Santa Monica's Year in Review

By Jason Islas

January 2, 2013 -- Last year meant many changes for Santa Monica, some small and some quite dramatic. While the beachside city continues to prosper as the economic climate slowly improves, Governor Jerry Brown's decision to kill Redevelopment Agencies (RDAs) -- a major source of funding for Santa Monica's affordable housing -- has left the City with some tough choices to make in the upcoming year.

Santa Monica still remains ahead of the curve as it recovers from a lingering recession. Development agreements have hit record numbers this year, causing staff to rethink -- and possibly change -- the lengthy and labor-intensive process.

Not everyone in Santa Monica is happy with the increased development, and during the election season, voters voiced their concerns.

Riding a swell of anti-development sentiment was former planning commissioner, Ted Winterer, who finished first in the race for four Council seats.

Development will be one of the central questions facing the Council in 2013.

This year's elections also showed that Santa Monica's most powerful political player -- Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights (SMRR) -- is still very much a force to be reckoned with after the group's candidates cleaned up in the local elections.

Goodbye to Redevelopment

Santa Monica lost its major source of funding of capital improvements projects in February when the State Supreme Court upheld a law that killed Redevelopment Agencies throughout California.

The City banked on the tens of millions of dollars it received in RDA funds every year since the 1994 Northridge Quake to help pay for affordable housing and other major projects. They include the Colorado Esplanade, the Pico Branch Library and the Palisades Garden Walk.

The future of the properties the City had bought with RDA money also remains uncertain since the State Department of Finance has final say over whether those properties have to be sold.

Among those properties is a three-acre site in Downtown that proved once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to develop in the heart of the city.

"Santa Monica City Council Begins Tackling Affordable Housing After Loss of Funding," December 2012

"Santa Monica Embarks on Once-in-a-Lifetime Development Downtown," April 2012

Development on the Rise

With nearly 30 Development Agreements (DAs) in the pipeline, Santa Monica City staff is overwhelmed by the amount of work ahead of them.

At its first meeting of the new year, the Council will look at a “work plan” that outlines strategies for dealing with the ponderous workload, including a possible temporary moratorium on DAs.

Between 1981 and 2007, the City saw only 12 DAs.

Perhaps the most controversial DA currently in the works is the Miramar Redevelopment project, which would add as many as 120 condominiums in three new buildings replacing the two main buildings currently on the site.

The proposed project triggered a coup in the local neighborhood group, which had supported the project, and helped fuel the City's anti-growth movement.

The final decision on the project will be made in 2013.

"Santa Monica to Draw Up 'Work Plan' to Deal with Increased Development," November 2012

Trailer Park Fight Continues

The battle over the future of one of Santa Monica's two remaining trailer parks entered a new phase last year.

After nearly six years of negotiations, part-owner Marc Luzzatto thought he had finally been given the green light to replace the trailer park with a mixed-use residential development after the City Council voted to accept the DA in November.

The DA, which, after several revisions, included a provision that Luzzatto and his partners would donate a piece of the property so that 10 trailers could be saved.

However, at the next meeting, Council member Kevin McKeown along with Winterer, Vazquez and Council member Gleam Davis, voted to overturn the previous Council's decision to accept the DA.

McKeown, who had long been an opponent of closing the park, said that the DA did not include enough affordable housing.

"Santa Monica Trailer Park Battle Rages On," December 2012

SMRR Dominates at the Ballot Box and Mayor Makes History

Santa Monica's former mayor Richard Bloom made history in November when he became the first member of the City Council elected to state office.

Bloom, who had been on the Council since 1999, triumphed over his rival -- incumbent State Assembly member Betsy Butler -- by some 1,700 votes after being snubbed by SMRR, which supported him throughout his nearly 15-year political career.

On the homefront, SMRR made big gains in the election. After only one term, former Rent Control Board member Bob Kronovet -- the only non-SMRR member to ever sit on the Board -- lost his seat to SMRR-backed newcomer Christopher Walton.

Walton won by over 1,500 votes despite doing no independent campaigning.

The powerful political organization also saw its candidates for School Board triumph along with their four candidates for City Council, including Ted Winterer and Tony Vazquez, both of whom have expressed concern over the rate at which Santa Monica is developing.

"Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights Sweeps Elections," November 2012

Malibu's Discontent

The election revealed some of the fissures growing between Santa Monica and Malibu over the question of fundraising in the school district.

Three Malibu-based candidates threw their hats into the ring in the race for three School Board seats after the incumbent School Board voted unanimously to pass a controversial district-wide fundraising policy.

The policy prevents parents from making donations directly to specific schools in order to pay for special programs or personnel. Instead, any money donated for programs or personnel is pooled and redistributed to schools based on their need.

With the passing of the policy, even Malibu's mayor called for the School Board to look into splitting Santa Monica and Malibu into two separate districts.

The Malibu candidates, who campaigned with the slogan “From Malibu, For Malibu,” openly admitted that seceding from the district would ultimately be best for both cities.

And though all three candidates lost to the incumbent, SMRR-backed candidates, the Board will continue exploring the possibility of separating the district.

"Three Malibu Candidates Form School Board Slate," August 2012

"'From Malibu, For Malibu' Campaign Raises Concerns in Santa Monica," October 2012

A Christmas Tradition Relocated

For the first time in nearly 60 years, Palisades Park didn't host the traditional life-sized displays depicting scenes from the Christmas story.

The City Council voted to end the tradition after atheist groups applied for space in the park and used the spaces they won in a raffle to put up signs protesting religion.

One sign featured pictures of the devil, Posiedon, Jesus and Santa Claus and read, “37 million Americans know MYTHS when they see them. What myths do you see?”

Determined to put up the displays, however, supporters of the tradition found a strip of private land next to Cloverfield Park, where the Christmas tradition lived on for another year.

"Santa Monica Nativity Scenes to Go Up on Private Land," December 2012

"Judge Upholds Santa Monica's Ban on Nativity Scenes," November 2012

Santa Monica Battles Wildlife

The beachside city's proximity to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area -- the country’s largest (153,000 acres) urban national park -- means that it sometimes gets unexpected visitors.

In July, the Santa Monica Police adopted a new policy on how to deal with wild animals after SMPD officers shot and killed a three-year-old mountain lion that had wandered into the area near the Miramar Hotel in downtown Santa Monica.

The mountain lion, which weighed 95 pounds, had come from the nearby Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, the country’s largest (153,000 acres) urban national park.

As a result, SMPD started training their officers on how to catch potentially dangerous animals that might wander into the city.

These included several coyotes spotted roaming through the city streets in September, forcing residents to keep a closer watch on their smaller pets.

The coyotes, which had come down to search for food, were likely residents of the Santa Monica mountains.

"Mountain Lion Killed in Santa Monica was Shot to Death, Necropsy Concludes," June 2012

"Santa Monica Police Implement Wildlife Policy," July 2012

"Coyotes Prowling Streets of Santa Monica," September 2012

SMPD Gets New Chief

In 2012, SMPD saw a changing of the guard when Jacqueline Seabrooks replaced former Police Chief Tim Jackman after he retired.

Seabrooks, who had headed the Inglewood force for five years, became Santa Monica's first female police chief, though she doesn't think of that as a big deal.

"In a few years, I don't even think gender will be part of the conversation," Seabrooks told The Lookout in July. "In Inglewood, I was known as the first black female police chief. Then they dropped the black part.

"I guess it's an accomplishment in that it advances awareness of women in top civic positions. But particularly in Santa Monica, women have arrived."

Seabrooks had been with the Santa Monica police force for 25 years before she left to be chief of the Ingelwood Police Department in 2007.

"Meet Santa Monica's New Chief," July 2012