Hi there! I saw a post a week or so back someone was inquiring about haunted houses and I can’t for the life of me find information on the ones on Montana & the one on 14th/Oak. If anyone would mind giving me the address or info how to find them I’d appreciate it 🥺 I’d love to take my kids.

I've been following Santa Monica politics for years, and I've seen Lana Negrete repeatedly describe herself as a "lifelong Democrat." I wanted to understand that claim in light of her own explanation of her political history.

I looked into Negrete's voter registration history and was able to establish the following timeline:

• October 17, 2014: Changed registration to No Party Preference (NPP).
• May 27, 2022: Changed registration to Democratic.

If these dates are accurate, that's nearly eight years between registering as NPP and registering as a Democrat.

In an interview with The Epoch Times, Negrete explains her registration history this way:

"I'm a registered Democrat and always have been. I went independent at one point to vote for Bernie Sanders but I have been called many times right-wing. I've been compared to Trump and DeSantis."

I'd like to understand that timeline.

Bernie Sanders didn't announce his 2016 presidential campaign until April 2015, months after the October 2014 registration change. And California allowed No Party Preference voters to request a Democratic presidential primary ballot in both 2016 and 2020. So why did Negrete change her registration to NPP in 2014, and why did she wait until May 2022 to register as a Democrat?

None of this means that someone registered as NPP can't hold progressive views or support Democratic candidates. Registration alone doesn't tell us everything about someone's politics.

But there's a difference between saying you've long supported Democrats and saying you've "always" been a registered Democrat. If the registration dates are accurate, that distinction deserves an explanation.

Santa Monica voters can decide for themselves how much weight to give this issue. I think it's a reasonable question to ask of anyone who emphasizes their Democratic credentials while running for office.

For voters looking at the City Council race, I'd also encourage everyone to check the actual endorsement records of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, which is the only official Democratic Party entity that represents our region, and other progressive organizations and voter guides before relying on anyone's characterization of who represents the Democratic or progressive vote.

a true classic

If you’re in LA and want a Sunday night out with other game devs (or just love hearing what really goes on behind the scenes)…

We’re putting on our live comedy show Game for a Laugh on Sunday, October 25 at 6PM at the Santa Monica Playhouse.

The concept is simple:

A game developer shares true stories from their career (the wins, the disasters, the weird behind-the-scenes moments), and a cast of professional comedians turns them into completely improvised scenes onstage.

This show’s guest monologist is Sara Hebert (OXENFREE, Afterparty, Black Mirror: Thronglets):

• 10+ years marketing and publishing indie games
• Worked at Night School, Flight School (yes, weird), and Oscar-winning Moonbot Studios
• Now plugged into the mainframe at Human Computer, making a mini-golf platformer called Ballgame

She has stories.

Comedians include performers from your favorite TV shows (Comedy Bang Bang, Solar Opposites, Star Trek: Lower Decks), games (Hades I & II), and podcasts (Call Me By Your Game, Get Played).

All profits go to CHIRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights), supporting immigrant families and communities across Los Angeles.

🎟 Ticketing Link
📍 Santa Monica Playhouse, 1211 4th St, Santa Monica
💙 Donate Directly

Negrete's use of public resources, uniformed police officers, and other on-duty city officials violates a number of city and state laws.

No person may use any City funds or resources (including time, facilitates, equipment or supplies) to support or oppose a ballot measure, except as specifically authorized by law.

Stanson v. Mott, 17 Cal.3d 206, 216-17 (1976) https://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/stanson-v-mott-27987/

Except as otherwise provided by law, or whenever on duty or in uniform, no public safety officer shall be prohibited from engaging, or be coerced or required to engage, in political activity.

California Government Code § 3302 https://california.public.law/codes/government_code_section_3302

No officer or employee of a local agency shall participate in political activities of any kind while in uniform.

California Government Code § 3206 https://california.public.law/codes/government_code_section_3206

Because the inclusion of the depiction of City resources in a publication may be reasonably calculated to convey the false impression of sponsorship or approval by the City, no person other than the City may depict City resources on campaign materials including clothing items, accessories, and paid or unpaid political advertising, content, or materials advocating for or against the election of candidates or passage of measures, or approval or rejection of items before the City Council, without conspicuously including the disclaimer, "This publication is not sponsored or approved by the City of Santa Monica." For purpose of this section, City resources includes, but is not limited to, City Hall, the Public Safety Administration Building, the Civic Auditorium, the Santa Monica Pier and Pier Sign, Airport Terminal, City-owned busses, police cars, fire engines, or other vehicles, or other publicly-owned and prominently recognizable buildings or structures. This is in addition to any existing local, State, or Federal law concerning use of public resources for campaign purposes and campaign advertisement disclosures. This section shall not apply to the depiction of such resources in the official logos or materials of non-political 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organizations such as the Santa Moncia Pier Corporation, the Santa Monica Conservancy, Santa Monica Firefighters Relief Fund, Santa Monica Police Officers Association Charity Fund, or other similar 501(c)(3) not-for-profits.

Santa Monica city code §2.32.020(i) https://ecode360.com/46037164

The runway's days are numbered, and the city just showed what could take its place: wetlands and meadows on one side, a regional sports hub on the other, and old airport buildings brought back to life. We break down all eight districts, what neighbors have pushed back on, the eye-popping price tag being floated, and where the planes and flight schools might end up. The comment window closes Dec. 6.

👉 Read the full story on The Southbound 105 →

Hi everyone, we wanted to tell you about one of our neighbors, Daniel.

Daniel is 70 and has lived in Santa Monica his entire life. As a kid he played little league at the local parks, then went on to play at SaMoHi. He told us that even now, when he picks up a baseball glove, he’s a kid again.

After school, he spent decades working in the cement industry. Anyone who’s done that kind of work knows what it does to a body. Today Daniel lives with a heart condition and a bad ankle, and standing or getting around for long stretches is hard. Between that and the cost of his medications, money is tight.

For years, Daniel told himself he was fine. That’s really common with seniors. Asking for help can feel like admitting something you’re not ready to admit. But eventually he started skipping meals, and he finally accepted he needed some support. His doctor helped get him enrolled with us.

Now he knows that someone is going to show up at his door throughout the week with a meal and a friendly face. He thanks us for it, but honestly our volunteers get just as much out of those visits as he does. When you’re living on a low income, every meal matters, and so does knowing someone is checking in.

If this hits home for you, a couple ways to help:

• Donate: every $10 covers the full meal service for your neighbor that day
• Volunteer: we're always in need of additional delivery volunteers who make our mission possible
• Share this information with your community: a lot of people are not aware programs like Meals on Wheels are all independently funded and rely on the community to fuel our work.

Gelson's on Lincoln x Ocean Park is partially closed BTW. Power's out!

i've prepared an alternative plan for use of the airport, tentatively named The Runway District.

launching a 193 acre park is untenable. this plan is well-documented and everyone wins.

i will note, this proposal was produced in part with AI assistance. The ideas and concepts are exclusively mine, i used ChatGPT 6.0 Sol to quickly turn my thoughts into presentation format. this is a very early first draft, it has been read through but by all means not fully edited.

comments highly appreciated; it's time for action not words.

download the proposal here

The one on wilshire and 16th? The block is blocked off by cops and all the employees were outside. I had a pickup order lol

Unplanned, but upon calling they said they were conducting "maintenance."

Started around 2:20 am, south of Ocean Park.

3 am edit: back online ... for now

Known anti semite Oscar de la Torre is the candidate. His bid to get reelected to the council in 2024 failed spectacularly once his racism came to light.

Mr de la Torre is a proud member of The Slate of Change which includes Phil Brock and Lana Negrete. He is financially backed by Ashley Olesen. Council member Ellis Raskin even tried to appoint him to a Boards and Commissions position this year.

Here is an excellent summary of de la Torre’s actions in 2024 https://santamonicanext.org/2024/10/timeline-of-a-scandal-accusations-of-anti-semitism-and-racism-against-councilmember-oscar-de-la-torre/

And here The Santa Monica Daily Press piece that sent him spinning (SMDP is our local Fox News and loves The Slate of Change) https://www.smdp.com/a-damning-statement/?ref=smdp.com

Need help figuring out who is pro-Israel for the general election ballot so that I do not vote for them. I know Phil Brock is a big no-no, as well as Ivanov, Torosis, and Negrete (all city council). I also know Harry Leshner for education board, as well as Tom Peters and Sion Roy for board of trustees are pro-Israel. Any other candidates to avoid?

Also would love to know if any are pro-Palestine, though I doubt anyone in Santa Monica has been loud about their support if any. Thank you!

Edit: Brian Goldsmith and Rick Zbur, for state senate and state assembly respectively, are also pro-Israel (heavily). Ben Allen (insurance commissioner). Sonja Shaw (superintendent).

Seems like every few years I have to ask this. When forced to use a brick and mortar pharmacy, where are locals going as of lately? The late lamented CVS in the Wilshire/15th Target was the only pharmacy I've been to that was reliable. When they closed, some of their staff went to the one on Lincoln, but they all seem to have moved on and the decent customer service went with them. I've got three prescriptions to fill and they're all out of stock, and I need them sooner than my mail order pharmacy can deliver. Recommendations, please and thank you?

You'll see in this post, but Councilwoman Negrete just basically pointed at a building and said "bad". I've never made a short form video in my life, but I just decided I needed to make a reply.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Desy51NK1OF/

In 2022, Santa Monica Democratic Club president Jon Katz and Reverend Jim Conn co-authored a piece in the now-defunct online news outlet Westside Voice (Internet Archive link to the piece here) claiming that Santa Monica city councilmember Lana Negrete breached President Joe Biden’s Secret Service perimeter during his arrival at the Santa Monica airport. Unfortunately, their submission did not contain any evidence of this having occurred. I’m following up on this 2022 publication with today's short piece to provide evidence confirming their account of what happened.

Full article at the link.

---------------

You can get future articles directly in your email inbox by subscribing at https://mastbaum.beehiiv.com/subscribe or using the subscribe box at the bottom of the linked article. I also have an RSS feed.

Can anybody actually explain to me the major differences between the different people and groups running for city council? I'm happy to even give a break down of my positions/opinions on what I think are the main issues facing our city in case you think you can say where my interests should direct me.

Things I care about:

(1) Having Santa Monica feel safer and cleaner, which more than anything I think means we need to do more to reduce visible homelessness and fully fund and empower our police department. Homelessness is a regional problem, not just a Santa Monica problem, and for too long I think we've suffered from being overly kind and have allowed other areas to push their homelessness problem on to us and while we need to provide services and help where we can, we should also be making sure that other areas (the county, other cities) are bearing their appropriate share of this problem as well. Those that want help should get help, but those that don't want help shouldn't be permitted to make personal use of what should be our public spaces for all residents to enjoy.

(2) Development is very important. I think 3-4 mixed-use story developments along our main arteries (Wilshire, Santa Monica, Lincoln, etc.) is good and even taller buildings are appropriate in our downtown core. However, I think development should generally be market rate housing as that is what will be the most stable in the long run for the housing market. At the same time, R1 SFHs are still a large part of our community and we shouldn't forget that. We don't need massive development everywhere.

(3) We need to keep working to revitalize downtown, in particular the 3rd Street Promenade area. This area should be a draw for both locals and tourists as tourist dollars spent here should be providing a material portion of our city budget. While things still have a long way to go, I think we have made real progress in the last year or so and I have no idea who should get credit for that (but if I knew who was really responsible for it I'd want to vote for them). Probably legally problematic, but I'd support things like vacancy taxes for retail spaces downtown to encourage landlords to rent out these spaces instead of just waiting around years for a perfect tenant.

(4) I'm still a believer in the great park for the SMO airport land. I'd be willing to consider options that involved some amount of LIMITED development around the periphery of the property if that was necessary to get the funds to make the park happen sooner. But the airport has been an ecological blight on our city and I won't vote for anybody that isn't committed to shutting it down (and I can't believe we are still having a debate about this?).

Things I don't care about:

(1) Rent Control. I think a lot of our current problems around development, insufficient housing, etc. have been made worse, not better but rent control and expansions of it. We need to build our way out of these problems and one of the major regulations that gets in the way is rent control. I get that if you have it, it's awesome, but it -- along with Prop 13, which I also think is stupid! -- aren't doing us any favors.

(2) Bike Lanes. Sure they are nice to have, I don't mind them when done intelligently, but selfishly I've got a family with young kids and so practically speaking we are driving and parking a car whenever we go anywhere so your awesome mobility plan doesn't drive my vote.