SOME OF YOU KNOW ALL OF THIS
Some know some of it. Some are starting from total bewilderment. And some would say this is all a load of hooey. Use it as you will.
This is written for all who love this special city. And that includes a lot of folks I believe are instrumental in destroying what we have/had here. Some of those have been corrupted by their desires for money or power or prestige. But many have become ideologues who so fiercely believe in a philosophy that they can ignore the damage done to people, neighborhoods, character, history and heritage.
This is, of course, one person’s opinion. This is an opinion column.
If you are one of the bewildered, trying to understand how and why things happen here, especially the things that seem so patently wrong, I have good news and bad news. Your inability to make sense of things is to be expected. SM politics is a black widow spider web buried in a wasps nest and overrun by angry red ants. The bad news is, it will take you years to come even close to unwrapping and understanding it all. This is, of course, intentional.
THERE ARE SO MANY POWER CENTERS
And influential, ambitious individuals. All working together, in some Illuminati conspiracy? Ha. No, not organized, like that. But often their separate goals intersect. Like, many tall, wide buildings are just what we need, cars (and parking) are bad, water supply doesn’t matter, school district is a billion dollar construction company with a side interest in education.
BUT THE BUCK DOES STOP AT THE CITY COUNCIL
From my observations of the past almost two decades, it is a series of development-loving Councils that got density rolling. Richard Bloom was on Council a little before my awakening (1999-2010) but many say he was the one who really pushed that wrecking ball. Twelve years on Council led him to the State Assembly, for 10 years, and now he is probably harmless to us, as a judge. Kevin McKeown seemed to have drunk the overdevelopment Kool-Aid post-Bloom; people tell me Bobby Shriver didn’t do much damage (always late to meetings); nor Mike Feinstein, in their six year terms. Ted Winterer also had only six years, and was quietly pro-development; Terry O’Day was all behind densification and raising our skyline, in his 10 years. I’ll never forget his immediate reaction in a Council meeting, to the news that we were being ordered by a quasi-governmental agency to build another 8,800 housing units in the next nine years: "Well, we’ll just have to change our zoning, won’t we?" Or you could have suggested we fight that bull pucky, like several other neighboring cities did.
Was Sue Himmelrich ("I’ll bid $140,000 of my own money, Alex, for that Council seat, and 400K for that vanity, ineffective tax bill that seems to tax the rich… but doesn’t") up there for only eight years? It seemed like forever. Who can forget her tantrum over demanding that she would not serve a one year term as mayor, only two! We should have called her bluff.
THE CURRENT CITY COUNCIL?
Fifty percent terrific. Christine Parra has made some unfortunate votes, Oscar de la Torre is nearly impossible to predict (not a compliment, Oscar), and Phil Brock (a longtime friend) has made more moves I didn’t care for than I would have predicted. But he is probably the hardest working Council member ever, for residents, with morning till night meetings here and in neighboring cities. An insider told me recently, Phil has probably done more good with the things he has stopped, than what we see. For a guy who I know cherishes our history here, he blew it on the unnecessary bulldozing of Samohi’s History Building by the School Board, and remained too neutral about the Civic Auditorium. He just survived a ridiculous, petty attempt by Gleam Davis to prevent him from becoming mayor, something decided by the whole Council long ago. Lana Negrete, appointed then elected, was the deciding vote, as she has been so many times. Sometimes I hate the way she votes but she has been a lifesaver when she teams with "The Slate" and I am so glad she’s there.
The other two? Caroline Torosis at least came from a government background, in LA and here, but she and Jesse Zwick march in development lockstep with mayor Gleam Davis. Zwick was upbraided at a recent CC meeting by Negrete for his facial expressions on the dais (smirks, chuckling) while, you know, grilling our Police Chief, and of course never lived here until a few months before the election (going to school here while living in Pacific Palisades does not make you a Santa Monican).
OH YEAH - GLEAM DAVIS
Definitely a Commander in the march to build a high-rise Santa Monica. City Council 2909-2024. She never told us, for years, that her husband worked for Michael Dell, developer of the obscenely huge expansion of the Miramar Hotel, while she never recused herself and voted on issues affecting it. Altering the rules for electing a mayor just as Brock is coming in is only her next best trick, in my book. I loved it when she broke all rules of procedure and years of strict precedent to let union members, many many of them, speak to an item no longer on the agenda. Wonder why she might want to curry favor with the union?
Yes, I know, I left out beloved Pam O’Connor, 1994-2018, who gave us so many gifts, like all the problems with the train and a million dollar lawsuit loss, to her petulance. But she took a few gifts too. I was stunned to learn you could pay off a campaign debt of as little as $4,000 of a Council member who had voted on your projects. I have lots more stories to tell about her, like her hilarious deposition over the Voting Rights lawsuit, but am saving them for my book.
YES, THERE IS SO MUCH TO KNOW
I did leave out a couple of important morsels. Like, there is no housing crisis in a CA with a declining population, just an affordability crisis. (Oh, and if someone trots out "supply and demand" when talking about housing prices in SM, just laugh and walk away.) But it is a convenient way to get all this building through. Which we can no longer blame on our City Council, because Sacramento has legislated away cities’ ability to determine their growth. Gosh, there’s so much more, but that’s enough to chew on for now. Any more and I would have to cry.
Charles Andrews has lived in Santa Monica for 37 years and wouldn’t live anywhere else in the world. Really. Send love and/or rebuke to him at therealmrmusic@gmail.com
