Dear Faithful readers of the SMart Column,
For over seven years you have loaned us your attention about City planning, architecture, ecology, history and countless local urban issues. For this we are grateful. But I’m sure you also got tired of our articles that complained about countless mistakes, failed opportunities and fiscal disasters our City made during that time. And I’m sure you were also asking yourself when are all those SMart guys and gals going to finally do something about this? Now you have the answer.
This week you went farther and loaned us not only your attention, but also your time and equally important your votes to the ambitious project of electing a Slate of Eight to three City offices. These eight represented the possibility of a giant reset for our entire City by running for City Council (Phil Brock, Christine Parra, Oscar de la Torre and Mario Fonda-Bonardi), for School Board (Jason Feldman, Esther Hickman and Steven Johnson) and for College Board ( Brian O’Neil). By taking on the incumbents, these eight wanted to steer the City out of the pain of crime, of homelessness, and of Covid-19, out of the trauma of May 31st, out of the gridlock of over development, and out of the frustration of the interests of residents (whether tenants, owners, business owners, children or students) continuously being ignored.
And to a large extent we have been successful in this ambitious campaign. We have captured 3 seats on the Council with Phil, Christine and Oscar poised to take the dais when the final votes are verified. Unfortunately, on the School Board and College Board elections the incumbents are so far ahead of the challengers that any still uncounted ballots will not permit them to catch up. So we want to celebrate the best outcome for:
- Oscar de la Torre
- Christine Parra and
- Phil Brock
to take their well earned place at the head of our City when the final vote count is posted. We are sure that they are ready to repay the voters’ trust, even the ones who did not vote for them, and are ready to go to work to make this city a better City for all residents, visitors and commuters. You know what a big challenge this will be, but we have full confidence in their ability and leadership. This has been a historic election because once every 10 years an incumbent is upset in a Santa Monica City Council race: this year you may have upset three incumbents!
We also need to recognize the other challengers for playing a part in this historic upset, Mario, Esther, Jason, Steven, and Brian will be back to finish the work that you, the engaged SMart readers, started this week.
Finally we want to thank you all for your tireless volunteering, encouragement, support and trust in our vision for our City Naturally none of this could have happened without your dedicated effort: Thank You!
By SMart Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow Thane Roberts, Architect, Robert H. Taylor AIA, Ron Goldman FAIA, Architect, Dan Jansenson, Architect, Building and Fire-Life Safety Commission, Samuel Tolkin Architect, Mario Fonda-Bonardi Planning Commissioner, Marc Verville For previous articles see www.santamonicaarch.wordpress.com/writing
