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NOMA Meetings
NOMA meets the first Thursday of each month
Next Meeting: June 2, 2022 7:00 p.m. via Zoom Click HERE to join the Meeting |
City of Santa Monica Meetings
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Election Workers Needed for the June Primary ElectionThe Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk (RR/CC) is actively recruiting and calling on members of the community to serve as Election Workers for the June Primary Election.
The RR/CC is specifically recruiting in the following communities and areas: Agoura Hills, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Sun Valley, Calabasas, North Hollywood, Torrance, Canoga Park, Pasadena, Valencia, Canyon Country, Rancho Palos Verdes, Venice, La Habra Heights, Santa Clarita, Wilmington and Woodland Hills. Learn more > Measure R Parcel Tax Senior Exemption
Application must be signed and returned by June 30, 2022 On February 5, 2008, the voters of Santa Monica and Malibu approved by 73.03% the Measure R parcel tax, which combines and replaces the previous Measures Y and S parcel taxes, contains a CPI-U adjustment, and allows those senior citizens who meet the following criteria to be exempted from the tax:
Filing Period for NEW applicants starts on April 1, 2022. Information to apply for the Measure R Senior Exemption may be found at https://www.smmusd.org/Page/3905 The application form and supporting documentation must be completed, signed and returned by June 30, 2022. To be added to the mailing list, please email MeasureR@smmusd.org. Acknowledge + Reframe Together Will Support Art & Civic Memory Projects in Santa MonicaTake the Survey
The City of Santa Monica announces the launch of a new initiative, Acknowledge + Reframe Together (Reframe), which will support art and civic memory projects that center community voices with the aim of creating a more just and equitable Santa Monica. In particular, Reframe will focus on centering the voices and experiences of communities of color who have been historically excluded from discourse about representation in Civic spaces. Belmar History + Art (2019-2021) was a demonstration project that inspired this initiative, and we are next embarking on a public engagement process to reconsider the WPA-era murals by Stanton McDonald-Wright in the historic City Hall lobby. In Santa Monica, the WPA-era murals in City Hall do not express the full complexity of our histories and community. To address this, we will be engaging a diverse array of voices and perspectives through a series of community conversations and art activations, with the goal of commissioning new artworks that will convey more of this land’s history and better express our community’s values today. We’ve launched a survey to learn more about people’s ties to Santa Monica and their reflections on place and belonging. Please respond at the link below to help shape our discussions and activities going forward! Summer Recreation registrationRegistration for summer recreation programs is now open. Online registration is required; walk-up registration is not available.
Summer break youth camps will be available weekly from June 13 through August 12, 2022. Summer recreation classes for youth and adults will begin the week of June 13, 2022. 
Montana Branch Library ReopensThe Montana Avenue Branch Library reopened on Tuesday, March 1, 2022. After 18-months of providing curbside services, the Santa Monica Public Library is excited to welcome patrons back into the Branch.
“Patrons often comment that one of the things they love most about the Montana Avenue Branch is its ‘neighborhood-y’ feel,” said Erica Cuyugan, Interim City Librarian. “The affinity patrons feel for the Montana Branch is reflected in the high visitation numbers and number of items that patrons check out.” Read More > New Exhibit at the Annenberg Community Beach HouseThe exhibit features works of photography, painting, and sculpture by Charles Garabedian, Ed Moses, Ilene Segalove, and other southern California artists. The Gallery is open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. each day; hours are subject to change, call ahead to (310) 458-4904 to confirm. The exhibit was made possible with support from Gregory Annenberg Weingarten, GRoW @ Annenberg.
More Info > 1/27/22: Letter from NOMA to City Council re agenda item 7-F: proposed "Lincoln Center" projectAgenda item 7-F: Staff recommends that the City Council introduce and adopt an emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance to extend interim regulations authorizing 100% affordable housing projects and Tier 2 housing projects subject to the Housing Accountability Act to be reviewed through an Administrative Approval process.
The NOMA Board urges the Council to remove Tier 2 projects from this Interim Zoning Ordinance and return them to the prior Development Review approval process, which would include hearings before the Planning Commission and possible appeal to the City Council, if the projects are inconsistent with the LUCE or the Zoning Ordinance. The proposed “Lincoln Center” project on the Gelson’s site at the intersection of Lincoln Blvd. and Ocean Park Blvd. is being proposed as a “Tier 2” project. The developer is applying for “Administrative Approval,” which means that the project could be approved by Planning Department staff, with no public hearings at either Planning Commission or City Council. In addition, Administrative Approvals cannot be appealed. The proposed project consists of: -10 buildings on one site -- up to 5-stories, with heights of 55 to 65 feet -521 apartments (90% market-rate, only 10% affordable) -The market-rate units will include about 410 studio and 1-bedroom apartments. -36,000 sq ft of retail, including a smaller grocery store (Gelson’s is now 42,000 sq ft) -880 vehicle parking spaces (only about 200 now) and 816 bicycle parking spaces Despite the fact the Lincoln Blvd. has about 50,000 daily car trips, and the intersection has been the scene of many traffic accidents, no traffic study is required before Administrative Approval. In addition, the Administrative Approval application form says nothing about notifying the neighborhood organization about the required “Community Meeting” which has to be held before the application is submitted. For the January 11 community meeting for the “Lincoln Center” project, only 100 people, including the development team, were allowed into the Zoom meeting. This process has not been democratic. Democracy demands that those affected by decisions that impact their community, have some input into those decisions. Plans for a huge, neighborhood changing project like this one should not be made in back rooms attended only by those who have a financial interests in the project. Residents’ voices must be heard. Without community input this project makes a mockery of public process. The NOMA Board urges the Council to remove Tier 2 projects from this Interim Zoning Ordinance and return them to the prior Development Review approval process, which would include hearings before the Planning Commission and possible appeal to the City Council, if the projects seem to be inconsistent with the LUCE or the Zoning Ordinance. Thank you for your consideration. Doris Sosin, Founder of NOMA"In memory of Doris, please dance, sing, read, grow something, or go for a walk! If you wish, consider a contribution to Planned Parenthood."
Doris Sosin died on January 21, 2022 at her home in Playa Vista. She was 90 years old.
Born in Washington D.C., Doris and her sister lived all over the United States with their mother Edythe and Father Rear Admiral Louis Dreller. They were stationed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. After graduating from Hood College in Maryland, Doris moved to California and earned a Masters in Education from UCLA. She was an elementary school teacher for LAUSD and created enrichment programs including an art museum with public school students as docents. Doris worked with textiles at the Skirball Cultural Center, served on the Santa Monica Recreation and Parks Commission and Urban Forest Task Force, founded the North of Montana Neighborhood Association and co-founded the Santa Monica Conservancy, dedicated to preserving historic places. Doris brought energy and passion to her many endeavors, including folk art, gardening, biking, walking on the beach, traveling, and writing. She collected an array of bright, enthusiastic, adventurous friends with whom she enjoyed good food, travel, museums, theater, music, and dance. With her first husband Martin Sosin, Doris had three children whom she cherished. She fell in love with Wisconsin man Tom Gould, and married Rolf Wyer of La Jolla. She is survived by her daughters Leah Fischer (Sam) and Jessica Davis (Alan), her beloved grandchildren Noah (Kim), Lauren (David), Jeremy (Nicole), Louis and Jackson and her great grandchildren Maya, Lily, Hannah and Sophie. She is predeceased by her son Daniel Sosin (Diane). A celebration honoring the long and extraordinary life of our mom, grandma and "GGD" will be announced at a later date. Place your order for free at-home Covid-19 testsResidential households in the U.S. can order one set of 4 free at-home tests from USPS.com. Here’s what you need to know about your order:
NEW Statewide Organics Recycling Law Now in EffectAs of January 1, 2022, a statewide organics recycling law requires all single and multi-families households and businesses to recycle all food scraps in addition to green waste.
City's Cultural Affairs Department to Engage the Community in Discussions About City Halls MuralsIn recent years, communities across the country have initiated dialogues to respond to public art that no longer reflects a contemporary understanding of its history and peoples. The Works Progress Administration-era murals in the lobby of Santa Monica’s Historic City Hall have prompted the need to engage in a discussion about how our histories and communities are represented in our civic spaces, with the goal of ensuring that all in our community feel seen and welcomed in the seat of government.
Santa Monica Cultural Affairs is embarking upon a project to engage the community around these murals to explore how they might be re-contextualized in such a way that does not erase the stains of the past, but acknowledges historic inequities and makes a commitment to a more just future. In the coming year, they will engage a diverse array of voices and perspectives through a series of community conversations, art installations, and other engagement measures that will:
Follow-up to the discussion about the City Hall murals at NOMA's August meetingThe Santa Monica Conservancy informs us that on September 28, the City Council assigned the Landmarks Commission the responsibility of interpreting and contextualizing the City Hall murals. An ad hoc Council committee consisting of Oscar De La Torre and Christine Parra will advise the Commission and make recommendations as part of the Commission discussions. The Arts Commission will also be involved.
Both the History mural panel in City Hall and the companion mural depicting recreation in Santa Monica have been criticized. The images in the Recreation mural feature what appear to be elitist, upper class white people engaged in tennis, polo, aviation, auto races and sailing. (See a 360-degree view of the murals.) There is a transcribed oral interview with artist Stanton MacDonald-Wright at the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian. In the excerpt below, MacDonald-Wright talks about the Recreation mural and gives us insight into why he chose to depict these particular images. (Unfortunately, the History mural is not discussed in the interview.) Betty Hoag: There are some details about the Santa Monica City Hall mural I want to ask you about . . . particularly the one where the polo-players are. Do you remember the man in polo jodhpurs standing in front, and then a man on a horse behind him with a mallet? Stanton MacDonald-Wright: Yes, I remember. BH: Did those have anything to do with Will Rogers and his polo field? SM: Yes. And that airplane and the automobile are very distinctly related to Santa Monica. The biggest automobile road-races that they had in California at that time were held in Santa Monica . . . . BH: On San Vicente Boulevard? SM: I don't remember whether they were there or whether they were on Wilshire Boulevard, I forget. Also the first airplane field, Rogers Field, was built and given to Santa Monica by the son-in-law of this fellow about whom I told you, Gorham; he is depicted there. Now the plane business was important then. The Douglas building is shown in the mural. Douglas was the first great airplane-builder in the United States. And the tennis players! Remember, the best tennis players, the world champions, were all developed in Santa Monica: May Sutton and the Ryan girls and May Sutton's daughter and Tom Bundy (who was later her husband) played in the doubles, and so on. All the greatest tennis players. So all those were put in the mural for good reasons. From this interview, we learn that the artist selected recreational and spectator sports that were huge visitor attractions and which drew people to Santa Monica. The images were chosen in the spirit of boosterism, and pride in recreational activities that made the City famous. MacDonald-Wright was a Santa Monica resident who was quite knowledgeable about the City's history and attractions. Santa Monica Housing Element UpdateState law requires the City of Santa Monica to update its Housing Element every eight years. With the previous eight year cycle Housing Element (2013 - 2021) coming to an end, the City must now plan for the next eight year cycle. Santa Monica’s 6th Cycle Housing Element must be adopted and certified by October 2021. Without certification, the City could be penalized and lose important State funding.
For more information on the Housing Element, please check out the Housing Element Update website or email HousingUpdate@smgov.net if you have any questions on the Housing Element update. Crime MappingClick here for a map of local police activity in Santa Monica. Use the Santa Monica Police Department's crime mapping system to obtain crime information and register for crime alerts.
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