Editor’s note: Santa Monicans have critical decisions to make come November when they will be asked to cast votes for candidates running for the City Council, SMMUSD school board, the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees and the Rent Control Board. To help make those decisions easier, the Daily Press created a questionnaire that asks candidates to give their opinions on key issues affecting the city by the sea. Here they are, published in the order in which candidates will appear on the Nov. 2 ballot.
• Name: Jerry Rubin
• Age: 66
• Occupation: Peace activist
• Marital status/children: Married to beautiful Marissa Rubin for 27 years.
• Your neighborhood? How long have you lived there?: Ocean Park for 17 years. Santa Monica resident for 20 years.
• Your mode of transportation/model, make and year of your ride?: Walking and Big Blue Bus.
• Own or rent?: Own
• Do you support Measure Y, the half-cent sales tax increase? If so, do you think half of the money generated by the increase should go to local public schools?
Yes. Absolutely yes. The money stays in Santa Monica. And, food and medicine is not included. I also support the advisory measure to give half the money to our schools. I imagine our police and fire departments could also use some of that estimated $13 million this very reasonable transaction and use tax would bring in.
• What are you reading?
Certainly the Santa Monica Daily Press.
• Do you believe there is enough parking in Downtown Santa Monica? If not, what do you plan to do about it?
We need more underground parking. But we need more shuttles, more bus riders, more bicyclists and walkers and basically more people getting the heck out of their cars even for a bit of the time.
• Now that the Broad museum is out of play, what should City Hall do with the Civic Center parking lot?
Use it for city and business employees. Certainly it will be needed for future Civic Auditorium concerts, conventions and other special events.
• When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Not a peace activist, that’s for sure. But I guess I was just very lucky.
• Local businesses provide the majority of the city’s general fund revenues, yet Santa Monica has a reputation for being a difficult place to do business. How would you entice more businesses, different businesses, to open up shop? How can City Hall help those businesses that are struggling in the current economy?
The process can sometimes be overly long, but public participation and input should not be curtailed. Also, the city’s sign ordinances do not really help business much and also inhibit sign artistry and creativity.
• L.A. recently greatly reduced patients’ access to medical marijuana. Do you support medical marijuana dispensaries in Santa Monica?
I don’t do any drugs and I don’t smoke anything. But I certainly support marijuana use for medical purposes. I also support the state proposition to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana.
• Should smoking be banned within apartments?
Santa Monica has been on a steady course to protect people from the very harmful effects of second hand smoke. City Hall has just taken another positive step to prohibit smoking on apartment and condominium balconies and patios. We want to protect renters and condo owners’ rights, but we also need to protect people’s health.
• What would you do to make Santa Monica more bike friendly?
More bike education. More safe bike lanes. More bike parking. In general, City Hall is doing a good job but we can and should be doing more.
• What’s the biggest threat facing the quality of life in Santa Monica?
When we forget just how fantastic Santa Monica really is. That’s why the theme of my campaign is, “I Love Santa Monica.”
• Downtown properties owned by City Hall: Should parking be the top priority or should housing come first?
It’s not an either/or situation. Both are important. Balance is the key word.
• Do you support the closure of Santa Monica Airport in 2015? If so, what would you like to replace it with and how would you make up for the loss in revenue generated by airport operations, lease agreements?
I support a timely, public town-hall forum now to address the issue. I certainly support a ban on jets as a highest priority for obvious health, environmental and safety reasons.
• Do you believe in pension reform and should Santa Monica employees contribute more toward their healthcare and retirement benefits?
Our Santa Monica municipal employees deserve our full support. Rarely will the private sector alone do as much and with as much dedication as our hard-working city employees. So, the short answer is fair reform “Yes,” unfair reform “No.”
• When it comes to getting public benefits from developers, what should be the top priority: affordable housing, public art, cash money, bike lanes or carpooling?
We need good development, but public benefits are a must. All of the above are top priorities, and we should add tree planting and tree maintenance to the list.
• Would you support placing a limit on the amount of time council members can speak on a particular item during meetings?
No. But I have unsuccessfully been lobbying for years to have the council hold its closed session on a different day, even on a trial basis. That would shorten the meetings more than anything else could.
• When was the last time you rode a bike or took Big Blue Bus?
I love our Big Blue Bus! I ride it virtually every day.
• Does the housing-first model work for addressing the homeless issue or should we focus on building more emergency shelters to get people off the streets immediately?
I think we need to be doing both. City Hall, to its credit, has been doing much more than most other cities
• Free form: What’s putting a burr under your saddle?
I think we could be doing more to achieve “community unity” and “win-win” solutions. And, we could be doing more to actively involve ourselves in the election process and upcoming candidate forums. Please register and vote.
