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by Chuck Levin Saving the United States Postal Service and stopping disingenuous forces from dismantling and privatizing it must be a national priority. We have witnessed the destruction of our post office and that must end, service levels must be restored and expanded, postage rates reduced; PO box rental prices slashed and new PO boxes added, local post offices re-opened, mail boxes that this postmaster general blatantly confiscated weeks before a national election must all be returned; and...
Dear Editor: In Culver City we're facing housing unaffordability on an unprecedented scale. Residents like to think of our city as a place diverse in both ethnicity and income, but our demographics only move further and further from that ideal because people with middle and lower incomes can't afford to live here anymore. Between 2010 and 2017, median home prices increased 64%, coinciding with an 18% decrease in Culver City's total Black population over that same period. Culver City residents...
Dear Editor, The Culver City Democratic Club has pushed aside mainstream Democrats and is now nothing more than an echo chamber of YIMBYism and white privilege. This was never more evident than the way the Club treated Lynetta McElroy, a powerful African-American housing advocate who attended a recent meeting to speak about how the elimination of R-1 zoning is threatening the African-American community. Club leaders didn't like what she had to say about the negative impacts of SB9 and SB10 on...
Dear Sirs, There is now a homeless encampment in Vet's park that has been there for several days. I am posting a photo below. Many community members have been in touch with CCPD on this, because there is a law against camping in city parks. However CCPD says their hands are tied because the city council has told them not to enforce laws when it comes to the homeless. One community member said the police told him that other laws are not being enforced as well, per the direction of the council....
Dear Editor, I am writing in support of the actions being considered by some of our City Council members to modernize housing policy in Culver City. I have heard the arguments that some in this community have made against the proposed zoning changes, characterized as eliminating single family zoning. I find these arguments to be disingenuous, and I feel that they have intentionally created fear and confusion about an important issue that we all need to be invested in solving. Here’s why… On a s...
Dear Editor, I live across from the Little Culver Blvd Project (the Storm Drain). This project has been on going close to 2 years now. They took out the beautiful Park that was there and put us thru 2 years of hell with banging and our house shaking so badly we thought we were having a series of earthquakes. I called many times to complain and not one person from the city would call me back. I finally gave up calling and tried to live with it knowing that they promised that the park would be mor...
Dear Editor, Your city council majority wants to allow 4 full-sized housing units on every single-family home lot. This is called upzoning where they will rezone single-family neighborhoods from R1 to R4. Right now, a homeowner can add both a full-sized Auxiliary Dwelling Unit (“ADU”) (up to 1,200 sq. ft) and a Jr. ADU (max. 500 sq. ft.) on their lot. The Housing Element (“HE”) is part of the General Plan that the city has to update. The plans show that the city goes further than the state!...
Dear Editor: Patrick Meighan’s letter states that the submission of a resolution against the Elimination of R-1 Zoning to the Culver City Democratic club was “forced by a right-wing member”. I am that member. I am a Biden Democrat. This is part and parcel of the Exclusionary Politics practiced by the Exclusionary Upzoners who pretend to be progressive while promoting an elitist policy that will displace the middle class and people of color. They have fought hard to prevent full discussion on th...
Dear Editor, Last week, the membership of the Culver City Democratic Club voted on a housing resolution forced by a right-wing member which called for the continued exclusion of apartments and other more diverse and affordable multi-family housing options from the wealthiest and whitest neighboorhoods in Culver City… the neighborhoods currrently zoned for detached single homes only. I’m very pleased to report that the CCDC membership overwhelmingly rejected that resolution. As a progressive mem...
Dear Culver City Democratic Club and Editors: The Hospital’s federal lawsuit against the City has cost the City $101,291.12 in legal fees as of July 31, 2021. This case has Just gotten started and could go on for years and cost many millions of dollars before it ends. This ordinance was passed by Alex Fisch and Daniel Lee with the complicity of Yasmine McMorrin for the sake of the advancement of their political careers and “pro bono favors” from the Union. This kind of malfeasance and reckl...
Dear Mr. Ostrin: This letter is a follow up to my August 30, 2021 extension letter to you and in response to your August 20, 2021 request for City records under the California Public Records Act, Government Code section 6250 et seq. The City is conducting a diligent search for disclosable responsive records that are in the possession, custody or control of the City. Below are the requests contained in your letter, and the City’s response to each. Request 1. “…[A]ll documentation that evide...
On Friday August 20th, the SMMUSD school board approved a set of Covid mandates under the SMMUSD COVID Surveillance Program. The Covid mandates requires students to wear a mask indoors & outdoors as well weekly PCR testing regardless if your child has been vaccinated. Parents were give little to no time to fully review the COVID Surveillance Program registration and make an informed decision regarding the District's COVID Mandates and the potential effect on our children. The roll out of the COV...
Dear Alex Fisch, Daniel Lee and Yasmine McMorrin, I do not support your program of gentrifying Culver City and displacing people of color and the middle class by eliminating R-1 zoning. You are advocating a program that will decrease housing for people of color, older residents on a fixed income and young families. It is trickle down Ronald Reaganomics of deregulation that will only enrich institutional investors and out of state and foreign corporate interests. The measures that you support...
The manager of Chase Bank, the manager of Footlocker, two property owners, a property manager, and I would like to meet with you today or tomorrow. Early this morning before dawn, Downtown Santa Monica was out of control. There is NO SECURITY, and no adequate response from your department from 12 midnight until 6 am, .or from DTSM, Inc. Here is what happened this morning, I have videos - - 1) My cleaning crew was again blocked from accessing the rear of my property on the 3rd Street Promenade...
Dear Editor, The only realistic way to solve our local housing shortage is to build more housing! Over the past 15 years, for each new housing unit constructed in Culver City, we’ve added 49 new jobs. It’s not surprising that home prices in Culver City have doubled in just the past eight years. Many thousands of people who work here can’t afford to live here, and so they are forced to buy homes in far-away suburbs and commute. If only we were able to provide suitable housing locally, there...
Dear Neighbors, No matter where one stands on the Jackson Gate issue, the most dangerous and sad fact is that there has been a long history of lack of transparency on this issue and egregious lack of due process, and lack of democracy exhibited by most members of this council. Instead of listening to us, instead of giving us research, studies and facts, instead of answering our questions, instead of inclusion, we have been ignored. Worse still is that supporters of opening this gate, have on...
Dear Editor, Very simply, your wellbeing & mine depend on keeping Gov Newsom in office. Although he has disappointed me on some issues, Gov Newsom’s deliverables on the whole far outweigh the negatives. Not only do we have a balanced budget, but every demographic from Big Tech to biotech to the homeless and all of us in between are benefitting from his leadership! How Gavin Newson dealt with and is dealing with the ethics & economics of the pandemic far outweighs everything else. Should a T...
by: Name withheld due to the disclosure of sensitive personal health information. --------------------------------------------------------- I am a 64 year-old person suffering from AIDS, diabetes and severe mental illness. StepUp is providing formerly homeless people with dysfunctional housing and mental health counseling. Over the past year, I have gone through five therapists who offered no assistance but harmed me. All of the therapists were untrained interns right out of school. They don't h...
Letters to the Editor They Didn't Suddenly Decide to Demolish It During the Pandemic Photo: The History building at SamoHi. People could have looked into these plans long ago, but they don't pay attention until it's too late Opinion by Rufus N. Baker As a SAMOHI alum, class of 1970, and an SMMUSD employee since 1998, I, too, wish the District could save the combined SAMOHI History/Art/Business building complex. But they didn't just suddenly decide during the pandemic. It's nothing new. We've...
To the Editor: I am surprised at my apathy towards the change to R1 zoning that is being proposed by the Culver City Council. Since I skew conservative, I thought about how I arrived at this indifferent attitude. It started in 2010 when Megan Sahli-Wells became active in city affairs. In November 2010 I wrote a letter to the editor stating my hope that she would never be on the city council. Seventeen months later she won her first term and then was reelected in 2016. This was the first step...
Dear Editor, Representative democracy crashed against the rocks of political ideology when the Culver City Council voted (3-2) to push forward with upzoning almost all R1/single-family lots. Upzoning means that the city will in the future allow developers, speculators, homeowners, and builders to build up to 4 housing units on each single-family lot. (More explanation below). In short, they directed staff to study how to eliminate single-family zoning. The council majority consisted of Mayor...
By Ron Bassilian Guest Writer President,Protect Culver City Council was sued in federal court on June 22nd by Southern California Hospital of Culver City in response to their June 14th ordinance requiring an additional $5/hour “Hero Pay” for hospital employees. Councilmembers Vera and Eriksson opposed this ordinance, along with many residents, questioning the timing, legality and necessity of it. Undeterred, Council majority went along with it anyway. The lawsuit makes a serious allegation - that SEIU, the union representing hospital wor...
Dear Editor, I am a member of the General Plan Advisory Committee (“GPAC”), but I am writing as a 27-year resident of Culver City and a native Southern Californian. We bought our single-family home in 1994 after the Northridge earthquake when property prices tumbled. This is our starter as well as our forever home. I have watched Culver City politics regress from dealing with local issues, concentrating on infrastructure, encouraging business growth, providing health and safety, and pro...
California Should Allow Vets, Others to Use Psychedelic drugs Just like prohibition of the sale and consumption of alcohol in the 1920’s gave rise to the likes of Al Capone and American organized crime, our multi-decade war on drugs is a failure and has resulted mainly in empowering inner city gangs and turning our southern neighbor (Mexico) into a permanent war zone. We are already seeing that, with the decriminalization of cannabis, illegal-drug-related crime is disappearing, appropriate r...
Will a Misinformation Campaign Lead to a Main St. Closure on the Weekends Dear Editor: Main Street Merchants have been lobbying City Council for over a year to Close Main Street to all traffic on weekends. They wrote a letter to city council last December 21st, claiming: “This pilot program has widespread approval from businesses and Ocean Park residents.” Since when do Lobbyists for Main Street Businesses speak on behalf of Ocean Park Residents? Their next strategy was to partner with Ocean Park Association to create polls to support the...
