November 4, 2025
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Guest Columnist: A Perspective…

Six or so years ago,  I started reading some pieces in a local Santa Monica paper.  I was struck by those pieces.  They were articulating the issues of how a city approaches development that reflected […]

Letters to Editor: Main Street Closures

The following are two letters sent to the Santa Monica Mirror, one in support and one in opposition, regarding a plan to close down portions of Main Street to traffic on weekends. Letter in Support […]

When Reality Meets the Housing Element

Affordability is the housing issue in Santa Monica (SM). Densification of the City is the primary objective of the draft 2021 – 2029 Housing Element, ostensibly to address an 8,895 RHNA unit target that is […]

Is Permanent Housing the Real Homeless Solution?

The ultimate goal of city and county agencies trying to solve California’s homeless problem is to get this transient populace into permanent housing. But it turns out many of the homeless don’t want the kind […]

SMa.r.t. Column: Community vs Commodity

The cost of housing in a capitalist society is primarily determined by who owns it. While housing can be bought, sold, or leased according to certain constraints, fees, and changing tax laws, the principal agency […]

Opinion: A Man, a Mural, and a Mess

By Will South A mural is being covered over inside the historic landmark Santa Monica City Hall building. This decision follows upon a 6–1 vote by city council members on April 11 in favor of […]

SMa.r.t. Column: Everyone Has a Plan……

In the summer of 2010 your City adopted its Land Use and Circulation element (LUCE). This legal document, a product of 6 years of public meetings, hearings, debates and revisions, was to govern the next […]

SMa.r.t. Column: Power to the People

Electrical power is now determining much of modern life from smartphones, to electric toothbrushes, to scooters to cars and beyond the usual lights and air-conditioning. Its generation distribution and consumption is no longer just a […]