Tonight! Speak up for a better budget
Hi friends,
You may remember that a few months ago, we secured funds in this year’s budget to overhaul our city budget process and give the community a seat at the table.
Our city’s budget has a profound impact on our quality of life. It determines whether our trees get trimmed, how many speed bumps are installed, whether we have childcare and summer programs, senior programming, open space and up-to-date playgrounds.
Our budget touches every part of our community.
Well, tonight is our chance to give the community a voice in how it is created. If you want a better budget process, please sign up to speak at tonight’s meeting for Item A-1!
A-1: Increasing public participation in Culver City’s budget process
Check out the article that community group, Our Culver, wrote about this here.
A few other important issues on the agenda:
C-10: Guiding princples for the Sepulveda Connects complete street project will determine how this vital safe streets redesign moves forward.
A-2: Discussing supporting our small business community with a pilot micro-grant/small business assistance program
As always, you can watch in person at Council Chambers (9770 Culver Blvd) or remotely on Zoom or Youtube.
You can sign up to speak at the button below and send in your comment by emailing city.council@culvercity.org or sending an e-comment.
Another street made safer!
Last week, we celebrated the opening of the brand new Roberson Blvd Complete Street Project featuring:
🚌 FIVE bus bays for Metro line 617, Culver CityBus line 7, and Big Blue Bus line 17
🚲 a grade-separated bike path on one side
🚴 a concrete-protected bike lane on the other side
🚏 bus benches
🌳 new trees and landscaping
🚶♀️ wider sidewalk
⛈️ new stormwater basins for better water quality
🚫 elimination of dangerous right turn “slip lane”
This new complete street is located right next to the Culver City E-Line station and makes it much easier and safer for folks to get to and from the station.
This project started long before I was elected to council, but it was a joy to help unveil it nonetheless. It was funded by Metro Active Transport (MAT) program which helps increase access to transit hubs like the Culver City E-Line station.
Credit to Metro, my Council colleagues past and present, and our amazing public works team for getting it done!
News from the last Council meeting!
⛽ Gas Station Expansion
Residents asked Council to require an environmental review for an expanded gas station Costo wants to build within 200 feet of two preschools.
I proposed a moton directing staff to prepare more information for the council to examine the appeal in order to make a decision. That motion passed 3-2 with Councilmember McMorrin and Vice Mayor Puza supporting.
🍻 Entertainment Zone
City Council discussed the creation of an entertainment zone, allowing the sale and consumption of alcohol in the downtown area for special events.
The proposal included the entirety of downtown culver city, a large area with heavy traffic.
Most entertainment zones from Long Beach, Santa Monica, and San Francisco are open streets style, where folks dont have to cross busy intersections, puttng themselves and others at risk.
I proposed a safety enhancement to scale the entertainment zone based on the size of the event, but that motion failed.
Council directed staff to pursue the entertainment zone anyway (I voted no since safety mitigations were not included). I am hoping that when it returns to Council, we can find ways to scale the zone to enhance safety.
🎈Regulating the Four B’s
Council weighed in on new reglations for four common pollutants known as the Four B’s…
Bags (made of plastic)
Balloons
Bottles (also plastic)
Butts (from cigarettes)
Bags:
Council voted 4 to 1 to ban the sale/distribution of all plastic carry-out bags Citywide (allowing use of existing bags) with an 18-month “hardship waiver” to help businesses become compliant.
Balloons:
Council also voted 3-2 to ban the use of balloons in public spaces and ban the use of fill that is lighter than oxygen (such as helium).
Bottles:
Council unanimously voted to ban any single-use plastic beverage bottles from use or distribution in City facilities or City-sponsored events.
Butts!
Council also voted 3-2 to ban outdoor smoking outside of specific smoking zones with appropriate receptacles to mitigate litter, as well as expand no-smoking zones.
🐁 Glue Traps
Finally, the Council unanimous voted to prohibit the sale and use of glue traps citywide.
Glue traps are pest control devices that are known to be cruel for the prolonged suffering they cause animals.
Around Town!
Not all bike lanes are created equal….
Culver City just debuted a complete street on Robertson Blvd right next to the E-Line station featuring a grade-separared bike path on one side of the street and a concrete protected bike lane on the other.
One interesting part of this project: a tiny portion of it is NOT within Culver City and had to abide by different design standards.
The result is an interesting case study for how different “protected bike lanes” can be…. and how much they can vary when it comes to providing safety and comfort for all riders.
Get your Prop 50 ballots in!
Prop 50 ballots are out, and we are voting YES to protect our democracy.
Trump, Greg Abbott, and their MAGA allies are working overtime to rig the system and lock in Republican control of Congress for generations—undermining voting rights, fair representation, and the values we hold dear.
Prop 50 is our chance to level the playing field and stop this dangerous scheme to hijack our democracy.
Join me in voting YES on Prop 50—and make sure your friends and neighbors do too. Every single vote matters.
Thanks for taking the time to catch up with me.
Please do join us for tonight’s meeting either in person or on Zoom if you are able. I would love to hear from you.
And have a great start to the week!
- Bubba