There are a host of civic benefits which need to be funded, managed and evaluated by the general public. Most people would agree that police and fire services, primary and secondary education, social security, the […]

There is little doubt the “Beat LA” cry often heard when Southern California sports teams play in other parts of America originated in the San Francisco Bay area, probably during a Dodgers-Giants series in September […]

Revisiting SMa.r.t.’s 4-year-old article on sustainability, important themes then have become critical today: In 2013, Santa Monica was named the nation’s fifth-most sustainable city according to a prominent national organization dedicated to sustainable development and […]

Dear Mayor, Council, City Manager, Excuse me for being so blunt, but there is no other way to say this so I’m just going to say it… $800 million dollars for a Climate Action Plan […]

(This article was published three years ago this month. SMa.r.t. believes its relevance has withstood the test of time. It has been edited for brevity).  Three weeks ago Dr. David Revell gave a presentation outlining […]

Dear Mayor Davis: I’m cc-ing the editors of the Santa Monica Mirror, the Santa Monica Daily Press and the Santa Monica Observer regarding this matter (as well as all City of Santa Monica Councilmembers) so […]

Two weeks ago SMa.r.t. (Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow) wrote about the dangers of SB50, a complicated State bill whose purpose was to create Wall Street profits for mega-developers but whose real consequence […]

The Architectural Review Board met this week to review several apartment projects in different parts of downtown, including 1238 7th Street–6 stories, 37 units and no parking. The staff report says: “The project site is […]

No one protested back in the 1970s, when first Congress and then every state granted 18-year-old citizens the right to vote. If they were old enough to die for their country, went the reasoning, they […]

By Joe Fasbinder The thing you notice about the homeless in the Santa Monica-Venice area is – in addition to their hundreds of makeshift shelters – nobody has a last name. “I’m Pickles,” says one […]