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SR 01-23-2024 1A City Council Report City Council Meeting: January 23, 2024 Agenda Item: 1.A 1 of 1 To: Mayor and City Council From: Nikima Newsome, Interim City Clerk, Records and Election Services Department Subject: Written Comments Prepared By: Esterlina Lugo, Deputy City Clerk Approved Forwarded to Council Attachments: A. Written Comments 1.A Packet Pg. 13 1 Xavier Mota From:Frank Stiefel <frank@stiefelco.com> Sent:Wednesday, January 3, 2024 1:13 PM To:councilmtgitems; Council Mailbox Subject:Bob Ramirez EXTERNAL  January 3, 2024,  To those it might concern,  What follows is a letter recommending Bob Ramirez as a Santa Monica Arts Commissioner.  Since I’m not familiar with the specific requirements of the office, I’ll list the skills and  temperament that I think would benefit any organization.  We met when we assigned Bob the job of designing and building our home. The house has been  published numerous times but beyond the quality of the project we got to fully enjoy the process.  He listens: While his homes certainly have a strong point of view, he wants the project to work for  his clients as well as the community. If you care to survey a list of clients, you might find unanimity  in our raves about a process that in other circumstances often ends in bad feelings and lawsuits.  His crew has been with him for over thirty years. Imagine the management skills that it takes to  hold onto all your key personnel for that period.   Any conversation with Bob at some point moves toward history. In his case it’s not dispassionate  reading, it’s an active commitment to preserving and honoring the past. What is now Kuruvungna  Springs was once a forgotten patch of weeds, nonnative plants and a spring that dumped  thousands of gallons of water onto our streets. Today, after Bob activated the Boy Scouts, his  subcontractors, and friends, that water feeds fruit trees, vegetables and plants that are native to  Santa Monica. Most importantly we now have a living, breathing, example of how the Tongva  once lived.   Similarly, Bob has lent his talent to the San Gabriel Mission where he is rebuilding structures and  designing gardens.  Again, I don’t know what the Arts Commission does, but it seems to me that “Art” as it pertains to  government and community is a different animal than the product of one person, alone, looking  for his/her truth. As such it requires a sense of taste, balance, and the ability to hear and deal with  ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 1.A.a Packet Pg. 14 Attachment: Written Comments (6225 : Written Comments) 2 conflicting opinions. If those are the skills the Art Commission is looking for, I can’t think of a  better candidate than Bob Ramirez.        Frank Stiefel  ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 1.A.a Packet Pg. 15 Attachment: Written Comments (6225 : Written Comments) From:Xavier Mota To:councilmtgitems Subject:FW: SM Arts Commission letter of support for Meztli Projects" recommendations re Reframe: City Hall Mural Phase I Report Date:Thursday, January 11, 2024 5:26:54 PM Attachments:SMAC letter to City Council re Metzli Projects recommendations.pdf From: Naomi Okuyama <Naomi.Okuyama@santamonica.gov> Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2024 2:43 PM To: Xavier Mota <Xavier.Mota@santamonica.gov> Subject: FW: SM Arts Commission letter of support for Meztli Projects' recommendations re Reframe: City Hall Mural Phase I Report Looks like it went to Council Mailbox… Naomi From: Mary-Elizabeth Michaels <Mary-Elizabeth.Michaels@santamonica.gov> Sent: Tuesday, December 26, 2023 1:40 PM To: Council Mailbox <Council.Mailbox@santamonica.gov> Cc: Sofia Klatzker <Sofia.Klatzker@santamonica.gov>; Laurie Yehia <Laurie.Yehia@santamonica.gov>; David White <David.White@santamonica.gov>; Susan Cline <Susan.Cline@santamonica.gov>; Jenny Rogers <Jenny.Rogers@santamonica.gov>; Lisa Parson <Lisa.Parson@santamonica.gov>; Naomi Okuyama <Naomi.Okuyama@santamonica.gov> Subject: SM Arts Commission letter of support for Meztli Projects' recommendations re Reframe: City Hall Mural Phase I Report Dear Mayor Brock, Mayor Pro Tem Negrete, Councilmember Davis, Councilmember de la Torre, Councilmember Parra, Councilmember Torosis and Councilmember Zwick, Please find below and attached a letter sent on behalf of the Santa Monica Arts Commission regarding that body's full support of the recommendations drafted by Meztli Projects as part of Reframe: City Hall Mural Phase I Report. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions. Best, Mary-Elizabeth Mary-Elizabeth Michaels Chair, Art Commissioner, City of Santa Monica ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 1.A.a Packet Pg. 16 Attachment: Written Comments (6225 : Written Comments) ___________________ December 26, 2023 The Honorable Phil Brock and Members of the Santa Monica City Council 1685 Main Street Santa Monica, CA 90401 Dear Mayor Brock and Councilmembers, On behalf of Santa Monica's Arts Commission, this letter is to advise the City Council regarding the recommendations drafted by Meztli Projects as part of Reframe: City Hall Mural Phase I Report. The Arts Commission recognizes that art is a powerful means of communication that can be perceived from a multitude of individual and societal perspectives and fully appreciate that when people come to City Hall to conduct business that they should feel that they will be treated respectfully, fairly and equitability regardless of their socio-economic status or ethnic heritage. Thus, we strongly support and affirm the importance of the process the City undertook to engage with community regarding the continued display of the Stanton Macdonald-Wright murals in Santa Monica City Hall. We think that Metzli Projects conducted a successful community engagement process to assess the range of people’s perceptions of and attitudes about the City Hall Mural. To that end, the Commission voted unanimously, at the December 12, 2023 meeting, to support the adoption of the recommendations drafted by Meztli Projects as part of Reframe: City Hall Mural Phase I Report. While the Commission supports all of the recommendations, we fully endorse and advocate for the implementation of Recommendations 1 to 4 as they directly address the Arts Commission’s area of responsibility: in this case, expanding the City’s diversity of public artwork and educational resources to contextualize interpretations of the Mural’s imagery and history. Recommendations 1 to 4 also fall within the purview of and further engagement would be overseen by Cultural Affairs. We also support the remaining recommendations, which would be led by Equity and Inclusion. The Arts Commission fully endorses the recommendations in Meztli Projects Phase I Report for Reframe: City Hall Mural and re-commits to participating in the process to ensure that the priorities of the arts community are kept in mind as the plan moves forward to implementation. ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 1.A.a Packet Pg. 17 Attachment: Written Comments (6225 : Written Comments) Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Mary-Elizabeth Michaels Laurie Yehia Chair, Santa Monica Arts Commission Vice Chair, Santa Monica Arts Commission ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 1.A.a Packet Pg. 18 Attachment: Written Comments (6225 : Written Comments) December 26, 2023 The Honorable Phil Brock and Members of the Santa Monica City Council 1685 Main Street Santa Monica, CA 90401 Dear Mayor Brock and Councilmembers, On behalf of Santa Monica's Arts Commission, this letter is to advise the City Council regarding the recommendations drafted by Meztli Projects as part of Reframe: City Hall Mural Phase I Report. The Arts Commission recognizes that art is a powerful means of communication that can be perceived from a multitude of individual and societal perspectives and fully appreciate that when people come to City Hall to conduct business that they should feel that they will be treated respectfully, fairly and equitability regardless of their socio-economic status or ethnic heritage. Thus, we strongly support and affirm the importance of the process the City undertook to engage with community regarding the continued display of the Stanton Macdonald-Wright murals in Santa Monica City Hall. We think that Metzli Projects conducted a successful community engagement process to assess the range of people’s perceptions of and attitudes about the City Hall Mural. To that end, the Commission voted unanimously, at the December 12, 2023 meeting, to support the adoption of the recommendations drafted by Meztli Projects as part of Reframe: City Hall Mural Phase I Report. While the Commission supports all of the recommendations, we fully endorse and advocate for the implementation of Recommendations 1 to 4 as they directly address the Arts Commission’s area of responsibility: in this case, expanding the City’s diversity of public artwork and educational resources to contextualize interpretations of the Mural’s imagery and history. Recommendations 1 to 4 also fall within the purview of and further engagement would be overseen by Cultural Affairs. We also support the remaining recommendations, which would be led by Equity and Inclusion. The Arts Commission fully endorses the recommendations in Meztli Projects Phase I Report for Reframe: City Hall Mural and re-commits to participating in the process to ensure that the priorities of the arts community are kept in mind as the plan moves forward to implementation. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Mary Elizabeth Michaels Laurie Yehia Mary-Elizabeth Michaels Laurie Yehia Chair, Santa Monica Arts Commission Vice Chair, Santa Monica Arts Commission cc: David White, City Manager Susan Cline, Assistant City Manager Jenny Rogers, Director, RAD Lisa Parson, Equity and Inclusion Manager Santa Monica Arts Commission Mary-Elizabeth Michaels, Chair Laurie Yehia, Vice Chair  Michael Baroff Kathleen Benjamin Michelle Edgar Federico Galavis Staci Griesbach Michael James Masucci Deepa Subramanian ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 1.A.a Packet Pg. 19 Attachment: Written Comments (6225 : Written Comments) 1 Xavier Mota From:John Alle <johnallecompany@gmail.com> Sent:Sunday, January 7, 2024 1:30 AM To:John Alle Subject:Santa Monica's Downtown...3rd Street Promenade, Ocean Avenue.......Skid Row, last stop Route 66 Follow Up Flag:Follow up Flag Status:Flagged EXTERNAL    https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1wtTg2is2O/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZ A==    https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1yss4YCXG8/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZ A==  https://youtu.be/mFfePoV3GyQ    https://youtu.be/3ttDPPbSVOg    https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1mRIPCCglK/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZ A==    And lastly, does our City Council get it yet?  18 reported assaults  (maybe more)  just during the day, in  Palisades, Tongva and Reed Parks, including City Maintenance workers, residents and tourists,  just since  September 19th?    https://youtu.be/42ja6FQWJDU    Be safe, carry mace and a stun gun.    John Alle      ‐‐   John E. Alle  JOHN ALLE COMPANY    www.johnallecompany.com    www.thesantamonicacoalition.org    Cell: (310) 990-7124  Office: (626) 795-1511 (310) 319-1511        ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 1.A.a Packet Pg. 20 Attachment: Written Comments (6225 : Written Comments) 1 Xavier Mota From:Bonnie <Bonniedoe@proton.me> Sent:Wednesday, January 10, 2024 6:20 PM To:ZinaJosephs@aol.com; Jesse Zwick; Caroline Torosis; Christine Parra; David White; Lana Negrete; councilmtgitems; Gleam Davis; Oscar de la Torre; Phil Brock; councilmtgitems Subject:Peer City Comparison Follow Up Flag:Follow up Flag Status:Flagged EXTERNAL    Why is it that Manhattan Beach, Culver City, Beverly Hills, Hermosa Beach, and Redondo Beach (among others) have busy, safe, vibrant business districts and safe/clean streets and Santa Monica does not? David White's entire opinion piece in the SMDP was a testimonial of how Santa Monica is using taxpayer dollars to fund the homeless industrial complex rather than serve citizens. The more resources/food/services you give drug addict mentally ill homeless from out-of-the-city --- the more will come. All of our money and services are going to lure unemployed, homeless drug addicts here. Traci Park is bragging of how she cleaned up Venice Beach by sending the encampments and homeless lunatics to Santa Moncia because Santa Monica does not enforce the law! It is unbelievable. I read today that 90% of crimes in this City are committed by out-of-city citizens. Why are we catering to these people? Why are you putting criminals and deviants before families, children, and the elderly who live here and pay taxes? Please - explain why Manhattan Beach, Culver City, Beverly Hills, Hermosa Beach, and Redondo Beach are so lovely and nice like we used to be and now we have to walk on feces and trash covered streets. Pathetic. ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 1.A.a Packet Pg. 21 Attachment: Written Comments (6225 : Written Comments) 1 Xavier Mota From:John Alle <johnallecompany@gmail.com> Sent:Friday, January 12, 2024 8:50 AM To:The Santa Monica Coalition Organizer Subject:Watch your step - - tossed needles in all our parks Follow Up Flag:Follow up Flag Status:Flagged EXTERNAL    Please view the short video and read the accompanying narrative from The Santa Monica Coalition.      We will end this Santa Monica City Parks  program, with or without help (or continued silence) from our Santa Monica  City Council    https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2AP8W8C6Lx/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==      John Alle, The Santa Monica Coalition Co‐Founder  @santamonicacoalition      ‐‐       www.johnallecompany.com    www.thesantamonicacoalition.org    Cell: (310) 990-7124  Office: (626) 795-1511 (310) 319-1511      ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 1.A.a Packet Pg. 22 Attachment: Written Comments (6225 : Written Comments) 1 Xavier Mota From:girltunes <girltunes@gmail.com> Sent:Tuesday, January 16, 2024 2:39 PM To:Phil Brock; Oscar de la Torre; Lana Negrete; Christine Parra; Gleam Davis; Jesse Zwick; Caroline Torosis; councilmtgitems Cc:David White; Douglas Sloan; David Martin Subject:Fwd: Community Seeks new EIR as AB 1287 Supercharges Densification, Generating Environmental Threats EXTERNAL      I stand by everything in the letter below from Tricia Crane & the Board of Northeast Neighbors.    Sincerely,    Ferris Gluck    ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Forwarded message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐  From: Tricia Crane <1triciacrane@gmail.com>  Date: Tue, Jan 16, 2024 at 1:22 PM  Subject: Community Seeks new EIR as AB 1287 Supercharges Densification, Generating Environmental Threats  To: Tricia Crane <1triciacrane@gmail.com>    To: <phil.brock@santamonica.gov>, Oscar de la Torre <oscar.delatorre@santamonica.gov>, Lana Negrete  <lana.negrete@santamonica.gov>, Christine Parra <christine.parra@santamonica.gov>,  <gleam.davis@santamonica.gov>, Jesse Zwick <jesse.zwick@santamonica.gov>, <Caroline.Torosis@santamonica.gov>  Cc: David White <david.white@santamonica.gov>, Douglas Sloan <douglas.sloan@santamonica.gov>, David Martin  <David.Martin@santamonica.gov>    To: Mayor Brock and Santa Monica City Councilmembers  From: Tricia Crane, Chair, and the Board of Northeast Neighbors   Re: New State Density Bonus Law (AB 1287) requires a new EIR  Jan. 16, 2024    On New Year’s Day a second State Density Bonus Law (AB 1287) went into effect, doubling the size of housing projects that can be built in California.    ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 1.A.a Packet Pg. 23 Attachment: Written Comments (6225 : Written Comments) 2 The very next day in Santa Monica, land use lawyers for developers began pulling and resubmitting housing project plans to the City in order to take advantage of the huge increases in size allowed by the new law.    Three of the first such projects to be resubmitted so far in Santa Monica include:    • 601 Colorado was 10 stories and is now proposed to be 20 stories  • 1435 - 5th Street was 8 stories and has been resubmitted for 16 stories.  • 1437 - 6th Street    Under this second Density Bonus law, a 100-unit project that qualified under the first Density Bonus maximum to grow to 150 units is now eligible to build 200 units.    This stacked Density Bonus law is a massive acceleration of densification that can be applied by developers to ALL affordable inclusionary projects in the city. Nothing of this density multiplying impact has been included in the environmental impact report (EIR) submitted by the City of Santa Monica to the State for the Housing Element.    We request that the City Manager require that staff rerun the EIR to reflect how we can expect the roughly 15% inclusionary rate economic outcome of AB 1287 to increase infrastructure, services and resource demands that will be generated by this potential 60%+ increase in total city housing.    It's important to note that the City’s EIR was already defective before the Jan. 1 implementation of this second Density Bonus. While Santa Monica was mandated by the State to build 8,895 new units of housing (plus a buffer that boosted the number to 11,025 new units), according to the trends in the City’s November 23rd progress report, our city was on track to add 33,400 units to satisfy the State’s affordable requirement. That includes 10x the number of the State housing mandate for market rate units!    The city has submitted an EIR with only 11,025 units, only one third of what we are facing if the State mandated housing is to be met with current city building trends.    ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 1.A.a Packet Pg. 24 Attachment: Written Comments (6225 : Written Comments) 3 We ask that the City Council direct the City Manager to immediately require staff to address the environmental impact of AB 1287 together with the FULL unit outcomes from the current affordable unit inclusion trends resulting from the State mandated housing.    Supercharged Densification    This sort of developer subsidy feature has long been a staple of state housing laws. Such laws have been a means by which the State can generate more affordable housing without providing any direct subsidies to cities for that housing. Because the entire state affordable housing mandate is effectively unfunded, there are huge costs to the community that result from unreported increases in the production of luxury market rate units through densification.    According to the author of this bill, San Diego Assemblymember David Alvarez "AB 1287 creates a new incentive that can only be used when a project maximizes the production of Very Low-, Low-, or Moderate-Income units, as allowed by current Density Bonus Law. When those maximums are met and a project deed restricts an additional set of Moderate-Income units, a second density bonus becomes available.”    Given developer profitability targets, we can expect under this new law that over 80% of the new units in qualifying projects will be luxury market rate units.    To meet the State’s original mandate that Santa Monica build 8,895 units, progress through November 2023 indicated that this framework could be expected to create around 33,400 total units. If the City satisfied all of the state affordable housing unit goals, luxury market rate unit production would be 1,000% (10x) MORE than the 2,727-market rate (luxury) units the state required.    This means the actual development process generates between 6 and 9 market rate units for each affordable unit. The huge increase is not captured in any City plan, analysis or document.    Unaccounted Environmental Impact    Because our City’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is based on the 8,895-unit mandate (plus a 24% buffer, for a total of 11,025 units), less than 20% of the total luxury market rate units enabled by the state mandates have been included in any environmental or financial impact analysis. Over 80% ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 1.A.a Packet Pg. 25 Attachment: Written Comments (6225 : Written Comments) 4 of the luxury market rate units that are the outcome of the state process in meeting the state affordable housing mandates are simply not accounted for.  If this new law is allowed to proceed without any acknowledgement of the real impending impacts to the city, we can expect to see a rolling environmental and financial train wreck.   How will our population increase given the denser, taller buildings we can expect to result from the implementation of AB 1287?  In May of 2023, the state pegged the ending 2022 number of persons per occupied housing unit in Santa Monica at 1.86. Based on that 1.86 persons per unit, we can expect an increase of 62,124 new residents. That is a 67% increase over the current population. In contrast, at the EIR assumption of 11,025 total units, a population increase of “only” 20,506, or 22% would have been included using the 1.86 persons per housing unit. Where will new residents park their cars?  Given the state mandate that new housing projects can offer "unbundled parking," residents of the new housing projects can choose not to pay for parking onsite and instead park their cars on city streets. The City of Santa Monica currently maintains that these new residents will be eligible to purchase preferential parking permits to park their cars on the streets of adjacent neighborhoods.  Who will pay for new upgraded infrastructure, including water and sewer lines?  We will. There are no provisions in AB 1287, or any other state housing bill, to provide assistance to cities in meeting increased infrastructure, services and resource demands from all of the additional housing being created.  Call to Action  The City Manager should immediately direct staff to rerun the Housing Element’s EIR analyses assuming the city meets the state’s affordable housing obligation using existing city housing ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 1.A.a Packet Pg. 26 Attachment: Written Comments (6225 : Written Comments) 5 production trends. This should have been done at the commencement of the new State housing cycle in 2021, regardless of the minimum state submission requirement, which is what the current report is based on.     Given the stakes, full and complete transparency on the impact to the city of state-mandated development on our water, infrastructure, services and finances has never been more urgent.        ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 1.A.a Packet Pg. 27 Attachment: Written Comments (6225 : Written Comments) 1 Xavier Mota From:Valerie Alter <valerie.alter@gmail.com> Sent:Wednesday, January 17, 2024 9:24 PM To:councilmtgitems; Caroline Torosis; Christine Parra; Gleam Davis; Jesse Zwick; Lana Negrete; Oscar de la Torre; Phil Brock Subject:Safety in our parks EXTERNAL    Dear Council Members,    This is a photo of one of my daughters, who is sleeping in my room tonight because she’s afraid to sleep alone after  listening to the stories her twin sister told after coming home from softball practice at Clover Park.  There were two  unhorsed people saying the f word over and over for the better course of an hour.  Per my daughter, one person beat up  someone else in a wheelchair.  Police and fire were called and came.      As if that wasn’t bad enough, my daughter then said in front of her sister, “This wasn’t as bad as the last time the police  came to practice.”  I said to her, “What do you mean the last time the police came???”  She told me that when she was  at practice in the fall at Memorial Park, her team mom took a bunch of girls to the bathroom. Another unhoused person  started yelling crazy stuff at them, and when they were walking away, told one of the kids, “I will find out where you live.  I will find out where you go to school.”      The fact that this is happening in our parks is completely unacceptable. Until recently, Clover was the ONE park without  an active encampment, to which I’d let my 13 yo walk with his younger sisters.  In recent weeks, that’s changed. Our kids  can’t even go to softball practice without being exposed to total madness and safety issues.     Let’s do something to address this ASAP.     Thank you,  Valerie Alter  Sunset Park resident     ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 1.A.a Packet Pg. 28 Attachment: Written Comments (6225 : Written Comments) 2 ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 1.A.a Packet Pg. 29 Attachment: Written Comments (6225 : Written Comments) 3       ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 1.A.a Packet Pg. 30 Attachment: Written Comments (6225 : Written Comments) 1 Xavier Mota From:David Whatley <davidwhatleymusic@gmail.com> Sent:Tuesday, January 23, 2024 11:08 AM To:councilmtgitems Cc:Dwhatley@UCLA.edu Subject:Santa Monica City Council Meeting - January 23, 2024 - Agenda Item 1 - Public Comments Attachments:Email to The City of Santa Monica dated January 22, 2024_ Civil Rights & Civil Liberties of Latino Community.pdf EXTERNAL    Dear City Clerk Office,     Attached with this email please find my written comments for this evening's City Council meeting.     Sincerely,    David Whatley   ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 1.A.a Packet Pg. 31 Attachment: Written Comments (6225 : Written Comments) Email to The City of Santa Monica dated January 22, 2024: Civil Rights & Civil Liberties of Latino Community 1 message David Whatley <davidwhatleymusic@gmail.com>Mon, Jan 22, 2024 at 10:50 AM To: manager@santamonica.gov, attorney@santamonica.gov, clerk@santamonica.gov Cc: davidwhatley.ucla@yahoo.com, Dwhatley@UCLA.edu <dwhatley@ucla.edu> January 22, 2024 VIA EMAIL (manager@santamonica.gov) (attorney@santamonica.gov) (clerk@santamonica.gov) The City of Santa Monica 1685 Main Street Santa Monica, CA 90401 Dear City of Santa Monica, This is David Whatley, Founder of Padres, Madres, y Parientes Unidos Community Initiative, a community initiative that aims to improve public policy matters that adversely impact Latino, Afro-Latino, and African-American individuals and families.  https://davidwhatleyzepeda.weebly.com/ I am writing to introduce myself to the newest City government, elected in 2022, and recently reorganized in December 2023 with regard to Mayor: What has prompted me to write to you today are multiple public policy and law matters related to the Latino community.  Number 1.  Last month it was published on the City's website, santamonica.gov, that the City has decided to continue in its litigation against the voting rights of Santa Monica Latino individuals and families, and,  https://www.santamonica.gov/election-litigation-pna-v-santa-monica Number 2.  Also last month, during public testimony at City Council meetings, it was communicated to the City of mistreatment experienced by Spanish speaking Latino immigrants, specifically labor union members, who mentioned they experienced violence while protesting for better working conditions: one Spanish speaker mentioned she was a national of Nicaragua.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTOEw-Is9bw&pp=ygUUQ2l0eSBvZiBzYW50YSBtb25pY2E%3D I would like to bring to the City's attention that there are multiple bilateral and multilateral agreements in place amongst the United States and various Latin American countries, including agreements pertaining to labor:  www.state.gov I urge the newest City government of Santa Monica, elected in November 2022 and reorganized in December 2023, to familiarize itself with these agreements and to uphold the civil rights and civil liberties of the Santa Monica Latino community: The City can do so by ending its litigation against Latino voting rights---and work in tandem with local, State, and National partners of the same values to strengthen both The Voting Rights Act of 1965 and The California Voting Rights Act of 2001---and can ensure the protection of Latino civil liberties, by upholding international agreements in place amongst the United States and foreign countries in Latin America.  Respectfully submitted, David Whatley, Founder Padres, Madres, y Parientes Unidos  Community Initiative https://davidwhatley.carrd.co/ ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 1.A.a Packet Pg. 32 Attachment: Written Comments (6225 : Written Comments) ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 ITEM 1 January 23, 2024 1.A.a Packet Pg. 33 Attachment: Written Comments (6225 : Written Comments)