September 24, 2024

Dear Editor,

Twenty years ago I worked with the Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City on their first project, successfully stopping condo towers over 20 stories tall planned for Santa Monica Place.

Therefore, I’m particularly disappointed at how far astray they have gone (“Slow Growth Group Makes Key Endorsement,” September 23, 2024).

SMCLC offers compelling reasons -— if only their facts were true —- to vote for the wrong candidates.

Phil and Oscar are hardly SMCLC’s heroic protectors against overdevelopment and state control of local zoning. In fact, their posturing led them to submit a non-compliant Housing Element.

Staff and other experts warned that Sacramento would reject the document and impose penalties, and that’s exactly what happened. Our neighborhoods were burdened with over-height “builders remedy” projects that ignore our local zoning, thanks to Phil and Oscar.

Most residents don’t take the time to examine legally required campaign finance reports, but they tell the true story about where the big developer and landlord money is being spent to mislead Santa Monica voters.

The big bucks, six figures at a time, are going to committees that support Phil and Oscar. Do you think those corporations sense a good investment?

Meanwhile, our residents’ real hope for effective, progressive local government is represented by Dan Hall, Ellis Raskin, Barry Snell, and Natalya Zernitskaya, who’ve been endorsed by the Santa Monica Democratic Club, Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights, and many others.

The Dem Club and SMRR are the ONLY local organizations who decide endorsements by a small-d democratic vote of their memberships.