Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 199
Aiming to be the first female president of the United States, Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke at a rally at West Los Angeles College on June 3 that celebrated the theme of women’s rights and women’s achievements. The speakers who preceded Clinton were all female (including a trans woman from San Francisco) and among their ranks were politicians such as Assemblywoman Christina Garcia, Congresswomen Karen Bass and Maxine Waters, and actors Mary Steenburgen, Debra Messing, and Sally Field. The WLAC gy...
Aiming to be the first female president of the United States, Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke at a rally at West Los Angeles College on June 3 that celebrated the theme of women's rights and women's achievements. The speakers who preceded Clinton were all female (including a trans woman from San Francisco) and among their ranks were politicians such as Assemblywoman Christina Garcia, Congresswomen Karen Bass and Maxine Waters, and actors Mary Steenburgen, Debra Messing, and Sally Field. The WLAC gy...
At 9:45 a.m. on May 20 a gray and yellow light rail train came into Downtown Santa Monica Station at 5th and Colorado. Media people snapped pictures and took videos, an audience cheered, and a number of city officials and Metro employees exited the train. The full-length Expo Line, from downtown Los Angeles to the sea, had finally opened. The Expo Line now constitutes 15.2 miles across the Los Angeles basin, with 19 stations. Work on the Expo Line began in the early 2000s, with community meeting...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter The long awaited connection between downtown Los Angeles and the beach will finally be a reality on May 20 when the Metro Expo Line's Phase Two opens, connecting the current downtown Los Angeles to Culver City line with West Los Angeles and Santa Monica. The grand opening will be on Friday May 20, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the following new stations: Downtown Santa Monica, 17th St/SMC, 26th St/Bergamot, Expo/Bundy and Palms. Culver City Station, which opened...
The new stations on Phase 2 of the Metro Expo Line feature, as do all the Expo Line stations, original, site-specific art murals by local artists. Artists were commissioned to create the art works for the stations, working with specialized artisans to bring their ideas from other media into works made from durable materials. The 98 artworks are made from glass and ceramic mosaic and porcelain enamel steel, all of which resist graffiti and color fading. The artworks, installed in steel frames,...
Culver City residents have long been familiar with Goran Eriksson, who frequently speaks at City Council and other civic meetings and chaired the Culver City Chamber of Commerce in 2012. Eriksson has a business background as president and founder of esi Techtrans, Inc., an international business development consultancy founded in 1987. He serves as chair of the Culver City Finance Committee, and in that capacity, encouraged the City Council to increase community involvement in the city budget...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter January: The City Council approved a budget not to exceed $39,662 for producing the summer concert series and approved Gary Mandell as the producer of the series. Culver CityBus began its Line 7 extension service to the Hayden Tract on January 12. A Culver City High student filed a lawsuit on January 14 in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging that she had experienced sexual abuse with members of the school’s football team in December 2013. A fire at S...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter The last City Council meeting of the year, on December 14, saw a compromise on the controversial issue of oversized homes (a.k.a. "McMansions") in Culver City. The council by unanimous vote introduced an ordinance amending the municipal zoning code. The ordinance amends some definitions of building standards for single-family homes, including the floor area ratio (FAR), defined as "ratio of floor area to total lot area." It also gives standards for lot width...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter Anne Allaire Burke and Kelly Kent, the two newly-elected members of the Culver City Board of Education, were sworn in at the Board's December 8 meeting, which also marked what was probably the last meeting held at the CCUSD's District Office. (Future meetings are scheduled to be held at the Mike Balkman Chambers of the City Hall). The small meeting room at the District Office was crowded to the point of standees, as teachers, parents, and city workers,...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter The issue of "mansionization," a term not preferred by some of the activists speaking out against the trend, has been in local news for months, as many cities are studying the problem and in some cases passing moratoriums on building new structures of unregulated size. Culver City has heard from anti-mansionization activists several times and there have been several local meetings and study sessions on the topic. November 16 saw a joint study session of the C...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter Congresswoman Karen Bass (D. 37th District) believes in listening to her constituents. To that purpose, she holds periodic public forums such as the one held November 22 at the Culver City Teen Center. Given the issues that Culver City is most concerned with, there was no secret that this meeting would be mostly about airplane noise and pollution and what the Federal Government can do to control it. The Teen Center was packed and in the back of the room,...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter Culver City residents continue to appear at City Council meetings in groups to voice their discontent with two environmental issues that won't go away: the Inglewood oil field and the noise from airplane flights over the city. At the November 9 meeting a lengthy parade of citizens spoke in public comment about these two issues. The oil field speakers came out because of an imminent EIR (Environmental Impact Report) that the city is preparing on the impacts...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter October 24 was “No Fly Day” in several American cities, including Culver City, as citizens protested airplane routes that cause noise and air pollution in their neighborhoods. Feedback from No Fly Day was offered to the City Council at October 26’s meeting, during public comment, by members of the grassroots group Culver City for Quiet Skies. The speakers had attended the October 24 rally and wanted to remind the city to support them in petitioning the FAA (...
It's no surprise that Culver City possesses a park named after Syd Kronenthal. His name has come to be synonymous with parks as he worked for the Parks and Recreation Department of Culver City for 52 years and his legacy includes the establishment of 14 parks around the city. Syd Kronenthal passed away on October 18 at the age of 92. Kronenthal's career with Parks and Rec began at the end of World War II and ended at a time when the city was redeveloping itself, designing a new downtown area and...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter The second Culver City School Board's candidates' forum on October 14 had quite a different tone from the first one. It seemed a lot simpler to understand and much friendlier than most candidates' forums. Maybe that was because the questions lobbed at the candidates came from the stakeholders with the biggest concerns about school conditions-the students. The forum, held at West L.A. College's Fine Arts Auditorium, was produced by "Ask 2 Know," a program...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter The second Culver City School Board's candidates' forum on October 14 had quite a different tone from the first one. It seemed a lot simpler to understand and much friendlier than most candidates' forums. Maybe that was because the questions lobbed at the candidates came from the stakeholders with the biggest concerns about school conditions-the students. The forum, held at West L.A. College's Fine Arts Auditorium, was produced by "Ask 2 Know," a program...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter The city has heard from experts about the drought affecting the Southland and now, with winter coming, the imminent rainfall is on people’s minds. With weather experts predicting an El Nino condition for this rainy season Culver City is preparing measures for making sure residents and businesses are protected from flooding and other damages. Culver City Fire Chief Dave White gave a presentation about El Nino preparation to the City Council on October 12. “The...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter The League of Women Voters tried "an experiment" in format at their October 1 Candidates Forum for Culver City's School Board. The result: a rapid-paced forum that kept the candidates on their toes as they raced through their responses. The format called for each candidate to have 20 minutes total time in which to answer questions given to all three candidates by moderator Julie Lugo Cerra. Three "timers" in the audience kept track of how many minutes had...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter Dr. Janet Hoult is Culver City's Poet Laureate-for now. The appointment was made at the September 28 City Council meeting and fulfilled a wish by many people to see Dr. Hoult win the appointment, which is honorary, unpaid, and will be for a term of two years, expiring on December 31, 2017. The Council, acting on the recommendation of the Cultural Affairs Commission, made the provisional appointment in order to allow Dr. Hoult to represent poetry during the...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter The problem of extra-large houses being built on lots too small for them and too small in relation to other structures in the neighborhood-what has been dubbed "mansionization"- continues to be a contentious issue for some residents of Culver City. Since residents of the Carlson Park area spoke before the City Council at several meetings this past spring, the city has been holding study sessions at Planning Commission meetings. There have been three study...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter With another City Council election still months away, the council on Monday, September 15 voted to amend the Culver City Municipal Code pertaining to campaign finance and other political activities. The vote was 4-0 in favor with one abstention-Meghan Sahli-Wells, who, alone of the current council membership, will be running to retain her seat in the April 2016 election. For over 25 years, Culver City has had its own regulations related to the financing of...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter More than 30 Culver City residents attended a city-organized meeting at City Hall on August 27 to discuss aircraft noise from overflights and learn about the FAA’s (Federal Aviation Agency) plans. A community forum on the issue of overflight aircraft noise was previously held in February 2015, with more than 50 residents in attendance. At that meeting, as at the recent meeting, council members Meghan Sahli-Wells and Jim Clarke were in attendance. The A...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter With a light late summer agenda, the City Council’s August 24 meeting took care of some less noticed but still essential matters by filling appointments to two city boards. The Council appointed two at-large members to the Landlord-Tenant Mediation Board and a Culver City representative to the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles County West Vector and Vector-Borne Disease Control Unit. The two Members-At-Large are Olga Vaysberg and Reverend Leonardo W...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter Visitors to this year’s Fiesta La Ballona will have the enjoyment of experiencing Culver City through a special exhibit, courtesy of KCET. The city and KCET, the nation’s largest independent public television station, now celebrating its 50th year in Southern California, are partnering to host a multimedia community exhibit in the form of a traveling arts and education kiosk which will be at the Fiesta on August 29. Measuring 84 inches in length, width, and...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter How is Culver City doing with water conservation? Not too bad, as it turns out-but citizens should keep doing what they can to conserve. Scott Houston, director of the West Basin Water Board, told the City Council, in a presentation on August 10, that Culver City, given the goal of a 16 per cent water reduction rate for 2015, actually reduced water usage by 19 per cent in the month of June. . California is in the fourth year of a drought that seems...
