Public Safety Reform & Oversight Commission begins accepting applications
Feb. 19, 2021 at 6:00 am
File photo.
Santa Monica’s first civilian police oversight body is now accepting applications from residents who feel they are qualified to promote the best practices in community-oriented policing.
Following last summer’s protests pertaining to racial justice and the killing of black men and women around the country, City Council initiated a community engagement process and formed a 15-member Public Safety Reform Advisory Committee, which later made a number of recommendations to local leaders on how Santa Monica can reform its law enforcement practices and better promote equity in the city.
Council creates We Are Santa Monica Fund advisory board
Feb. 16, 2021 at 6:00 am
Since The We Are Santa Monica Fund was created in spring 2020, more than $1.1 million has been donated to the cause; and now, city leaders must determine how to equitably allocate the funding in the future.
The We Are Santa Monica Fund was originally started to help residents, businesses and local organizations respond to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund is administered through the California Community Foundation, and donations support COVID-19 Relief for local residents facing housing and food insecurity, business recovery efforts, the recently passed Black Agenda, and the Food Pantry at Virginia Avenue Park.
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In a letter to the editor, two Santa Monica city commissioners ask the public and council to consider doing better to address racism and equality. (Scott Anderson/Patch)
If anything, decades of American opportunism, combined with vast opportunity to those who can access it, have resulted in two things in America; white supremacism; plus, mountains of researched knowledge dismantling it.
Where those in America with power used to pretend that science had their backs at the expense of
BIPOC and women, humanity can no longer justify such disgraces. The verdicts are in, and white
supremacy, as well as sexism, are viably bullshit.
Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem retain positions
Jan. 14, 2021 at 6:00 am
Councilmembers Sue Himmelrich and Kristin McCowan retained their positions as Mayor and Mayor Pro Tempore in a vote Tuesday that occurred as a result of alleged Brown Act violations.
Himmelrich and McCowan were reelected to their respective positions for two years in two separate unanimous votes, but not before Counncilmember Oscar de la Torre attempted to persuade the two to split the terms with one of Council’s newest elected representatives.
“The Latino community has waited for 300 years for us to get the first Latino mayor ever, and that Mayor only served one year… he had to share that year. And I’m thinking how many white women have served as mayor in the City of Santa Monica; I think there’s quite a few, but we only had one Latino or Latina in the city’s history,” de la Torre said after Councilmember McKeown nominated Himmelrich and McCowan. “I’m just thinking that it would be a good gesture
UpdatedWed, Jan 13, 2021 at 9:12 am PT
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Santa Monica City Council voted Tuesday night to re-elect Mayor Sue Himmelrich and Mayor Pro Tem Kristin McCowan. (Courtesy Image )
SANTA MONICA, CA In a heated nearly two-hour-long discussion, Santa Monica City Council voted Tuesday night to again elect Mayor Sue Himmelrich and Mayor Pro Tem Kristin McCowan for two-year terms each.
In a unanimous vote, the council re-appointed Himmelrich and McCowan. McCowan had indicated on Dec. 8 during a council meeting, before discussion or voting, that she may have inadvertently violated the Brown Act. A Brown Act violation refers to anyone who shares confidential information required in a closed city council session.