1 Xavier Mota
From: Debra Shepherd <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 22, 2024 4:59 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: Items 10B and 16F(4)
EXTERNAL
Good day:
I’m waiƟng for Ashton Kutcher to jump out of the bushes at the City Hall. I feel like I’m being punkd in a cruel prank. I have filed two fair housing/ tenant harassment complaints against the property owners where I reside as a Black and disabled, voucher holder. Both of my daughters are also disabled.
These people have literally been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in public money. I have had to get Code Enforcement to get the window in my kitchen repaired, aŌer asking nicely for two years. I also had to get Code Enforcement to get our toilet repaired. The property owner wanted to know “how many days” we could go without a “working toilet.”
But wait, there’s more, because there’s always more when it comes to people being evil. In 2019, Gary Rhoades wrote a beauƟful leƩer to the property owner warning them about violaƟng fair housing law and tenant harassment. I thought surely that my family would be protected. AFTER that, the other property owner stated that she does “not have to respect tenants” and that “she (referring to me) always talking about her right. I don’t give a f*** about her right.” The Consumer ProtecƟon Division is refusing to do anything on my current complaint. I was told that I should have negoƟated a beƩer contract. So much for Black Lives MaƩer and the Black Apology. Social JusƟce has leŌ the building.
That girl does not work here anymore.
Debra Shepherd
Santa Monica resident
Sent from my iPad
ITEM 16.F.
January 23, 2024
ITEM 16.F.
January 23, 2024
From: Wittig, Michele A
To: councilmtgitems
Cc: Phil Brock; David White
Subject: Jan 23, 2024 City Council Items 3A, 4C and 16F Date: Tuesday, January 23, 2024 5:55:29 AM
EXTERNAL
To: Santa Monica City Council
From: Michele Wittig
RE: Jan 23, 2024 Council Meeting Items 3A, 4C and 16F
Dear Mayor and Council,
Thank you for agendizing the following Items:
3 A Black History Month
4 CLitigation regarding policing of 1st Amendment protests on Ocean Ave and looting in the downtown retail district on May 31, 2020 16 F Steps toward implementing our City’s 2022 Black Apology Each February, across the US, we celebrate the contributions of AfricanAmericans. Here in Santa Monica, we face the challenge of fulfilling the terms of the City’s 2022 Black Apology.
1. As you move through tonight’s agenda and every Council agenda, let your work stand as proof that you act on behalf of all Santa Monica residents who share the Black Apology’s resolve “… take responsibility for personal and direct contributions to discrimination…”
2.Use the recent Board and Commission restructuring and the 2021 launch of the Public Safety Reform and Oversight Commission as avenues for implementing the promise made in the Black Apology to “…to rectify the lingering consequences of discriminatory city policies…”
3.Enlist the meaningful involvement of our local business community, faith-based organizations, governmental agencies, non-profit civil rights, educational, health and housing institutions and grassroots organizations to “dismantle structures responsible for racial disparities…” Thank you for your past, current and future leadership in furtherance of these resolutions, promises and commitments.
ITEM 16.F.
January 23, 2024
ITEM 16.F.
January 23, 2024
From: Joanne Berlin
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: Item 16F on the Jan. 23rd city council agenda
Date: Tuesday, January 23, 2024 11:21:45 AM
EXTERNAL
Dear City Council Members,
I write to urge you to support item 16F in your council meeting tonight.
I’m sure you all can remember the 2 meetings it took to get the Black Apology officially passed and the many community members who congratulated you and those who urged you to make it real by taking some actions that followed through on the commitments to that document.
More than one speaker actually asked the question, “Is this going to be more than just words?” Both of those confirming meetings were powerful nights, with commitments, and even tears on the dais, over the desire to acknowledge and redress injustices done to the Black Santa Monica community by city policies.
Committee For Racial Justice (CRJ) did more than one survey to gather ideas from the community about things that could be done to make the Apology real. All those suggestions were given to the city and to council members in 2023, but initial meetings that discussed some naming possibilities came to nothing and the city was saying there wasn’t money for any significant initiatives.
More recently, CRJ was promised a list of accomplishments related to the Black Apology, but no such list has been given – instead, it seems there will be another round of attempts to survey the community again for ideas.
Tonight you have a chance to show that Santa Monica is trying to start making concrete its promises to attempt to make the Black Apology more than words. I thank the 3 members who are bringing this to you and ask that you all support these small steps toward redresses of injustice. I wish I could be there, but am battling a virus at the moment.
In hope,
Joanne
Joanne Berlin, Coordinator
Committee For Racial Justice
ITEM 16.F.
January 23, 2024
ITEM 16.F.
January 23, 2024
From: Karen Wise
To: councilmtgitems
Cc: Phil Brock; Lana Negrete; Gleam Davis; Christine Parra; Jesse Zwick; Caroline M. Torosis; Oscar de la Torre Subject: Council Agenda Items 3A, 4C, 16F January 23, 2024 Date: Tuesday, January 23, 2024 7:28:29 AM
EXTERNAL
January 23, 2023
Dear City Council Members:
I write today in reference to three items that appear on tonight’s City Council Agenda:
3 A Black History Month
4 CLitigation regarding policing of 1st Amendment protests on Ocean Ave and looting in the downtown retail district on May 31, 2020 16 F The City of Santa Monica’s 2022 Black Apology
These items are related, and they should be considered as such, since they all stem from our City’s ongoing legacy of racist policies and practices, as well as the fallout, never truly addressed, of the horrors of May 31, 2020, after which we were featured on the front page of the New York Times as an example of local police using military weapons against peaceful protesters, many of which where our own youth – some even known by Police Officers who fired “non-lethal” weapons at them.
1. As you move through tonight’s agenda and every Council agenda, let your work stand as proof that you act on behalf of all Santa Monica residents who share the Black Apology’s resolve “… take responsibility for personal and direct contributions to discrimination…”
2.Use the recent Board and Commission restructuring and the 2021 launch of the Public Safety Reform and Oversight Commission as avenues for implementing the promise made in the Black Apology to “…to rectify the lingering consequences of discriminatory city policies…”
3.Enlist the meaningful involvement of our local business community, faith-based organizations, governmental agencies, non-profit civil rights, educational, health and housing institutions and grassroots organizations to “dismantle structures responsible for racial disparities…”
Words are not enough. It is time to act - actually to dismantle ongoing inequities in housing, education, and treatment by the police here in Santa Monica today. We need proactive, creative action to revitalize our downtown and bring true equity to our city.
ITEM 16.F.
January 23, 2024
ITEM 16.F.
January 23, 2024
We can be a better city, a city that shows the way for the future, but this will require all of us, and you as our elected representatives, to look to the future and not to the past as models for what our city can be, and will be.
Thank you for all you do on behalf of all of us.
Sincerely yours,
Karen Wise, Santa Monica
Karen Wise
[email protected]
ITEM 16.F.
January 23, 2024
ITEM 16.F.
January 23, 2024
1 Xavier Mota
From: Natalya Zernitskaya <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2024 2:30 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Cc: Phil Brock; Lana Negrete; Christine Parra; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Gleam Davis; Oscar de la Torre; David White
Subject: 1/23/2023 CC Agenda Item 16F
EXTERNAL
January 23, 2024
Re: City Council Agenda Item 16F
Dear Mayor Brock, Vice Mayor Negrete, and City Councilmembers, Thank you for considering item 16F and continuing to make progress to rectify the mistakes of the past and develop new opportunities to support Santa Monica’s African American community members.
I appreciate that the City has continued to move forward to address inequities in our community and this proposal is a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge and work towards becoming a more equitable city. I support all 4 of the requests laid out in item 16F and would also like to make some additional suggestions for your consideration:
With regards to the request to allocate $10,000 of Council discretionary funds to the SaMo Black Student Union to provide financial support to seniors aspiring to attend college, I think this is a fantastic idea. I encourage you to also direct staff to explore other opportunities to support Santa Monica students who are aspiring to attend college and are part of historically marginalized communities perhaps through other fiscal contributions to local scholarship funds (such as, but not limited to, the Virginia Avenue Park Teen Center’s annual scholarship fund). [Full disclosure- I serve on the Advisory Board of Virginia Avenue Park]
With regards to the request to explore the installation of The Black Apology statement outside of City Hall, I would suggest that the City Manager also explore the feasibility of installing the statement at the site of the Belmar Triangle. Also, it would be great if it could be translated into other languages. As we know, Santa Monica’s African American community is not a monolith and many speak other languages, such as Amharic. Santa Monica is also a tourist destination for many international travelers and it would be impactful for visitors to learn more about what Santa Monica stands for in their own language(s).
I am grateful for the City’s efforts on this issue and look forward to supporting future efforts to make this city a more equitable community. Thank you again for your consideration of this item.
Sincerely,
Natalya Zernitskaya
Natalya Zernitskaya (she/her)
[email protected]
ITEM 16.F.
January 23, 2024
ITEM 16.F.
January 23, 2024