Questions from the Santa Monica Sun

By Donna Block

Donna answers the questions from the Santa Monica Sun

What I see as the biggest problem facing Santa Monica, today is machine politics. From council appointed commissions down to our local neighborhood groups; the people of Santa Monica are represented by a political machine. Tenants, homeowners, families, singles, small businesses, and major corporations, are represented by one voice.

What do I intend to do about it? My goal is to give the other voices in this community a chance to be heard. We need to have fair and balanced representation on council that will regard all community concerns as valid.

2. Do you support Prop KK?

I don't support either living wage proposal but I will vote for KK. This, quite properly, is an issue that is, and should be, addressed by the State and Federal Government's minimum wage laws.

3. Donna what do you think should be done about the homeless here in Santa Monica?

I believe that we ought to be more aggressive in getting and keeping the homeless off our streets. Ten years ago we had fifty beds in Santa Monica and one thousand homeless. Today we have five hundred beds and still one thousand homeless.

We need to decide just how many homeless we can help and work within that frame. Only then, can we direct our resources towards rehabilitation programs that our life-changing and will stop the revolving door of homelessness.

4. What would you do about parking?

Our city has ignored the demands for increased parking for years. Projections based on parking studies were presented five years ago and nothing has been done to address the problem.

However, many of the problems that exist today in our neighborhoods are the direct result of our council's refusal to allow any land to be used for new parking facilities, and the revoking of existing lots. They know, as we all do, that we have more automobiles, more residents, and more visitors, but the SMRR majority on council, has refused to address the problem with a simple solution. The problem won't go away, we need more parking.

5. What would you do about traffic here in Santa Monica?

The Council has attempted to solve the traffic problem by trying to get us out of our cars and into buses, for many of us this is impractical, and leaves the problem unresolved. It would be better for Council to engineer the traffic patterns in the city instead of trying to engineer the transportation patterns of its residents. Additionally, traffic has doubled and road access is being decreased. We are narrowing our roads, taking whole lanes out on major throughways and none of the east/west lights are synchronized. We encourage cut through traffic in our neighborhoods by creating traffic jams at every intersection, the calming attempts primarily frustrate drivers and some seem to further the risk to bicyclist and skaters and pedestrians.

6. What would you do about development?

I think we are pretty much built out in this city, the real issue is redevelopment and how it impacts our community. Some of our existing problems can be alleviated when we redevelop, such as inadequate parking and excessive noise in the neighborhoods. In a nutshell, our building codes need to be simplified and up dated to reflect todays standards. There have been proposals to reduce some of the zoning and building code requirements for development projects that have a mixed use of commercial & residential, or for affordable housing. I don't believe either warrants compromise, it will only lead to more of the same problems we face today.

In your own words why are you the best person for this job?

I don't think any one person is the best person for the job, there are many people in this race who are qualified. What I see as significant about my being elected is that our current council lacks diversity, and representation is very limited. As a woman and a mother in this community, I feel very under represented on council, especially on issues of public safety and education. A council dominated by men, half of whom are single, cannot adequately represent the women in this community. My other concern is that only one viewpoint prevails, and has prevailed in this town for a very long time. Our council needs more than one perspective to truly represent this community. If elected, I would focus on the day to day problems and start looking for solutions. No more band-aids solutions, it's time for some fundamental changes at City Ha