O2 MAX

On December 6, Los Angeles became the first major city to endorse a proposed Constitutional amendment that would subject corporations to regulations.

The text of the proposed amendment:

Section 1 [A corporation is not a person and can be regulated]
The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons only.
Artificial entities, such as corporations, limited liability companies, and other entities, established by the laws of any State, the United States, or any foreign state shall have no rights under this Constitution and are subject to regulation by the People, through Federal, State, or local law.

The privileges of artificial entities shall be determined by the People, through Federal, State, or local law, and shall not be construed to be inherent or inalienable.

Section 2 [Money is not speech and can be regulated]
Federal, State and local government shall regulate, limit, or prohibit contributions and expenditures, including a candidate’s own contributions and expenditures, for the purpose of influencing in any way the election of any candidate for public office or any ballot measure.
Federal, State and local government shall require that any permissible contributions and expenditures be publicly disclosed.

The judiciary shall not construe the spending of money to influence elections to be speech under the First Amendment.

Section 3
Nothing contained in this amendment shall be construed to abridge the freedom of the press.


Metro said it has no cause yet for the failure of a retaining wall section on the 405 freeway improvement project in Sepulveda Pass, but is aware of it, in a statement released this week.

“A MSE (Mechanically Supported Engineering) retaining wall, located along the southbound I-405 at Mountain Gate, suffered a localized failure on Thursday, December 1. The failure occurred on Caltrans right-of-way, west of the freeway, in our construction zone. No one was injured and our geotechnical team deemed the freeway and Sepulveda safe for the traveling public. Traffic has not been restricted at this location.

“The wall, approximately 2,000 feet long, is part of the work to relocate the Skirball Center Drive on-ramps south of their present location on the Skirball bridge. The portion of the wall that has been compromised is only 20 feet long. The project has been aware of deficiencies in this portion of the wall for a few weeks and were preparing a partial deconstruction plan when the panels failed. The wall has been stabilized and there is no danger to the traveling public. The contractor is currently performing an in-depth investigation to the cause of the localized failure. Experts have been brought in to collect forensic evidence. We cannot speculate at this time as to what caused the failure. Once a thorough and complete investigation has been finalized and approved by Metro and Caltrans, the contractor will create a mitigation plan.

“Until the investigation is complete, work on the other MSE walls along the project has been halted. Our path forward will be determined by the outcome of the investigation.”

From LAObserved

According to Santa Monica College spokesman Bruce Smith, Amber Katherine is “a philosopher who has blended her passion for the environment with teaching and mentoring,” and Dan Nannini is “a counselor who has become something of a statewide guru on transferring to universities,” and they have been named Santa Monica College’s 2011 Co-Faculty of the Year.

In naming the winners, the SMC Academic Senate also announced that it was nominating Katherine for the statewide Hayward Award, which honors outstanding community college faculty who have a track record of excellence in teaching and professional activities and have demonstrated commitment to their students, profession and college. The Hayward Award is sponsored by the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges.

“Professor Katherine and Dan Nannini are such outstanding faculty members that we could not narrow the award this year to just one recipient,” said SMC kinesiology professor Elaine Roque, chair of the Academic Senate’s Sabbaticals, Fellowships & Awards Committee. “Amber is a compassionate and caring professor who has helped transform SMC into one of the greenest colleges in the state, and Dan is one of the state’s leading transfer experts at an institution that is the No. 1 transfer college to the University of California, USC and more. We’re honored to call them our colleagues.”

Katherine, of Mar Vista, who has taught philosophy at SMC since 1999, has been a campus leader, particularly in the area of sustainability. She has served on the Academic Senate Executive and other committees, chairing the Environmental Affairs Committee.

She was instrumental in developing the “ecological literacy” track of SMC’s graduation requirements and was the leading faculty member working with the Associated Students to organize the 2008 Focus the Nation Teach-In on Global Warming Solutions, at which SMC President Dr. Chui L. Tsang signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment.

She is the advisor to the EcoAction and Philosophy clubs, has been involved with FEAST and Earth Day celebrations on campus, and was awarded the 2007 Chair of Excellence in Philosophy and Social Sciences that provided funds for her to spearhead the “greening” of SMC’s curriculum.

In the classroom, she has taught a wide range of philosophy courses, including environmental politics, and has been described as “a meticulous mentor who uses office hours to facilitate wide ranging and engaging philosophical discussions with students.”

She has made presentations at academic conferences throughout the United States and is the author of the recently published “Greening Philosophy: A Fresh Introduction to the Field.”

Nannini was hired as a general counselor in 1988. During his tenure, the Culver City resident has been assigned to several counseling divisions, including the Scholars Program, an honors transfer program. But he has made a particular mark in the past 14 years as the Transfer Center faculty leader, a role that is critical to the college.

Under his leadership, the college sponsors dozens of workshops for students on completing applications and navigating the transfer process. His office brings in four-year university recruiters to campus on an almost daily basis during the school year, conducts bus tours to universities statewide, and hosts the largest college transfer fair in the state, attracting more than 100 universities worldwide. In addition, he has helped develop transfer agreements with four-year institutions throughout the world, including Columbia University in New York.

According to Smith, Nannini also uses his extensive contacts statewide to personally appeal on behalf of students who have not been admitted to a particular university when he believes the student should be given another shot.

He is the author of the “Nannini Guide,” which provides a “road map” to students and counselors that details the intricacies of the UC transfer admission process. And he has become active at the statewide and national levels, serving as president of the Transfer Center Directors Association and giving presentations throughout California and the U.S.

Last week, the Dispatch ran the last installment of NO DICE, a Santa Monica murder mystery, by Mar Preston. It was a first for us, serializing a novel. We thought it fitting to conclude with an interview with the author.

You obviously know Santa Monica well. When did you live here?

I lived here from 1984-2004. I still keep up with Santa Monica friends, newspapers, the big issues and local gossip, and visit frequently. I can’t stay away.

What drew you here?

I was lured to Santa Monica by a friend who was outraged by City Council’s considering a ban on multiple families sharing one of the large mansions north of Montana, seeing them as communes. We were both working on a UCLA research project studying alternative families at the time, and saw house-sharing as a sensible economic and child-rearing idea. She led me to a rent control apartment and got me involved in SMRR politics.

What kept you here?

New ideas percolate in coastal cities and I was excited to be part of it all. Jim Conn’s Church in Ocean Park, and later the Unitarian Universalist Church with Judith Meyer was a hotbed of discussion and activism. They welcomed me–the devout atheist.

Were you involved in City politics and causes?

SMRR politics and later Santa Monicans for Responsible Tourism (SMART) were umbrellas for the big ideas that engaged the city. Very loosely you might say the leadership and volunteers tried to prevent Santa Monica becoming Las Vegas by the Sea, so that renters of all income brackets could enjoy a quality of life here, sharing what rich homeowners could afford to buy.

What were the specific issues that engaged you?

The push for a living wage by SMART. Engaging with hotel workers was the first time I saw real poverty and exploitation close up. I saw women at union meetings cry–and they were working full-time at a job that just didn’t pay enough to put food on the table for their kids .

Did you win any battles?

The hotels fought back and drowned our living wage campaign with an avalanche of money and deceptive mailers. We passed a living wage for city workers, nonetheless, and the union continues to win victories against the hotels elsewhere in the city. Social change is glacial, and especially discouraging in hard times like now. Unions, for all their faults, are still the best way for low-wage workers to better their pay and working conditions.

Why did you leave?

My husband grew so ill that we had my nephew move in to help me care for him and we simply needed more room. I felt so fortunate to live at the corner of Seventh and San Vicente, an urban paradise, for so many years. I cried when we left.

Where did you go?

We moved to Culver City, but Culver City doesn’t have the same fire as Santa Monica. It was just a place to live, and as it turned out, briefly. My husband died four days after we moved to a small village in the Kern County Mountains. I just didn’t have the psychological wherewithal to pack up and move back to Santa Monica at that point, as I wanted to. Instead I made a life here. The mountains and the pine forest with its four seasons offer a different beauty. Of course, I couldn’t keep my nose out of local politics, and for the first time had a chance to get involved with environmental issues, as well as co-founding a local SPCA. The Kern County Board of Supervisors are our governing body, and the Old Boys of Bakersfield are well known for mismanagement and corruption.

How does it compare with Santa Monica — as a place to live?

Here it’s quiet and you have to make your own entertainment. My neighbors and friends are more important and we meet often for potlucks and movies, or long conversations at the dump and the post office.

Does it engage you more or less than Santa Monica did?

Everywhere there are issues, be it labor, development, and the environment that need watch-dogging. You have to keep your eye on the people who are representing–or not representing–you.

Is it as political as Santa Monica — more or less liberal?

Hard right Republicans are the majority here. I know many decent Republicans who just think differently than I do, a lot different. We get along, all of us working to better the place where we live.

Do you miss Santa Monica? What in particular do you miss — if anything, aside from friends?

I miss the crackle on the streets, the neon, good restaurants, the paper delivered to my door, garbage pick up, strange-looking people, flowers, hearing a foreign language spoken, the beach, Palisades Park, and the Pier. Everything closes down here at 8:00 p.m. Sigh.

Have you always been a writer?

No, it took courage to start to write and more courage to show anybody. Then yet more courage to call myself a writer. Writing seriously filled the awful ache after my husband died and those huge, empty hours.

What did you do before you began writing?

I worked as a researcher for many years in the field of aging and the family at both UCLA and USC.

What drew you to mysteries?

I love the dark side, murder and mayhem, perhaps because I live both sides of the human psyche, experience violence, good and evil, and issues of right and wrong, from a safe distance.

Why did you choose Santa Monica as your turf?

You write what you know and Santa Monica is fascinating.

Why did you choose a cop as your leading character?

I’ve had a love/hate relationship with cops as a child of the Sixties. Over the years my antagonism has softened to allow a respect and admiration for the good ones. I know there are cops on the streets and in administration who should be chained up in the back of the station. Lots of hard-boiled and noir novelists have written good books about them. Dave Mason, my SMPD detective, is someone I’d like and a cop who seems realistic to me, with all his faults.

Do you consult with SMDP officials when researching your books?

The Citizen’s Academy, a 13-week SMPD program, allowed my first glimpse behind the curtain We learned about the realities of police work, why they do what they do, why they think the way they do, and the world they live in. I’ve been helped by SMPD Community Relations, working detectives, and the executive leadership. And I appreciate their candor.

Are they helpful, and or enthusiastic about your books?

They’re very helpful. I have no idea what they think. I’ve passed out books to everybody, but not one single person has commented.

Is Mason based on an actual cop, or bits and pieces of cops you know, or purely your creation?

He’s all of those. I’ve talked to dozens of law enforcement detectives. It seems to me they all start out with a desire to make things a little bit better and a sincere desire to help. Police work can be brutalizing and some deal with the streets better than others.

NO DICE is your first mystery. Did you enjoy writing it?

I loved researching and writing it. The anti-casino campaign featured in No Dice is a loosely-disguised living wage campaign. Don’t think a casino couldn’t build on Ocean Avenue.

Presumably, Mason stars in your next two books. Have your feelings about him changed as you write more and more?

Mason lives inside my head, and of course, he’s me to some extent. I read a lot of gritty law enforcement sites and feel his reactions and hear the things he says. I am not schizophrenic.

He is obviously interested in Ginger McNair? Does she appear in your second book?

In No Dice, Ginger McNair, the community organizer running the anti-casino campaign, attracts Mason and repels him at the same time. What’s he doing with a liberal activist who gets herself arrested? Only in the movies does anybody get through the experience Ginger endures in No Dice without Post-Traumatic-Stress Syndrome after-effects, and this plays large in her relationship with Mason. Yes, I continue writing about Ginger and how hard right and left chafe each other and make it work.

Raymond Chandler wrote an extraordinary series of mystery novels. They are also some of the best novels about LA that’ve ever been written. He also wrote some memorable screenplays. At his best, he has no equals in the mystery field, and few on the literary front. Do you aspire to writing stellar literature ultimately, or are you content to write memorable mysteries?

I can hardly write about Raymond Chandler and Mar Preston in the same sentence. I write to entertain myself and other mystery lovers. I wrote four unpublished literary novels to teach myself how to write and no one wanted them. Mysteries aren’t any easier, but I love the puzzle of plotting and the infinite reach of human behavior. Books are a great way of sneaking in your own way of seeing the world where your characters say and think the unsayable and unthinkable things we’ve all got in our heads.

Chandler royally detested Santa Monica/Bay City, particularly its crooked side, its bad cops, with whom his private eye, Marlow, often tangled, its graft. You seem to like Santa Monica, and your hero is a cop. Different time? Different attitude?

Mason is a flawed hero, nonetheless. Graft and corruption are not as unchecked in the SMPD as in Chandler’s time. Too much oversight exists nowadays. However, some City Council members at present are far too loose in their relationship with Big Money and its glitter for my taste.

Do you read mystery novels yourself? For pleasure? Or work?

Mysteries have always been my favorites. Now I realize there are many literary novels that just happen to feature a murder as well. I’m off this week for a three-day workshop on Homicide Investigation–for pleasure and work.

Do you find the “new” book world — e-books, self-publishing, etc. — daunting or promising?

I’ve made every mistake possible in publishing No Dice, and have learned what to avoid the second and third time around. Anyone sitting on a manuscript should realize that it is not without cost to publish — and then publicize — your work. Returns are still very modest even when your book is popular.

What’s your next book? When will it be available? And in what form?

Rip-Off now has a cover and is ready to go in paperback and on all the e-readers. One of my biggest mistakes was releasing No Dice before it was sent to reviewers and libraries. That process can take up to six months. In the meantime I’m setting up readings and other publicity opportunities. I want to share my work and welcome opportunities to talk about it.

Indie, or self-publishing, has empowered writers and given them access to readers without the blessing of a New York agent and publisher. I hope my small success tells others publishing and earning a seat at the table is possible. I’m 67 and became computer literate the hard way. Santa Monicans can, too. They have the wonderful Santa Monica Public Library to help them.

I want to thank The Santa Monica Dispatch for serializing No Dice over many months. It’s given me an opportunity to give readers my take on Santa Monica and its politics for which I’m grateful.

Dr. Margaret R. Quiñones-Perez has been elected chair and Dr. Nancy Greenstein vice chair of the Santa Monica Community College District Board of Trustees for 2012.

Quiñones-Perez succeeds Dr. Andrew Walzer and Greenstein succeeds Quiñones-Perez in posts that rotate annually. This is the second time Quiñones-Perez is serving as chair, having previously held the post in 2004.

Quiñones-Perez, who was first elected to the SMC Board in 2000, had previously served eight years as a trustee on the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board, including one year as board president.

A counselor at El Camino College, Quiñones-Perez has had broad experience at community colleges and social service agencies. She has also been active in several professional and community organizations, primarily in education and Latino organizations.

A graduate of Santa Monica College, she received her bachelor’s degree in mental health research methods from California State University at Dominguez Hills, a master’s in counseling psychology from the University of Southern California, and a doctorate in educational leadership from UCLA. She was also a fellow of the JFK Harvard School of Government.

Quiñones-Perez was the first Latina elected to the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board and the first Latina elected to the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees.

She is a former member of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. The Board of Governors sets policy and provides guidance for the 72 districts and 109 colleges that constitute the system. As a member of the Board of Governors, appointed by the state’s Governor, she interacted with state and federal officials and other state organizations. She participated in selecting a Chancellor for the system. The Chancellor, through a formal process of consultation, brings recommendations to the Board, which has the legislatively granted authority to develop and implement policy for the colleges.

She serves on the Board of the National Hispana Leadership Institute and is an associate member of the state Association of Community College Trustees’ Finance and Audit Committee.

She says her professional and policy experience is deeply grounded in all student success, student equality and a committed position in Latino and African-American student access and success.

Greenstein, who was elected to the Board of Trustees in November 2002 and re-elected twice, previously served as vice chair in 2005 and chair in 2006.

Director of Police Community Services at the UCLA Police Department since 1997, she has received national recognition for community policing programs and strategies for bringing together diverse groups and agencies to resolve various issues. She has also worked as Public Safety Administrator in West Hollywood.

She has won several awards, including the Jeanne Cleary Campus Safety Award, a national honor, in 2009; State Legislature Woman of the Year Award, in 2010; and the UCLA Educational Leadership Award.

Greenstein is the City of Santa Monica representative and the 2008 Chair of the Los Angeles County West Vector District Board. Previously she served as Chair of the Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corporation and the Santa Monica Charter Review Commission and as a board member of the Santa Monica Convention and Visitors Bureau. She is co-chair emeritus of Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights and active in a number of community organizations.

She is a current board member and past president of the Southern California ACLU. With such varied expertise, she is routinely called upon to consult with local governmental agencies, law enforcement and community groups regarding public safety, community partnerships, community relationships and problem solving. She also serves on the board of the Los Angeles-based Social Justice Learning Institute, which is dedicated to improving educational institutions for underserved populations.

Greenstein received her bachelor’s degree in education from Boston University, master’s of social work with a community organizing specialty from UCLA, and a doctorate in education from UCLA.

The annual Rustic Canyon Park Boutique and Art Show will be held Saturday, December 10 at the Park from 11:a.m. to 3 p.m.

Students and their instructors will display their work, and local artists and vendors have been invited to participate.

Items on display and for sale are ceramics, jewelry, skin care products, purses, scarves, items for pets, hair accessories, candles, and much more. Free coffee, hot chocolate and treats from the Rustic Café will be served. Admission is free, too.

This event has always been one of the community’s annual high points, as Rustic Canyon Recreation Center enjoys providing arts and culture for the holiday season and celebrating the bohemian spirit of the community. Residents are encouraged to invite their friends.

The center is located at 601 Latimer Road. 310 454 5734 office, 310575 8015 fax, Rustic Canyon Recreation Center – www.laparks.org

As it turns out, the American Film Market (AFM®), the principal event of the Independent Film & Television Alliance® (IFTA®), will not move to downtown Los Angeles, but will remain in Santa Monica through 2017, IFTA leadership announced today.

A new agreement keeps the AFM at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, its home since 1991, with additional exhibition space continuing at JW Marriott’s Le Merigot Beach Hotel and with conferences continuing at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows.

IFTA Chairman Paul Hertzberg said, “We tirelessly explored every option to ensure the AFM would have the best long-term home. We look forward to many more successful Markets with the beach as our backdrop.”

IFTA President-CEO Jean Prewitt added, “Our stated goal from the start of this process has been to provide the best environment, resources and value for the world’s buyers and sellers and, after long and careful deliberations, we believe remaining in Santa Monica will achieve all of those goals.”

“In Santa Monica, the AFM will have access to a new 12-screen multiplex, a 2,000-plus seat world class venue for red-carpet premieres, more hotel rooms, light rail transportation to Los Angeles and Hollywood, and even a spectacular new park across from the Loews.” IFTA EVP and AFM Managing Director Jonathan Wolf said. “We are thrilled that everyone in the city came together to make this happen.”

AMC’s new Santa Monica cinema complex with 12 screens, and an IMAX theater, is expected to open in late 2014 or early 2015.

Currently being renovated and expanded, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium should reopen in late 2014. It will provide AFM with a ideal setting for red-carpet premieres, and will have a removable seating system that can accommodate more than 2,000 or create an open space for large events.

·At least 700 hotel rooms will be added to the downtown area, including mid-priced hotels from Marriott and Hampton Inn.

A Metro light rail line, with a western terminus at Fourth Street and Colorado Avenue, a five-minute walk from Loews, will connect Santa Monica to Los Angeles and Hollywood. It is expected to begin running in 2015.

Confirmed dates for AFM in Santa Monica are: October 31 – November 7, 2012, November 6 – 13, 2013, November 5 – 12, 2014, November 4 – 11, 2015, November 2 – 9, 2016, November 1 – 8, 2017.

Santa Monica Convention and Visitors Bureau research estimates that the AFM will contribute more than $100 million to the local economy over the next six years.

8,000 leaders in the independent motion picture production and distribution industry converge annually in Santa Monica at the AFM for eight days of deal-making, screenings, conferences, premieres, networking and parties. Participants come from more than 70 countries and include acquisition and development executives, agents, attorneys, directors, distributors, festival directors, financiers, film commissioners, producers, writers, the press and all those who provide services to the motion picture industry.

Founded in 1981, the AFM became the global marketplace where Hollywood’s decision-makers and trendsetters all gather under one roof. Unlike a film festival, the AFM is a marketplace where production and distribution deals are closed. In just eight days, more than $800 million in deals will be made – on both completed films and those in every stage of development and production,-

The AFM is produced by the Independent Film & Television Alliance, the trade association representing the world’s producers and distributors of independent motion pictures and television programs. For more information go to www.IFTA-online.org.