January 14, 2026
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Letter to Editor: Former Mayor on Voting Rights Case

By Paul Rosenstein Former Mayor of Santa Monica I hope the judge’s order for district elections is stayed during the city’s appeal. This decision is undemocratic and a version of voter suppression. The election in […]

Open Space… Is There Any Left?

Yes there is. Small as it is, there is about 2.5 acres in the heart of downtown waiting to be designed as a public park/plaza. Well, maybe. Our city has designed and approved a Downtown […]

No Excuses: Stop the Crime Wave

My mother turned 91 last Saturday. Happy Birthday, Mom! She has walked the streets of Santa Monica her whole life and almost always lived in our Mid-City Neighborhood, between Santa Monica and Wilshire Boulevards. She’s […]

SMa.r.t. Column: Gridlocked Best Intentions

On any given evening (and especially weekends) pay a visit to north-bound 2nd Street between Broadway Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard, and you’ll encounter a world-class clusterpuck. A cast-in-cement gridlock that often extends back along […]

Column: Adapting to Westside Vacancies

By Avi Sinai We all see the vacant storefronts around the Westside and it begs the question – why are they empty for so long? Despite a sizzling real estate market on the westside we […]

Is Santa Monica’s Heart for Sale?

Note from SMa.r.t.: This article, in a longer form, was originally published four years ago but is still as pertinent as ever. The Plaza at Santa Monica asks a simple question: Is our downtown the […]

AI in the Year 2020… Almost

By Nektar Baziotis In 1966 Gene Rodenberry’s “Star Trek” made its television debut on NBC. Audiences young and old were captivated by the show, particularly by its imagination of the space, the future, and the incredible […]

Beausoleil: First Parole Test for Newsom

Not many Californians under 60 can recall just who is the 71-year-old Bobby Beausoleil and what evils he did back in his youth. But the onetime Charles Manson “Family” member will now provide a first […]