THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2004
Volume 3, Issue 61
FR EE
Santa Monica Daily Press A newspaper with issues
NEWS OF THE WEIRD by Chuck Shepard
Derek Leroy McSmith of Forest City, Ga., has filed 10,618 formal open-records requests to local governments in the last eight months, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution report. Most were, he said, to satisfy his curiosity about how government works, but one day, he asked for 490 magazines and on another day, he checked out 100 books (and soon, according to the librarian, walked outside and dropped them into the return bin). Each request must be logged in and processed, and a Forest City clerk spends almost full-time on McSmith’s work. Several officials said that after they locate his documents, he only glances at them (or, if there is a cost involved, declines the documents). A local First Amendment advocate said the situation was merely “one of the downsides of a free and open society.”
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Security is the essential roadblock to achieving the road map to peace.” — George W. Bush Washington, D.C., July 25, 2003
INDEX Horoscopes See what’s in your stars . . . . . . . . . .2
Crime levels reach 40-year low in SM
Citizen cop
BY CAROLYN SACKARIASON Daily Press Staff Writer
Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press
Actress June Lockhardt, who is best known for playing Timmy’s mother on the television program ‘Lassie’ and for her role in ‘Lost in Space,’ talks about her experience in the Santa Monica Police Department’s Citizen Police Academy on Wednesday, while SMPD Chief James T. Butts, Jr., looks on. Twenty people graduated from the 11week course at a graduation ceremony held at Shutters on the Beach. The academy gives a glimpse of the inner workings of the SMPD and of what it’s like to be a police officer.
SMC: New airport campus taking off By Daily Press staff
Local High tides + swell = ? . . . . . . . . . . .3
Opinion Move to the beach, pay the price . .6
State Rover gets busy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
National Court victory for EPA . . . . . . . . . .11
People Celebs are at it again . . . . . . . . . .16
SM AIRPORT — In an effort to free up space on the main campus, Santa Monica College will spend $9 million to open more than a dozen new classrooms and offices here this summer. SMC’s nursing and community service programs, and its education and information technology departments will move into the remodeled building in August. The project includes 16 classrooms, a computer lab and several offices. “From start to finish, it’ll be under nine months,” said Don Girard, director of marketing at SMC, who added that architects drafted designs for the remodel late last year and contractors will be picked to do the work within the next two months. The remodel consists of taking a four-story building constructed in 1980, retrofitting it, putting in new heating and air conditioning, electrical wiring and See CAMPUS, page 8
SMPD HDQTRS. — Crime in Santa Monica is the lowest it’s been in 43 years, statistics released Wednesday show. In 2003, serious crimes decreased 4 percent over the previous year, also a record low year, Santa Monica Police Chief James T. Butts, Jr., said. “It’s like it’s back in 1960,” he said. “Most cities are happy if they get to 1980s or 1979 levels and very few, if any, cities have posted 60 to 70 percent decreases in the last decade. That’s off the charts.” Last year, the SMPD received 4,501 reports of Part 1 crimes, which are the most serious. In 1993, when crime was at an all-time high, there were 10,891 reports of serious crime. “This year’s decrease comes on the heels of nine years of crime dropping in
“This year’s decrease comes on the heels of nine years of crime dropping in the city.” — JAMES T. BUTTS, JR. Chief, SMPD
the city,” Butts said, adding last year was only 70 crimes higher than what was reported in 1960. Violent crime — murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault — fell 14 percent in 2003 and 62 percent over the last decade. Crime has declined in nine of the last 10 years, and seven years consecutively. In the 38 years prior to 1994, crime See CRIME, page 4
Trash talk produces little City Council wants garbage analysis overhauled BY JOHN WOOD Daily Press Staff Writer
COUNCIL CHAMBERS — City officials on Tuesday trashed an analysis that was aimed at sorting out Santa Monica’s rubbish concerns, leaving a messy situation no closer to being sealed up. The City Council was supposed to discuss whether the city’s trash business should continue to be run by the city, be farmed out to a private contractor, or if an alternative should be explored. Instead, several council members said
City Hall workers failed to provide enough information on the subject, a point of contention for at least eight years. “I think we need more analysis and that’s what I thought we were getting tonight,” City Councilman Herb Katz said. “The presentation is lovely, it’s nice — it doesn’t do much for me tonight.” Officials told staff last year to do an analysis of what’s involved in privatizing trash collection versus keeping it under City Hall’s control. A private trash compnay has long lobbied to take over the operation, but the council also has considered building a new multi-million dollar transfer station, to be operated by City Hall.
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