SR-507-000 (8)
A.~ 10 ?~
MAY 2 6 1~1.
May 25, 19B7 (213)8:R-20C3
Mr. C. R. Iavenport, 1306 Ab-C Pr1Dcetor. St.. Santa ~onIca, Callf., 9C4C~,
City of Santa Monlc3t 1685 Ma1r. st., Santa ~onlca, Cal1f., 30401-~295.
(1) M"100 Jd~es Conn.
.. - *J All Membeis Clty Council, (1) ~hI~. Rent bOdrd,
- - - - - *) All Members :?ent board, __~l) City Mgr. John Ja.1hlle,
: =,: = =(*) All Members Pl~nning Co~m15S1on. (1) Gen. ~vcs. Sta~ Schol~~
~*l ) Jeane Stanley, **() Fay Espapa, - denoted 1n letter 117, 5/11/87.
~:I!))Clty Clerk - to-;;produce and verlfy delivery - note (1) denotes
~ h~UQ delivered copies by the writer - eFD.
Subject: Street L1Rhting Assessment, item 7A, Glty C~~~c~!'_ 5i?6L~I & letter 117.
Gentlepersor.a:
There 19 absolutely nc space in my llmited budget for this unfalrly assessed
street lightIng proJect. There is no real benefit to my parcel or the area 1n
general over and above the lights we already had before they were removec for thls
new lighting proJect.
~~ FOR FAIID1ESS lpt us look at t~o (2) examples:
Examnle 1: The frontage on my underimproved parcel (1306 AB and C Prir.ceton
at Ariz&na cors1sts of 47 paces o~ FrlPceton and 31 paces en Arlzora 've. -- a
total of 78 paces that 1S (It seems) assessed at $1,011.87.
That cost must be shared, or ~a~~pd throu~h, to my ore s1ngl~ ten~nt -- one of
two (2) slngle nersors. lncludlr.g myself, both of modest lo~ Irocome -- the only
legal occunants on the nroperty to pay for It all.
Th2t breaks down to li5C;.9; or or.ore fer each 'f-.er~or. , . .
Footrote: There l;i:-,:,-vt'-i, some doubt - facHlg ;\"r.at .L nave tefare PIe - tr;a.t - .
~can-cor~1nue rer.tlng even one un~t \1306 C) of thlS three unIt uroperty. y~U~
#hay!!'" fa:!.le~ to recogniz_e my lonuerm Cunsolidatlon of unIts _LV o~_~~e ~~s.s 1/
::J::t~ervl.ce c~ar6es a:Jptle9 ~o each mor"thlL Water .bIll.. I rr.a~~beco~f' ;o?l1gn.~eC! Y:JI..~, /
pay thefull ~n,Ol1.87 right out of <n.y Olm pocket~~; ~ ...(~e<( t~/AVQ"rd.<"{,~i_<:"':L1::rJ,:tI'O ).'-~'~'
Example 2: The fror tagel: on 1320 Princ~1ton .it. (hgbt next door) tot...ls 61 paces
that is (probably) E.1?sessed at ,1LQQO.OO._mo!:~__o!,_less.
That cost ~ay be shared. or passed ~hrough, to twerty two ~22) mall boxes or units
with even more indivldual tenants or ~ha~ pr~mlBes to pay for It all.
That breaks down \0 $4~.45 or less for each person.
Footnot.e: 'rh~6 13_ an example onl.r as one of severaLexamples J.n the area
that l.llustrate ~h~ l.n~~~~~~ In ~he voting and asseSSMeLt proceedures or this
street 11ghtJ.ng proJect, or on any proJect of this type.
Comment: Is It really f~lr for those who (In such great overwhelml.ng numbers)
wanted these new lightsthe most (apparently) to pay th~ least~ That is an
assumption but the evidence is qUite clear. When so~eore w~ll only pay $45.45 (or
lesB) for somethi~g they may think they want that soroeohe else must pay i505.93 (to
$1,011.97 or more) and know they do not want - benef~t or no benefit - who cares.
Granted, th~a COEt may 1e spread out over a three or five year per10d on a lovely
corner of 10,625 square feet that is mostly '~**U1'..l~l_~ss~Ht-" raw la~d In _an, ov!!rexro!?ed
~on~i~~o~_ that I cannot liquldate, develop, or oroperly care for (lately). I could
eaenly use tha.t ~Ol1.87. yeu will_be thk_mg .~~~y .J.Iom me lor reha.bl~J,.~~ati2:rl VKht
.here on~ prop~rty - If other artmlnlstrative condltlons would per~lt.
**Correction -- "useless"......., yes, as others would dlctate. I do use t:-,,,,t ooen
exposed yard for clutter and debris. as others v~e~ 1t fro~ th~ outsloe, w~lch-18
the highest and best use I car. apply to that Enace WIth what I face ar~ ca~ do so
li ttle about. ~ -
From:
To
Attn:
Caples:
~uestlon I: fould there be a 'provlsion 1n the assessment pr~ceC's !o charge _ c-nl.Y
Qn9 (1) sl..de---.2.f_~ ~rl!e~!:') Isn I t- an Tr.;-prove'nent of thl.S sort for the benefit of
everyone In the nelghborhood - If there is a benefIt - not Just ope rarcel of
property to the detrl.ment of anoth@r?
In,my case!, 'you(';~hoqld_o.~l;y asse_ss the 31 pa.ces on Arizcr'a h.ve. or the 47 paces
on Pr~nceton ;:)t. N0~ BOfH. \fast 1nsl.de parcf'ls only have or.e fr()Lt~ge exposure
of 15 or 16 paces. b.V ~nly assesslrjg one s1d e ;rou could reducp my cost _ and
the cost to my one SIngle tenant - by at least )0%. ~; / (.
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}. V&lld a!'l~P8Sfl"lent of only one 81r'lf> on a (~ornpr O:,preferrably tht: ~i':ortf>3t
could bring my ~nd~vAdual cost dowr fro~ S505.93 or more to S250.CO or less.
is still much ~uch more than ~45.00 or the average cost per person (wh&tever
is) throughout the area.
TheBe cost d~fferent~alB may 8eem trlv~al when spread out over several (3-5) year
pedo'dB. Eut the system compounds when aqded io other llj;ill tLe_~t serVIces, and
assessments - - ?ll ~9 d1rect vlo1atlon of the 1nter.t the voters had 1n REO?os~ti~~13
where they tried to curta11 government eXcesse~.
Alternatlve 1>..: !he .!:.r!co~e l~vel~ sp~l1eQ. au! in_youE aR~e8s!:..ent_let!er Ir. 1)1.7,
May 11, 1987, rn2ke lt extremely dlfflcult for me to enter a jlrect clal~ for pub~~c
assistance.
~ budget 18 a serlCUS problem - has been fer too long a Derioe theRe last twenty
years. Legally, there are extrenou~forces work1ng at all levels of government, and
in seme major areas of the pr~vate sector, that C9...!:!ld ~!'L~nly l!l:BE' ou~__m'y eff.e_c::.tlv~
income to well below the twelve to twenty thousand dollar level or lower - much lower.
In a practical Berse of the word, I need more than f~nanclal cLss~stance. I need
all the lega~, spiritual, and financial sup,ort.r can Farn. Nl]l I be~nme h~meles9,
helpless, Mid useless ln the system (at 70+). }lease, lf that lS to be the ilnal
outcome, let me die beforehand as peacefully ana lndependertly as ,:.Jcsslble.
Alternatlve B: Would the Clty provi~ some work progra~, a JO~, whare the
assessment for th~s llghtlng proJect (and others, ~an be paid off In exchange for
servIces rendered?
That is sO'll€lIIhat lmpractlcal Ul rr:y case. I redlly havf' too many other obl1.gatlofl::J
to put forth any slgnlflcdnt effort in that a~rectlon on a new Job even where It may
become available. Eutt ~TAX a~~esamept~X.QNEI must be paid from so~e source of
income - publIc or private. THJ.T IS A tEMANL m: ~lY T!,,:8 AiT IXCOM::"~ r SD!:::J"."Ll;D_.~~.T
HAVE.
Al ternatl ve c: The CIty can, if the Cl ty Really Wanted to Show Conce rn, review
all aasessmerts In the area to e:stabllsh a h1gher ~egrefl'_.2~_!.c:tr~~s~.
The old rulf'S that may have workec well lr homogeneous Blngle fa~11y nelghborhcods
are no longer falr ln ~ultlfamlly apartmert distrlcts. The heterogeveous stages of
developme~t and prevalllng COr.dltlons ~n areas z~ned for a~ar~me~t ~u1ldln~s ln
Santa Monica call for greater respect for f<>.lrnf'SS to the lrdlV.lrmal :'Toperty owreI'
than has been shown ~r. our current C~ty Admirtstratlon.
Further C0'nment: Where p.ti ticning, or voting~ 1.8 based t>rtlre ly on reS1denc'y
and the pptltioners may not even be regist~r~d to vot~ WIth any resppct or d18tlnct~on
as to ownership - fiflal oayment should be leYled Of' t~at sa:ne bd91S - - )ierSon "". " ./
by person - - not property to nerson.- -r( Y"ro J nl /~ ,{d' /~y ,'. ",t, /J( -"..1' , -/~.t' 'u"i':/
In ConclUs.lon: An adjustment should be made to the assessne~t on 1306 ABC so that
the final cost for any !lerson on the prel1ises (2 lnd~vidual s~ngle persons In '"'y case)
is the same as for any othpr person timx~x~at.rxR<<ml.T~x~ftYY%rt~xliy.igY.r~x~t.krIQ i~.
~ax8.i in the zr.aX%KXmm3tx~as.s~ assessment dlstrlct (In greater nu~b€rs on v.lrtually
every other parcel ln tkKxxr.x,xm~>>tx~ax.s~x thp area for m00t cases).
Sl.df' )
That
that
(R~SPE~'I' 'UL1,1: . \,
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Mr. C. R. Dav~nport ,
Bottom Line: Thp above may not be letter perf~ct to be perfpctly clear.
C,:mfldentlally, it is the best I can 110 wltho:.lt word proceSSlre; equl.pment together
W1 th my proba.ble abserce from the pul:lic he.....r1rg on i tf'm 7 A tIns ~~2.y 26. r'm short
on time, fearful of the future, gpttlng desperate to r~solve s0me seriCUS problems.
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