Readers keep asking numerous good questions about what’s going on in our town and bring good articles to my attention. I’m including a sampling here, so you can help with answers—or have something new to think about.
Jokes Amid the Pandemic:
“Keep the news and the jokes coming.”
“Maybe you should have a Joke of the Week from readers.”
Poster about LAPD Budget Displays Inaccurate Data:
Regarding CTN’s June 4 post about remaining vigilant, one reader pointed out: “The poster in the picture had a nonsensical, inaccurate bar chart and the percent of the [City’s] budget that goes to the police department is around 38%, not 54%. If anything, the posters were misleading propaganda at a minimum and possibly misleading with malicious intent.”
Clean Up Your Signs and Litter on the Green:
A reader wrote on Saturday: “Could you say something about the protesters leaving all their trash on the Village Green when they leave for the day? Village Green board members had to spend a lot of time clearing away trash, garbage and signs after the last bunch left. At 11:30 today I saw about 75 protesters on the Sunset side of the Village Green, milling about with their signs. I expect their trash to be left also. I support their political efforts, but not their garbage being left behind for ‘someone’ to clean up.”
(Editor’s note: The Village Green is owned and operated by a group of local residents and relies entirely on donations from Pacific Palisades residents and business owners. It is not a City park, which means trash pickup has to paid for by donations. To donate, please visit: palisadesvillagegreen.org)
Additionally, this box with flowers was left outside of Starbucks and was there early Sunday morning. The Palisades Business Improvement District, through assessments from business owners, pays to have Chrysalis gather the trash in the business district. Chrysalis is a nonprofit that gives time-limited, paid employment to people to help them re-enter the workforce. Please do not make these people pick up your trash.
Santa Monica Beach Parking Lots:
“Will Rogers State Beach has been jammed the last couple weeks, and the only reason I can see is that Santa Monica has refused to open their beaches (or at least their beach parking lots). This predates the looting. Any idea why?”
State Legislation and Density:
A reader sent an interesting story that I missed seeing in the L.A. Times in January (“News Analysis: How We Got Single-Family Home Zoning and Why It Is Under Attack in the U.S.”).
The article noted, “In California, Senate Bill 50 has been re-introduced with changes that give cities and counties two years to develop plans to boost development before state mandates for greater housing density kick in.”
The Bill was defeated in the State Senate on January 31, by a vote of 18-15-6.
The Pacific Palisades Community Council, which did not support the bill, reported in February:
“SB 50 (Wiener): Although the bill failed in the Senate last month, the author immediately introduced two new ‘placeholder’ bills.
“It is widely expected that he will use one or the other of these bills sometime this year as a vehicle for re-introducing many of the same provisions from SB 50, perhaps as early as this month (the Senate deadline for introducing new bills is February 21).
“We have also heard from the California Fire Chiefs Association, who expressed serious concern that SB 50 “would have exacerbated our WUI [Wildland Urban Interface] issues and would not have fixed the core issues.” See message from Chief McGlaughlin of the Cal Chiefs: http://pacpalicc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Email-Message-from-Chief-Michael-McLaughlin.pdf.
“We will continue to monitor and as necessary raise concerns, as ‘SB 50-like’ bills move forward in the legislature in other forms.”