September 10, 2024
By: Thomas Leffler
The heat was on in more ways than one on Sunday, as the 10 candidates for Santa Monica City Council stepped into a sweaty Lincoln Middle School auditorium to make their cases before the November 5 election with a focus on public safety.
Hosted by the Santa Monica Neighborhood Associations, minus the Ocean Park Association, the candidate forum was well-attended despite temperatures creeping up to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. With the auditorium lacking proper air conditioning, candidates and attendees alike were fanning themselves to keep cool.
The candidates also tried to keep cool under the spotlight, taking part in multiple rounds of questioning. Incumbents Phil Brock and Oscar de la Torre, who sat next to each other for the occasion, are currently running under the Safer Santa Monica slate alongside Dr. Vivian Roknian and John Putnam. Opposing the group were the slate of Dan Hall, Natalya Zernitskaya, Ellis Raskin and Barry Snell. Rounding out the field were Santa Monica Rent Control Board Chair Ericka Lesley and resident Wade Kelley.
After candidate introductions, the 10 were asked questions at random, two at a time, on major topics in the city. As expected, public safety was the paramount issue, which also tied into other issues like finances and retail.
When asked what the most important responsibility of the City Council is to residents, de la Torre was quick to point to the issue, wanting to “finish the job that we started in 2020” to enhance safety. The incumbent added that he wants to figure out prevention strategies for struggling residents, as well as “intervention” against those causing crime.
“We have people that are coming into our city from various parts of the country, and a lot of them are coming with mental illness and substance abuse, addiction, and we need to draw the line and say that we are not going to allow people to impose their way of life on us, that we’re going to ensure the public safety,” de la Torre said.
His slate-mate Putnam added that the city can support public safety by “driving our economy so we can pay for all the services that public safety supports.”
“Everything is tied together … if we get the economy going by driving our businesses and creating sales tax, we can support these programs … we have so many opportunities in this city, but we just can’t afford it,” Putnam said. “Unfortunately, the city is in financial crisis, and we need to change that.”
The opposing slate argued that being “smart on crime” was key, leveraging the resources of the Santa Monica Police Department to maximum efficiency. Raskin said the city needs “to look at 21st century smart solutions” and take heed from other California jurisdictions that are embracing new technologies, pointing to the recent success of drones “being used effectively to stop some crime on our city” as an example.
Zernitskaya added that she would make sure that first-responders have access to technologies like mobile and stationary cameras, as well as automatic license plate readers. She also noted that more than just police on the street, there needs to be more protection for business owners so they can feel safe to conduct business.
Despite being on opposite slates, Roknian agreed, stating that every shuttered business in town is “a lost dream.”
“I really (want things) to be safer for these businesses to be able to do their business,” Roknian said. “We need to make sure customers can come to them. We need to protect parking (lots) so that … they don’t have to worry about big feces on the sidewalks on the (street) level. And with that as well, we also need to make sure that our patrons when they come to a restaurant or store, feel safe enough to then go to the next one, and the next one.”
Another hot safety topic was the needle distribution program at Christine Emerson Reed Park, after Council recently approved a resolution asking state government to change laws to provide for local control over distribution of syringes and other drug paraphernalia in local communities. The motion was passed 4-3 after intense discussion, with the Reed Park topic extending into the candidate forum.
As part of a lightning round of questioning, candidates were asked to hold a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” on various issues, one being whether candidates would fight to end the needle distribution program. The split was 50-50 amongst candidates, with the ones who put “thumbs down” (including the competing slate to Safer Santa Monica) being booed by several in the audience.
Other lightning round questions brought all 10 candidates together in lockstep, such as a unanimous “thumbs up” on making sure renters are protected via local rent control policies, as well as an altogether “thumbs up” to libraries returning to the operating hours they had before the COVID-19 pandemic. The conversion of the Santa Monica Municipal Airport into a public park facility was also met with near-unanimous approval, with Kelley being the lone dissenter.
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