself playing on the dais if elected?

If anyone understands Santa Monica and all of her majesty on a deeply rooted level it’s me. I am a Santa Monica born, third generation Santa Monica citizen and have lived here all my life. My family and myself have helped build this city to greatness and have contributed both fiscally and physically and have ties to many of Santa Monica’s longest standing businesses and 91,000 citizens.

I attended Will Rogers, John Adams, Lincoln, Olympic, Samohi, SMC and UCLA and have lived in neighborhoods from Santa Monica to Ocean Park to north of Montana as a renter and business owner. I have tremendous pride for our school district, our parks, our beaches and every community that makes up our wonderful city.

Over the years I have seen Santa Monica grow from a little seaside town into a thriving metropolis. This growth has come with its upside and downside. When elected I will strive to make Santa Monica a cleaner, greener, safer place to raise our families.

“The needs of this community are my needs. I will strive for better communication between all members of our community. I will make sensible expenditure of taxpayers funds a priority. Tax reform, traffic, safe parks, recreation areas and safety in our schools will also be a priority.”

• I will demand transparency and government accountability by voting NO on Prop SM, as I did working tirelessly to defeat Prop W in 2006.

•  I am a supporter of the Land Use Voter Empowerment - Measure LV and support responsible development just as I did in supporting Prop T 2008, limiting traffic and producing parking alternatives for residents of Santa Monica.
• I will work to allocate our city resources to strengthen our Police and Fire departments and most importantly, offer solutions and support for improving our schools.

• I will work to cease the legal battle with the FAA in an effort to save the Santa Monica airport.

• I will work to maintain Rent Control as it stands. Senior exemptions and sunset clauses for tax and bond initiatives.
• I will work to set aside a portion of our shoreline for a Dog beach which has been long anticipated and long overdue.

• I will work to expand and maintain our parks, protect our city’s environment and keep our beaches clean.

What were the council’s best decisions in the past two years? What were the worst?

Best: Council has made no good decisions as we have been busy creating more ways to take money from the residents of Santa Monica and the citizens visiting Santa Monica. It’s a shake down operation - the City Council work for us and are employed by us. Everyone on the council and in the city office is beholden to the residents and we, the residents, should be the lions share of their concerns. City Council has been so busy gathering money for themselves and for their cronies they have missed the mark and we now have in our city a number of federal agencies investigating many levels of our Santa Monica government operations.

Worst: Spending our tax dollars to sue the FAA over the Santa Monica Airport when they know they have already spent millions over the last couple of years of with no positive results at all. The city attorney won nearly 300 million dollars in the settlement to clean Santa Monica’s water and make it safe again only to surrender nearly half of the judgement money to the law firm outside of the Santa Monica lawyer system that was hired as experts when they had already agreed to settle with us.

How has the city’s pursuit of sustainability been appropriately balanced with economic, development and financial concerns?

The sustainability is a joke. The idea that they have created a gridlock environmental situation with our traffic is not sustainable. There are 6 million square feet of land that is green lighted to be developed, but that has not been built yet and they continue to invite more developers to come in anytime an envelope is presented to one of their hot little greasy hands.