Opinion / Columns
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SM Resident Says Staff Misconduct Obstructs Housing Commission
The following is public input offered by Ann Thanawalla, before the City Council on April 12, 2022 By now you've received time sensitive notice of misconduct by City staff. I am here to amplify that notice. For months, staff in several offices have...
Death of a Property Owner
By Jeff Prang Los Angeles County Assessor This month I’m going to share information about a delicate subject, but also a very important one---dealing with property taxes and what should be done...
Highschool-Like Cliques, Gossip, Racial Grouping And Bullying
By Amber Jackson, Lucky Lifer As the days go by, I never cease to be fascinated by the dynamics of prison staff behavior. I've learned so much about the psychology of human behaviors. And the more I learn, the more I want to know. I've become a bit...
How do we find a way to stay unique? Distinct. Santa Monica!
Stanley Dunn Special to the Observer Think back for a moment to the place you grew up. You may be living elsewhere now yet when you go back to where you are from, a rush of memories spring about. A...
DTSM Seeks PR Agency
By Alyssa Erdley, Observer Staff Writer 2/15/22: At their meeting tomorrow, the Audit and Finance Committee for Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. will discuss hiring a "communication firm to handle board communication and crisis management." DTSM is the qu...
SPECIAL INTERESTS RIG HOUSING COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS?
AUTHOR: OLGA ZURAWSKA The City Council is expected to attempt again on January 11, 2022 the appointments to two seats on the Housing Commission: a 2-year designated seat for a Section 8 program participant with lived experience of homelessness...
Toppled Homeless Statue
By Corva Corvax, Satire Artist Ed Massey's statue titled "In the Image," of a seven-foot-tall homeless homeless man was knocked down by vandals around November 30, almost exactly three years after...
Daytime Robbery of Dagwoods' Patrons is Inevitable Result of Soft Response to Lesser Crimes
By Alyssa Erdley News with Attitude November 17, 2021 - On Saturday, two patrons of Dagwoods Pizza were robbed during the lunch hour by a man claiming to have a gun. The two men were seated on the...
Removing Promenade Chairs Won't Solve Vagrant Problem
By Alyssa Erdley News with Attitude Public seating has been removed from the Third Street Promenade from Monday through Thursday. The chairs are replaced over the weekend when more actual shoppers arrive to spend time there. “Unhoused individuals.....
Key City Infrastructure Affected by 8,895 New Units
by Alyssa Erdley News with Attitude October 12, 2021 - The final Environmental Impact Report for the state-ordered addition of 8,895 new housing units to Santa Monica over the next 8 years reveals significant and unavoidable impacts on air quality,...
Real-Life Witches Will Sign Your Book in Culver City
By Alyssa Erdley, Observer Staff Writer Two 'real-life' witches will touch down their brooms and talk to the public at Village Well Books and Coffee in Culver City. On Friday, October 22, for $10...
4-Year College to Be Police Officer?
by Corva Corvax A Logical Opinion On the surface, the bill Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles) plans to propose that will raise the requirements to enter a police force in California sounds like a good idea. Requiring recruits to either...
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CCUSD Ranks in Bottom 12% of California School Districts
It’s a major disappointment to me and others that our Culver City Unified School District is ranked 831 out of 940 school districts in the State of California. Could it be that another parcel tax...
Who Will the Culver City Democratic Club Endorse for Supervisor?
The ladies who ride Metro buses and light rail through Culver City can breathe easier now, since the judge sentenced 27-year-old Ager Linder to 54 months of probation and ordered him to stay away...
Culver City Ranks Low in Financial Soundness
Friends, before I leave on a well-deserved vacation, I would like to enlighten you all on some problems that are easy to verify. According to California State Senator Moorlach, California is ranked...
Finding Female Firefighters for Culver City
Well folks, I think I might have gotten the solution to our female firefighter problem. But first, it seems we are getting more and more dangerous forest fires every year. The State of California...
Not a Propitious Start for Governor Newsom
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist To the surprise of absolutely no one, California’s new governor has proposed a $209-billion state budget with billions in increased spending and lots of tax hik...
"Recalculating . . ." A Thanksgiving Gratitude
Since I am very thankful to be alive and able to write this story, Thanksgiving seems an appropriate time to share an experience that happened this summer. I was going to call it “A Tutorial in...
Red Light Cameras Worse than Speed Traps in the South
Did you realize Culver City ladies have a better chance if winning the Lottery than being a member of the Fire Department. Women have always been discriminated against with wages and benefits as...
Affordable Housing Dumped on Fox Hills
If Culver City is really a city for everyone, as promoted by the October 11th event at La Ballona School then why didn’t Culver City use city owned land at Washington Blvd and Centinela for affordab...
No Good Reason to Pass Sales-Tax Increase
Can I ask, “With all those millions the developers are spending on construction projects here in Culver City, why do we need to raise taxes?” You don’t need 20/20 vision to imagine City staff...
More Reasons to Reject Measure K
The Los Angeles County Office of Education has just released its annual report of its county-wide Certificated Salary Survey for 2017-'18. On page 45 it showed just how much our Culver City School...
After November, Even More Tax Hikes May be Needed
Can little Culver City continue to pay super-large paychecks and pensions to current and former City employees? If so, local taxes will need to continue to rise. No, I’m just not pointing the finger...
Teachers Pensions Beat Others by 3-1 MarginBy Neil Rubenstein
In an ironic twist, a recent study by the nonprofit Bellwether Education Partners has found that the rising costs of teacher pension plans are starting to eat into their own salary hikes. Teachers,...
Work for City, Make $500,000 per Year
For those who missed my commentary last week, I am once again attaching a chart to this column showing the names, positions, and total amounts that key Culver City employees earned in 2017. The figure...
