Andrew Thurm Coldwell Banker
In today's challenging real estate market, work with Andrew Thurm, an award winning agent representing Santa Monica and the Westside!
3w10.442.1651 ww.andrewthurm.com
310-444-4444 SantaMonicaTaxi.com
Hybrid • Mercedes-Benz
AUGUST 1-2, 2009
Visit us online at smdp.com
SM to LAX $30
not valid from hotels or with other offers • SM residents only • Expires 5/31/09
Volume 8 Issue 231
Santa Monica Daily Press MOVING EXPERIENCE SEE PAGE 7
We have you covered
THE CAN’T TOUCH THIS ISSUE
State to take $21M from RDA funding Money grab could delay major projects, such as Samohi remodel plan BY MELODY HANATANI Daily Press Staff Writer
enlisting family members and friends to enter the lottery to increase the chances of being selected. “We have a battalion of homeless making money by selling permits,” Oddo said. He explained that Venice Beach Parks and Recreation gives lottery spots to vendors who don’t have seller’s permits issued by the California State Board of Equalization. This means they cannot legally sell merchandise along the boardwalk and will instead sell their lottery space to merchants who did not win spots. City officials, however, say they cannot limit who enters the lottery system each week and that it’s up to the police to enforce the permits along Oceanfront Walk. “There’s nothing in our rules currently that prohibits us from withholding enter-
CITY HALL While city officials just last month celebrated the upgraded bond ratings for two local redevelopment zones, the mood has changed substantially in the days following the state’s budget adoption. The Santa Monica Redevelopment Agency (RDA), which finances neighborhood revitalization projects, is expected to take a nearly $21 million hit this year from the state’s plans to shift approximately $1.7 billion from redevelopment agencies throughout California to help plug a $24 billion deficit. RDA officials originally anticipated losing about $4 million. In the wake of the budget’s passage on Monday, local officials are still trying to ascertain the impact on City Hall, Santa Monica College, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD), and whether to brace for more cuts when the mid-year budget rolls around. For the Redevelopment Agency, whose promotion in the bond rating should lead to lower interest rates when it comes time to borrow in the future, the result of the state takeaway could mean it will experience a challenging time issuing bonds for future projects because of uncertainty by investors. “The uncertainty that the bond investor faces is how much the state can take away in any give year when they can grab this much money (now),” Andy Agle, the director of housing and economic development, said. “It may affect how we are able to think of the long-term investment of funds.” The result could be a delay in about $283 million in projects that in June were earmarked to receive RDA funding, such as $57 million for joint-use projects at Santa Monica High School, $25 million for shared
SEE VENICE PAGE 11
SEE FUNDS PAGE 10
Brandon Wise news@smdp.com
HANDY MAN: Dennis 'The Venice' Swift (left) describes his handmade merchandise to people on the Venice boardwalk on Friday afternoon. Swift and other merchants feel that the influx of cheap, non handmade items degrades the atmosphere that is the Venice boardwalk.
Artists protest boardwalk’s loss of originality BY NATALIE JARVEY Special to the Daily Press
VENICE BEACH The Venice Beach boardwalk has a history of eclecticism with merchants hawking handmade goods and street performers speaking out in the name of political activism, but a group of local artists is now protesting what they say is a loss of the strip’s originality. This Saturday at 9 a.m. these artists plan to parade along Oceanfront Walk with trolleys of their artwork to speak out against what they are calling loopholes in the weekly lottery process that assigns merchants and performers spaces along the pedestrian street. They believe that the lottery allows vendors to cheat their way into spots each week to sell commercial items with little original value.
“It’s so ludicrous and we all stand here and shake our heads,” said artist Michael Oddo, who organized the Saturday protest. All merchants or performers who want an assigned spot on the boardwalk enter a weekly lottery that occurs Tuesday mornings. The lottery assigns about 100 P-Zone spots — for people who perform or distribute expressive information such as buttons, pamphlets or stickers — and 100 I-Zone spots for merchants selling handmade goods or items inextricably intertwined with a spiritual, religious or political message. The lottery has become increasingly competitive over the years, with as many as 300 merchants vying for a spot each week. But Oddo and other artists are complaining that permit holders are using unfair and illegal methods of obtaining lottery spots, including purchasing spots or
GABY SCHKUD (310) 586-0308 #1 REALTOR SANTA MONICA OFFICE 2008!
FABULOUS DINNER SPECIALS SERVED 4PM - 10PM COMPLETE DINNERS $11.95
1433 Wilshire Boulevard, at 15th Street 310-394-1131
OPEN 24 HOURS