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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2009
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Volume 8 Issue 289
Santa Monica Daily Press VIKINGS TAKE TO THE ROAD SEE PAGE 3
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THE ALL ABOUT OUR HOME TEAMS ISSUE
The Parlor files appeal with city
Campaigning begins early for council candidate
BY MELODY HANATANI Daily Press Staff Writer
WILSHIRE BLVD. The owners of a popular
BY MELODY HANATANI Daily Press Staff Writer
CITY HALL Mayor Pro Tem Pam O’Connor learned a valuable lesson in 2006 — don’t wait until the last minute to launch a campaign. So in her re-election bid to serve a fifth term on the City Council, O’Connor is starting more than a year in advance, allowing more time to raise money and complete some of the smaller yet necessary tasks, such as designing a campaign logo, before the busy season begins later in 2010. The early decision to announce another run came in part because of time management and money. “This is a global recession,” O’Connor said.“Spreading it over more time, you might be able to accumulate (more money).” Finances could motivate candidates to declare sooner than they would in a better economy, giving extra time for more fundraisers and donor outreach. O’Connor kicked off the campaign with a breakfast fundraiser several weeks ago at the Casa del Mar with special guest L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, bringing in about $5,000, which she said will help cover start-up costs. Starting early gives O’Connor the advantage of essentially having sole access to the local donor base, Bob Stern, the president of the Center for Governmental Studies, said. “If she is the only one, she gets the donors early and she will get the money early and other (candidates) might not depending on the donors’ budget,” Stern said. While money played a role in the decision to begin the campaign more than a year before the election, O’Connor said it was also a matter of getting as much work done early as possible, noting that her time is stressed between serving on the council, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and her day job as a consultant in historic preservation.
GETTING FIT
Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com Aidan Blain (front) sprints ahead of 02 Max founder Karen Jashinsky (right) and Aleksa Harris at Santa Monica Collage’s Corsair Field as Jashinsky prepares the two for the Lexus Santa Monica 5,000 race this Sunday.
SEE CAMPAIGN PAGE 9
Gary Limjap
SEE PARLOR PAGE 9
Five generations of family jewelers
(310) 586-0339
garylimjap@earthlink.net
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ESPN Zone-style restaurant have appealed a decision by the Planning Commission last month to reduce the number of seats and hours that the establishment can remain in operation. Ike Pyun and Silas Gaither are contesting a series of conditions that the commission imposed on The Parlor at 1519 Wilshire Blvd. when it granted both a variance to allow off-street parking and a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to legally permit the second-floor use as a restaurant. Those conditions include decreasing the hours of operation from 2 a.m. to midnight on the weekends and 11 p.m. on the weekdays, and lowering the valet cost of $5.50 a car to $2 or less to compete with the less expensive city-owned parking lot behind the building. The commission also reduced the maximum number of seats from 225 to 135. Paul Foley, senior planner with City Hall, said the commission imposed the conditions to reduce the impacts to the surrounding neighborhood where residents have complained about intoxicated patrons, whom they claim have urinated and defecated outside. Neighbors have also questioned The Parlor’s designation as a restaurant, arguing that it operates like a sports bar. Foley said that The Parlor fits under the restaurant category because it neither has a dance floor nor charges a cover fee, both of which are characteristics of a bar. The request for the CUP and variance came to the commission more than two years after The Parlor opened in June of 2007, delayed as city staff searched for records that the second-floor of the establishment was ever authorized to be used as a restaurant, which it was when Cinch, the predecessor, was in operation. It was when the owners came to City Hall to request an Alcohol Determination — which would allow the alcohol license to change hands from Cinch — that city staff realized that the parking variance for the location had expired more than 20 years ago and that the second-floor had been used as a restaurant.
SAMUEL B. MOSES, CPA
Monday-Saturday 10am-6pm
331 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica 2 Hours Free Parking (Behind Store) 310.451.1349 • www.readersjewelers.com
(310) 395-9922
100 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1800Santa Monica 90401