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Letters and Commentaries are the opinion of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the newspaper. The Culver City Observer takes positions on issues and will be marked as editorials. E-mail letters are required. E-mail letters to: letters@culvercityobserver.com Letters provide a community forum open to all. Due to space limitations we ask letter writers to limit their topics to local concerns, Letters should be limited to 400 words or less. Letters must be received...
By Jon Coupal President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association There’s an old joke about the origins of the word “expert.” The story is that it is a combination of the word “ex” – meaning a has-been – and “spurt” – defined as a drip under pressure. Therefore, “expert” means a has-been drip under pressure. Like it or not, we all rely on experts in our daily lives. But Americans are losing trust in experts, according to the Pew Research Center. Trust in scientists and medical scientists, ini...
By Jon Coupal President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association There’s an old joke about the origins of the word “expert.” The story is that it is a combination of the word “ex” – meaning a has-been – and “spurt” – defined as a drip under pressure. Therefore, “expert” means a has-been drip under pressure. Like it or not, we all rely on experts in our daily lives. But Americans are losing trust in experts, according to the Pew Research Center. Trust in scientists and medical scientists, ini...
By Jon Coupal and Scott Kaufman As the Legislature gavels in for another session of taxpayer abuse, we can look back at the last session and cheerfully report, it could have been worse. The Legislature sent Gov. Gavin Newsom 1,166 bills last year. He signed 997 and vetoed 169. Fortunately, the midterm elections served to concentrate the minds of lawmakers, taming many of the Legislature’s more radical proposals. However, several bills that were signed by the governor are still a cause for c...
Dear Editor, In her letter of Jan. 5, 2023, Ms. Alexander belittles the role of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, stating it is “involved in making recommendations on the use of the public right of way”. When I chaired the BPAC we actively tried to support staff who are implementing the Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan adopted by City Council in June 2020. The plan is extensive, and available on our city website. Ultimately of course, the BPAC can only listen, discuss, req...
By Jon COUPAL President Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association I sincerely hope that readers aren’t turned off by the title of this column. While most taxpayers aren’t directly responsible for paying unemployment insurance taxes, the truth is we all pay and, in California, we pay a great deal more than we should. Last week I received an email from a dentist who operates a small dental office and is required to pay the unemployment insurance tax and, sadly, is paying much more than he should bec...
Dear Editor, In a democracy, vigilance is required. Over the last decade, the City Council has created three Advisory Committees, in the areas of Bicycle & Pedestrian, Equity and Human Relations, and Finance. In a progressive worldview, these citizen groups would be used as a catalyst for public engagement and public transparency. (As an eight-year member and Chair of the Finance Advisory Committee, I can attest that public fiscal transparency was front and center in the work we did.) In the...
Dear Editor, In my former life as a Catholic nun (I left the convent at 27), I dealt with a lot of difficult and controversial issues. But I didn’t really think about abortion at all — until a family member needed one. Catholics for Choice has helped me realize that pro-choice Catholics like me aren’t alone — in fact, we’re in the majority. Will you join us today? The more I examined my conscience, the more I realized I had absorbed the onslaught of messaging from the all-male Catholic hier...
As a retired engineer, having worked for the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) for 29 years, I have been following this story along with fellow retirees and employees. I'm at a loss as to why MWD is seemingly covering up this story, as I've heard from employees and have observed by the dearth of reporting on such an investigation. Of particular interest, I would think, is the unexpected announcement yesterday that Brent Yamasaki - the MWD manager responsible for operation of the entire...
On November 17, 2022, our new councilmember-elect Dan O’Brien described his plan for addressing homelessness in an interview with Culver City News. It’s incomprehensible. O’Brien starts with the premise that not enough housing is available for the homeless, that “providing housing is a long term game,” and so until that housing is available we need “enforcement of encampment laws.” He wants to approach unhoused people with services and housing and if they refuse say, “I’m sorry you can’t b...
Dear Editor, Avoid a Holiday Tragedy The holiday season comes with family gatherings, social time with friends, and office parties. These joyful events can lead to life-altering consequences, like drunken driving. When I was 16 years old in 1992, a drunken driver hit me. I had a four-month coma, broken bones, paralysis and brain injuries. My gait and speech are affected and I lost my driving and hearing abilities. For 30+ years, I read lips and cannot enjoy holiday music anymore. Drunken...
There are far too many atrocities that both have occurred in recent times and that continue to occur. They need to be reported upon, discussed, and universally condemned. Moreover, we need to do what we can to punish those who are behind the atrocities and eradicate the seeds that sow them. However, the Holocaust can not be the comparison when an atrocity does not rise to the level of genocide. Even Wikipedia starts out its description of the Holocaust by saying that “[t]he Holocaust, also known...
As a lifelong Feminist/Progressive/Pro-choice Democrat, I am writing to ask you to vote by November 8th for Dan O’Brien and Denice Renteria for Culver City Council. I believe that in our nonpartisan local election, they are the leaders we need to represent our wonderful community. As members of the Creative Community (Dan is a film editor/director and Denice is a properties artist), both Dan O’Brien and Denice Renteria show through their actions that the way to bring people together and solve pr...
I’m writing to voice my strong and unwavering support for Alex Fisch in this critically important upcoming election for City Council here in Culver City. The actions the next council takes on the issues we face as a city; homelessness and our housing crisis, climate change, mobility and transportation and more, will leave a lasting imprint on our city and I am proud to support Alex for another term on our council, to help our city continue to lead our region and state on these issues and m...
I feel the need to share that Dan O'Brien, candidate for City Council for Culver City is incredibly responsive and involved with his residents and business owners in Culver City. I felt the need to approach him via email about a month ago to see if he would help us with our new Culver City Cuisine located in 5660 Selmaraine Dr. Not only is located at an isolated/industrial zone, but struggles with a few areas for improvement such homelessness, lighting zones, cleanliness, etc. I was not sure...
We are currently experiencing a ‘spiral of silence’ in Culver City. It can and should be stopped. In 1974, Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, a political scientist, coined the phrase ‘spiral of silence’ to describe a situation in which an individual’s willingness to express his or her opinion in public is a function of what he or she perceives the public opinion to be. More precisely, people who believe that they hold a minority viewpoint on a public issue will “remain in the background where their commu...
I decided not to run for Culver City Council this year for a few reasons. In the last election cycle for Culver City Council 2020, I received 2,163 votes which in previous off years would have been a very good showing. However, I was outspent by more than 15 to 1 by the winning candidates that year. I couldn’t compete against the money machines supporting their candidates of choice. I was told I was a “volatile” candidate and could not win. I asked a prominent Culver City resident why I was cons...
I feel compelled to canvass and support Dan O’Brien and Denice Renteria for the Culver City council race. They are the only candidates that can help turn the course of our city back into a safe community again. Never before have I felt so horrified by the actions of our current city council majority to let crime increase making our city unsafe. They have taken away the ability of our police to proactively police. Our community is filled with homeless encampments. Our downtown once beautiful i...
Dear Editor, A developer in Santa Monica is pushing through 4500 units of housing, and in Redondo Beach over 2300 units are proposed to replace the beachfront AES power plant, and for that reason (among many others) I will be voting for Alex Fisch and Freddy Puza for City Council. What happened in those towns? They failed to do what Culver City did under Alex Fisch and his colleagues Daniel Lee and Yasmine McMorrin. Thanks to those three Culver City passed a legitimate Housing Element and...
As elected leaders we are held to a higher standard, and while we should never accept racist remarks from anyone, it is particularly heinous when those remarks are made by the people, we have entrusted to lead us. As widely reported by the Los Angeles Times, L.A. Councilmembers Martinez, de Leon and Cedillo engaged in an abhorrent conversation that demeaned and disrespected their fellow Councilmember Mike Bonin, his family, other LA City Councilmembers and the African-American community as a...
Dear Editor, I am writing this letter to show my support for Dan O’Brien. For several years in the early 2000s, I worked with Dan on the Board of the Culver City Education Foundation, He was always open minded and dependable while serving on committees and fundraisers. Since leaving the CCEF, he has continued his strong support of the Culver City School District. As an adult leader in the Boys Scouts, he has worked with integrity and respect. Dan has always been listener and respectful to i...
Dear Editor, I am writing to submit an endorsement for Dan O’Brien’s bid to be elected to the Culver City Council. I have known Dan since 2014 through our sons local Scouts BSA Troop 108. My son had newly joined the troop and the current Scoutmaster had indicated that he would be stepping down and the future of the troop was in jeopardy unless another volunteer step up. At the time our unit had about 20 scouts with a significant number who would be aging out within 2 years. Dan stepped up and as...
While we do understand that MOVE planning considerations involved such artistic issues as to which pastel traffic paint color to choose, there was zero outreach to Arts District residents to inform us about the consequences of the MOVE traffic program before it went forward. Alex Fisch’s MOVE traffic scheme, with total lack of driver safety considerations, has created a horrible traffic mess for Arts District residents. The multi-colored lanes, plus the permanent traffic cone lane barriers a...
We are a youth-led campaign to lower Culver City’s voting age to 16 in municipal and school board elections Initial reactions to our movement are often immediate and negative. This is understandable; allowing youth empowerment is the way forward. Eighteen became the national voting age only relatively recently during the 1970s. It can change to fit the priorities and attitudes of our community and will ultimately lead to fairer elections that represent public interest. So, why should you s...
Dear Editor, Are We Prepared for the Mega-Drought? Let’s make sure we are by electing a local Culver City resident and water expert to represent us on the board of the West Basin water district: Sanjay Gaur. Southern California has a growing population of over 23 million people. If it we were to try to sustain itself without importing water, the population would have to be less than 500,000. How can Southern California sustain a population of 23 million with enough water for only 500,000? The a...
