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FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2010
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Volume 9 Issue 49
Santa Monica Daily Press NO TRUTH IN ADVERTISING? SEE PAGE 11
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THE SERIOUS BUSINESS ISSUE
Committee recommends school tax
PREP SPORTS ROUNDUP
Filmmaker focuses on Samohi’s Williams BY DANIEL ARCHULETA Managing Editor
DOWNTOWN The plight of injured Santa
BY NICK TABOREK Daily Press Staff Writer
SMMUSD HDQTRS Voters could be asked in May to approve an additional $225 tax per parcel that would raise about $6 million each year for public schools. A district committee voted Wednesday to recommend that the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District board place the tax on a special ballot. For the tax to take effect, the school board would have to vote to hold an election and two-thirds of voters would have to sign off on the tax. With the district facing a projected $12 million budget gap, the Emergency Parcel Tax Feasibility Committee has been studying whether residents are likely to support an additional tax for education. After spending $61,500 to poll residents, the committee determined voters were reluctant to pass a tax of $425 per parcel — an amount that would have erased next year’s deficit — but might approve a lower amount. The committee said $225 per parcel is the highest amount voters are likely to support. Santa Monica and Malibu residents already pay a $346 parcel tax to the schools, which amounts to roughly $10 million per year. Rebecca Kennerly, chair of the Community for Excellent Public Schools, said the weak economy has eroded some support for additional local contributions to the district. “It appeared that unlike in other times the economy was really impacting people’s ability to be as supportive as they wanted to be [of the tax],” she said. School board member Oscar de la Torre said he supports passing the additional tax. “I’m sensitive to the fact that many families are hurting because of the recession,” he said. “But we must ensure that the foundation of our recovery is an investment in quality public schools.” The committee said the tax should last five years and include an exemption for senior citizens. Neil Carrey, who chairs the committee, SEE TAX PAGE 8
DISAPPEARING PIER
Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com A thick layer of fog rolls in, creating a strange sight, as people walk down the Santa Monica Pier on Thursday afternoon. The fog followed a week of clear skies and high temps.
Monica football player Cody Williams has caught the eye of a local independent documentary filmmaker. Williams, who suffered a catastrophic spinal injury during Samohi’s first game of the season, will be featured in the upcoming documentary, “Gridiron Heroes,” directed by Andy Lauer. The film features Chris Canales, who was paralyzed in a high school football game and now travels the country working with other players who suffered a similar fate. “The film is geared toward kids overcoming [injuries] and getting on with their lives,” Lauer said. “Or like Cody and his fight to walk again.” Williams has shown progress since the initial injury. He has regained most of the movement in his arms and has sensation in his lower extremities. Doctors have told his family that it will take months before a final prognosis can be made. Lauer, who lives in Santa Monica, first heard of Williams’ story through the Canales family. He read the various reports about Williams’ situation and thought it would make a nice addition to his film, which he hopes will shine light on the touchy subject of major injuries in high school football and the effects they have on the young men who suffer them. Lauer said that the film crew will be shooting in and around Santa Monica through the upcoming weekend. He plans to cap off the project by taking Williams back to the Samohi campus for the first time since the injury. SEE ROUNDUP PAGE 8
Council to vote on Broad museum agreement BY NICK TABOREK Daily Press Staff Writer
CITY HALL In what could be a significant step toward bringing a world class art museum to Santa Monica’s Civic Center, City
Five generations of family jewelers
Council on Tuesday will vote on the outline of a development agreement for the project with the Broad Foundations. Philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad are looking for a site to construct a museum to display a 2,000-piece contemporary art col-
Gary Limjap
lection that features more than 200 artists. The couple’s foundations are expecting to spend between $40 and $60 million to design and build the facility and will create a SEE MUSEUM PAGE 9
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