1980 to 1990 (1970-1980) (1990-2000) Table of Contents
Mark E. Kann Middle Class Radicalism in Santa Monica, Temple University Press: Philadelphia, 1986. 322pp. 1980s See Text
Amanda Schacter (ed.)
Santa Monica Landmarks Santa Monica Landmarks Commission,
1990. 1980s,
12 Ocean Park Branch Library
14 John and Anna George* House
18 Moses Hostetter House See
Text
Andrea Schulte-Peevers and David Peevers Los Angeles, Lonely Planet: Oakland, 2nd ed., 1996(1999), 351pp., 1999, 1996, 1989, 1984, 1983, 1981, 1980s, 1929 See Text
Jeffrey Stanton Santa Monica Pier A History from 1875 to 1990, Donahue Publishing: Los Angeles, CA, 1990, 1980s See Text
Carolanne Sudderth Tenants win fight to preserve historic courtyard complex , Ocean Park Gazette, 15 June 2004, 1980s, 1940s, 1930s, 1926, 1925, 1920s See Text
Documents
Mark E. Kann Middle Class Radicalism in Santa Monica, Temple University Press: Philadelphia, 1986. 322pp.
The Core Ideology
" . . . Local activists generally credited Zane with the energy behind organizing CED, the Santa Monica Fair Housing Alliance, and the city's Democratic Club into the Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights (SMRR) coalition and with masterminding SMRR's 1979 electoral victories. Zane himself was elected to a four-year city council term in 1981 . . .
" . . . James Conn*, for example, worked in the civil rights and antiwar movements as a student in the 1960s, became an active Methodist minister and community organizer in the 1970s, was deep into SMRR politics by the decade's end, and was elected to the city council at the same time as Zane.
" . . .
" . . . Derek Shearer* went a step further. "I never mind being called a conservative. Santa Monica is an almost uniquely balanced city and we want to conserve it. . . . Most city activists wanted to preserve the municipal pier against development as both a monument to the city's small town past and a reminder of what could be lost through growth and urbanization. They gave considerable support to parks, pedestrian walkways, and the arts, according to Dennis Zane, "to make the life of people better, more inviting, more community-oriented; the purpose of green space and art is to promote that kind of sense of community. Other ways to promote that sense of community included rent control as a means of protecting the current population mix against further gentrification, a moratorium on new development to preserve the residential and commercial balance, and strict environmental guidelines to safeguard local ecology. Relatedly, Santa Monica leftists supported neighborhood organizations and voluntary groups. Participation in them, said community liaison officer Vivian Rothstein, "builds community identification" and helps people "to know their neighbors." The organizations and groups were also viewed as political levers that neighbors could use to preserve the unique qualities of their particular section of the cityl "Santa Monica's biggest problem," Ruth Yannatta Goldway* stated, "is that it is so desirable that people still want to develop it." {1982 interviews} p. 73
" . . .
"Goldway* told this story: "There was a bookstore on Main Street which was forced out by the landlord because it was supportive of the community organization. Well, it wasn't started through the community organization but the people who started it were clearly part of the communtiy organization and there was a great deal of community support for it and fundraising for it; and they helped it when it moved to another location . . . It was a center for various meetings and a wonderful place. Unfortunately, the new location made it impossible for it to survive." . . ." p. 74
" . . . Derek Shearer* capsulized that vision in describing his own quality of life: "In our hometown of Santa Monica, California, my family shops at Co-Opportunity, a food cooperative, where we save 10 percent to 20 percent on our monthly bill, purchase healthy food, and see our friends while we shop. Our children attend the Santa Monica Alternative School (SMASH), which is a public school, but run in a democratic manner with student and parent participation. I shop for books at Midnight Special or Papa Bach, both run by political activists. The Liberty Hill Foundation, located in the nearby Ocean Park Church, gives donations to a variety of community groups in the Los Angeles area. We take our children to hear benefit concerts by artists like Pete Seeger for In These Times or Jackson Brown to raise money for the statewide nuclear freeze campaign. Mother Jones, Working Papers, democracy, and other publications arrivce at our house with news and political information."" p. 75
" . . . James Conn* talked about "the leadership development process" whereby experienced leaders put new people into responsible roles that challenged them and cultivated their entrepreneurial skills to continue to "energize and enable and empower" more citizens." p. 76
4 Of Principles and Politics
Rent Control Wars
"In 1977, Tom Hayden* and the Campaign for Economic Democracy (CED) were not particularly interested in pursuing the principle of human scale community through the politics of rent control. On the one hand, Hayden's own version of "small is beautiful" focussed mainly on solar energy as a decentralized technology and an alternative to the concentrated power of oil cartels. On the other hand, Hayden's solution to the housing crisis in California had little to do with human scale community or rent control. Hayden supported extensive building projects to create new low cost housing and public housing. Hayden* and CED were latecomers to the tenant activism that was emerging throughout California that year.
" . . . A group of Santa Monica seniors . . . wrote, petitioned, and organized a rent control initiative that ultimately became Proposition P on the June 1978 ballot. Their initiative was defeated by a 56 percent to 44 percent margin in the same election that brought California its famous Proposition 13 tax reduction measure. Apparently many people voted against the rent control iniative based on tenants' hopes and landlords' promises that lower property taxes would be converted into lower rents.
"Tenants' hopes were quickly shattered on the altar of landlords' profits. An overheated real estate market combined with the confidence of electoral victory prompted landlords to raise rents, convert apartments to condominiums, and sell out to speculators and big developers. More than 70 percent of the population, Santa Monica tenants were incensed. The battle lines were more clearly drawn than ever before and the growth machine was the enemy." p. 95
" . . . in late, 1978, the SMRR coalition was born.
"The SMRR people oversaw the drafting of a new rent control initiative that was to be place on the municipal ballot in the April 1979 election. . . .
" . . . SMRR interviewed possible candidates pledged to support rent control and then endorsed the candidacies of Ruth Yannatta Goldway* and William Jennings. Goldway* was a consumer advocate who had narrowly lost the Democratic primary for a State Assembly nomination in 1977. Although not a member of CED, she had gained considerable support from CED in her State Assembly race and was associated with it on a broad range of issues. . . ." p. 97
"If the April 1979 election was ever in doubt, the Santa Monica growth machine eradicated all uncertainties. Between 1977 and 1979, more than 2,000 Santa Monica rental units were demolished or converted to condominiums. But just months before the April 1979 election, the city council and the city planning commission gave out tenative tract maps for the asking. This allowed landlords and developers the right to demolish or convert their units before Proposition A was submitted to the voters. What followed became known locally as "the demolition derby." Tenants were suddenly evicted en masse; buildings were torn down; new luxury developments were announced. . . . some 3,000 additional units were threatened by the city's largesse with permits. The darker side of the marketplace was illuminated and SMRR campaigners had the political savvy to organize in most of the affected buildings.
"They accumulated enough voter support to win Proposition A by a 54 percent to 46 percent margin - a 20 percent turn around from the previous rent control initiative. SMRR also elected its two city council candidates by comfortable margins. . . . In July, 1979, SMRR ran five candidates for the five seats on the new rent control board and won every single contest. That November, SMRR successfully ran a rent control candidate to fill a city council seat vacated by an ailing opposition member, giving the coalition control of three out of seven council seats; SMRR also engineered the defeat of a so-called fair rent initiative put up by the landlords to gut rent control. . . . " p. 98
". . .
"The SMRR coalition's most important and decisive victory came in April 1981, when its four candidates for the city council won their races. Overall, the coalition candidates won by an impressive 57 percent to 43 percent margin . . ." p. 99
"Shearer*, who co-managed the 1981 campaign stated that SMRR had learned from the previous elections the importance of avoiding complicated theories and arguments in making one's case to the voters . . ." p. 100
" . . .
"The result was that SMRR began to transform itself from a fairly informal coalition into a formal organization with rules, regular forums for deciding issues, and exhaustive and exhausting procedures for candidate selection. And SMRR did indeed come up with a politically wise slate of candidates. It chose Dennis Zane, a CED member also involved with SMFHA, the Democratic Club, community groups in the Ocean Park neighborhood, and SMRR itself. . . . Finally, it chose James Conn*, the Ocean Park minister whose church had become a center for peace activism and other progressive causes for a range of Santa Monica and West Los Angeles groups. . . . " p. 101 and 102
"On the outskirts of this emerging hierarchy loomed the figure of Tom Hayden*. His role in the rent control and electoral contests was shadowy. By and large, he was a late and ambivalent supporter of SMRR politics, . . . " p. 103
" . . .
"The Santa Monica CED chapter and the Democratic Club, for example, were crucial miniforums that brought together a diversity of activists who eventually . . . They were augmented by SMRR . . . In addition, Santa Monica's major neighborhood organizations - the Ocean Park Community Organization (OPCO) and the Pico Neighborhood Association (PNA, later to be joined by the Mid-City Neighbors (MCN) - held regular block meetings, neighborhood forums, and yearly congresses tha brought together resident, activists, and leaders to chart some values, priorities and strategies." p. 105
". . .
" . . . [The left wing council members] also appointed new professionals to key city posts in a way of consolidating their authority. One of their most important appointments was putting John Alschuler* in the city manager's office. A former advisor to Housing and Urban Development (HUD) during the Carter administration and the assistant city manager of a progressive government in Hartford, Connecticut, Alschuler brought to Santa Monica an extreme self-consciousness about securing local autonomy. . . . Alshuler's* job made him the executive officer of approximately 1,400 city employees; and one of his tasks was to see that the city staff, which he characterized as being "as talented a group of people as there is in the country in a government this size," worked closely and smoothly with the city council to carry out council policies. His managerial approach was to mediate council-staff relations. He educated councilmembers to provide "clear direction," which is what the bureaucrats, who he said are "among the more maligned" in American society, as dedicated professionals who "are in public service because they want in fact to provide service to the public."
"Alschuler's approach bore fruit throughout city government. Assistant city planner Christopher Rudd, who worked under the old conservative councils as well as the new radical one, said tha his division "really supports what the council's been doing" in terms of giving clear direction, facilitating planning, and actually implementing some of th quality of life proposals recommended but ignored in the 1970s. Most impressively, the city council radicals were able to develop amiable relations with city police and firefighters. "We treat them decently as public employees," stated Derek Schearer. The city council made an effort to improve police and firefighter's working conditions and salaries, facilitate dialogue with citizen groups concerned with public safety and hire a city attorney who would respect them and work well with them. . . " p. 110
" . . .
"When the city hall radicals enacted controversial laws and policies, they generally relied on three devices to ensure that their will would be done rather than "done in" by superior government agencies. First, they appointed the citizen task forces and commissions that provided popular support, procedural complianc and democratic legitimacy for council actions. Anyone seeking to overturn their actions were consequently in the position of being accused of usurping local democratic authority. Second, they commissioned professional studies by progressive policy organizations that pinpointed historical and legal precedents for council decisions and provided clues to potential barriers to their enforcement. Thus the SMRR councilmembers were careful to shape their policies in ways that maximized the chances that no one would be able to overturn them on procedural or legal grounds. Third, the radical politicians relied on the professional expertise of the city manager and the city attorney to defend their policies before state agencies and the judicial system. These devices usually worked.
"All three devices were employed when the city council majority decided to take control of development in Santa Monica. It appointed a commercial and industrial task force membered by citizens who produced a lengthy set of recommendations on zoning and controlled development. It paid the firm of Hamilton, Rabinowitz, and Szanton, Inc. to produce several hundred-page studies, entitled "Review of California Development Fee Policies " and "Review of Existing Santa Monica Development Fees," that provided legitimacy to council policies. And it called on the city attorney to develop a defensible legal model for negotiating development agreements and on the city manager to put together a professional team to negotiate the agreements. Consequently, when the city council enacted Ordinance no. 1220 and later revisions intended "to ensure that development is consistent with public peace, health, and safety," it was able to implement its human scale approach to Santa Monica's future despite vociferous protests and legal actions taken by the opposition."
"The SMRR councilmembers also made a conscientious effort to extend their authority and impact beyond their limited tenure in political office. Their model was the structure of rent control, which was based on changing the city charter (which could not be easily undone) and creating a semiautonomous agency, the rent control board (which could function regardless of who runs city government). The radicals took advantage of their commitment and energy to rewrite the various elements that made up the city charter and thereby left their imprint on the legal framework for future city policies. They also created sever quasi-governmental, non-profit corporations whtat would provide institutional support for SMRR policies for the forseeable future. . . . "There are not a lot of old agreements that were entered into in the past that bind the city in the future; this city council has entered into a number of contracts that to some extent bind future city councils." . . .
" . . . Dennis Zane made this point graphically: "Once we institutionalize some of the programs that are in place, it will be a significant political peril for anybody to try to fuck with them." p.112
"In theory, the greatest threat to the radicals' power was the ability of local business people to put pressure on them as has happened in many other cities where grasssroots movements come to power. Such pressure usually takes the form of offering the carrot of new investment if politicians cooperate to provide a healthy business climate or the stick of disinvestment if people in government act contrary to what business elites consider the community's best interest. . . . "
". . .
"The main economic restraint on city council policy was a projected revenue-expenditure gap. California's middle class taxpayers distrusted government authority and certainly did not want to pay into general revenue coffers that allowed governors a blank check. Thus they passed the Proposition 13 tax reduction measure that made it extremely difficult for municipalities to raise local revenues. But the SMRR politicians were committed to expenditures that would maintain and expand social services, upgrade the salaries and benefits of city employees, facilitate affordable housing for all city residents, fund neighborhood projects, enhance the local environment, and so forth. The radicals who took power were not certain that they could sustain current expenditure levels much less increase them to subsidize desired policies. Their approach to this fiscal dilemma was to find ways to enhance revenues without raising property taxes while changing expenditure priorities."
"For the most part, the SMRR councilmembers looked to their appointed professionals to find ways to enhance revenues, and the professionals went to work with considerable zest. City staff people unearthed $330,000 that had beeen on deposit with the state at only 6 percent interest. Staff investigated city business license fees, development fees, lease agreements, and contract arrangements to discover that Santa Monica charged much less for its services than nearby cities of comparable size. Staff also did cost-benefit analyses that show that the city would have more disposable revenues if it stopped contracting out legal work and increased the city's legal personnel, Staff proposed ways to generate more income from city-owned enterprises, from the local tourist industry, from limited partnerships with the private sector from municipal airport property, and from hidden pockets of money in county, state, and federal governments. From the left's viewpoint, fiscal responsibility, efficiency, and creativity meant more disposable revenue for worthwhile projects." p.113
"The council majority also made some decisions on spending priorities. James Conn* mentioned how the SMRR politicians brought to the city government "a new consciousness of the financial and economic impact of decisions that are made by the city and how they affect people in the city as a whole, in contrast to how they merely affect the business community." Part of that new consciousness was manifested in early budget decisions. "The first budget we received," Conn noted, "was an equipment budget; and we cut out all the equipment and put programs in." The program priorities shifted expenditures, for example, from subsidies to the Chamber of Commerce to support for neighborhood projects. As a result of the SMRR council's efforts to close the revenue-expenditure gap, Santa Monica was one of the few California cities in the the early 1980s that upgraded social services; almost every other city in the state was forced to make cutbacks.
"The SMRR politicians, in short, practiced what is conventionally considered to be "good government." They ran city governmen like a business, making sure that the ledgers balanced. But 'good government" and SMRR's core principles did not always complement one another. Human scale community and a finely tuned government bureaucracy do not necessarily mix, the one being founded on interpersonal relationships and the other on impersonal procedures, laws, and accountant reports. Participatory democracy may be more symbolic than tangible when politicians rely too heavily on professional experts in public administration, law, and policy. And one class society does not fare particularly well when fiscal responsibility means cutting deals with developers or enhancing revenues by leasing city land to the highest bidder rather than investing in the economic independence of all citizens. The tendency of Santa Monica activists, SMRR leaders, and city hall radicals was to practice political pragmatism without giving serious thought as to whether it works in behalf of basic principles." p. 114
Amanda Schacter (Ed.) Santa Monica Landmarks Santa Monica Landmarks Commission, 1990. 1980s
12. Ocean Park Branch Library
"The building was closed for remodeling in the mid-1980's at which time a rear addition to the building was constructed."
14. John and Anna George* House
"During restoration of the house in the early 1980's the structure was repainted its original gray color and a small second floor additon was constructed."
18. Moses Hostetter* House
"This Victorian era single family home . . . was carefully restored during the 1980's." p. 10
Andrea Schulte-Peevers and David Peevers Los Angeles, Lonely Planet: Oakland, 2nd ed., 1996 (1999), 351pp., 1999, 1996, 1989, 1984, 1983, 1981, 1929
"Frank Gehry (born 1929)*
"Frank O Gehry is regarded as one of the most outstanding contemporary LA architects. He often uses unconventional materials such as plastic sheering (sic., sheeting?) and wire-mesh screens in his designs, which still seem to integrate into their respective environments. He was the recipient of several honorary doctorate degrees and countless awards, including the prestigious Pritzker Prize for Architecture (1989). His designs in LA include the Santa Monica Place shopping mall (1981), the Cabrillo Maritime Museum (1981), the Temporary Contemporary Museum (1983) and Loyola Law School (1984). He is also the architect of the future Walt Disney Concert Hall . . . "
[Santa Monica Place retrofitting has removed the Gehry facade] and several other buildings are notable in Santa Monica, and specifically Ocean Park: an apartment building on Highland; the former Egg Factory on Main Street; and the former Chiat/Day Building.] p. 36
"Architecturally, Venice is often as bizarre as its boardwalk. Look no farther than Venice's north entrance, on Main St. at Rose Ave. for cases in point: artist Jonathan Borofsky's 34-foot Ballerina Clown on the facade of the Venice Renaissance Building, and four-story binoculars, the work of Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, posing as the front door to the Chiat/Day Inc. advertising agency. . . . " p. 184
{Gehry designed the building that Chiat/Day has now moved from.}
Jeffrey Stanton Santa Monica Pier A History from 1875 to 1990, Donahue Publishing: Los Angeles, CA, 1990, 1980s
Chapter 6: City Owned Pier (1974-1990)
" . . . Richard Koch, who owned the Westwind Sailing Club and School . . .
" . . ." p. 155
" . . .
"Santa Monica didn't flinch. City Manager Charles Kent McClain on September 5th formally terminated the lease with the Carousel Corporation . . .
" . . . Acting Mayor Ruth Goldway* said, "you can't expect private parties to spend money on new pier projects unless the city makes a commitment to repair the pier." . . .
" . . ." p. 156
Carousel restoration p. 157
"After months of painstaking work, the doors of the carousel buillding reopened on June 6, 1981 to allow 275 members of the National Carousel Association to preview the restored carousel and band organ. NCA president John Hayek presented the organization's Preservation Award to Santa Monica's Mayor Ruth Goldway.
"The carousel's official grand opening was on August 14, 1981 . . . included celebrities Jane Fonda,* Herb Albert [Alpert?]. Daniel Travanti . .
"Santa Monica recruited and hired Susan Mullin to manage the pier in August 1981. . .
" . . .
"In September 1981, the State Coastal Conservancy granted $30,000 . . . toward restoration . . . with the condition the city name a citizen's advisory committee . . .
"The pier task force, initially chaired by activist Ernie Powell*, . . .
" . . .
" . . . [Pier ]Task Force chairman, Paul Silvern*, . . .
" . . .
"Winter storms along the Santa Monica Bay were nothing new . . . the pier's lower deck had been damaged three times in the previous ten years. But the storm that began building up during the wee hours of the morning on Thursday, January 27, 1983 not only had huge churning breakers but occurred during the year's highest tides . . . " p. 157
"The swells at sea were only eight to ten feet at most, but their sixteen to twenty foot faces that broke on shore rapidly eroded sections of the beach from Malibu to Redondo Beach.
" . . . Shortly before 9:20 a.m., while hundreds of sightseers atop Palisades Park watched in the driving rain, the northwest corner of the pier broke off and fell into the pounding sea. . . .
" . . . Crowd control was a problem throughout the day and evening as the area was as crowded as during the Fourth of July . . .
" . . . City Manager John Alshuler *. . .
" . . .
"Southern California beaches were designated a federal emergency area . . . Meanwhile a huge thirty ton crane was moved onto the pier's ocean end to remove the damaged lower deck.
" . . . a second storm, more powerful than the first . . . 40 mph winds and fifteen foot waves and coincided with the year's extreme high tides.
"The storm built up quickly in the late afternoon, too late to move the crane off the pier before quitting time. . . . The first hint of trouble came at 8:30 pm when the pier began vibrating and beams began to fall into the raging surf. Members of the City Council were informally meeting in the Moby's Dock Restaurant when Don Arnett, chief of Parks and Recreation, ordered it closed . . .
"As the huge waves began to pound relentlessly against the weakened pilings, they snapped one by one until the huge thirty ton crane toppled into the surf at 10:45 p.m. The sea then used the crane as a battering ram to smash the pier further and further back towards shore. Within fifteen minutes, just before the tide reached its peak at 11:06 p.m., Peterson's boat launch crane, the Santa Monica Fishing building, a rest room, 160 feet of pier deck, three cars, and a large refrigerator truck were swept into the sea.
" . . .
"Damage to the pier was many times worse than from the first storm. . . . Debris was stacked ten foot high on the beach south of the pier all the way to Pico Blvd. . . .
" . . . President Reagan surveyed the damage from a U.S. Marine helicopter. The coast was declared a federal emergency area for the second time . . .
"Assemblyman Tom Hayden* and County Supervisor Dean Dana . . .
" . . . Mayor Ruth Goldway* . . .
" . . ." p. 159
" . . .The Pier Restoration Corporation, a non-profit [which Christine Reed and David Epstein voted against]" p. 160
"The city, in an effort to show the public that the business end of the Santa Monica Pier still stood, scheduled . . . "Save the Santa Monica Pier Week." . . .
"The opening ceremony on May 23rd featured thirty Arabian horses and numerous celebrities. Mayor Ken Edwards welcomed a crowd of five hundred . . .
"The pier hosted thousands who wandered through the art exhibit and crafts fair, watched street entertainers, or listened to the twenty bands . . . a Baby Contest; Pie Eating Contest; Build a Pier contest; hoola hoops and boogie board contests, and a kite festival staged by Colors of the Wind.
". . . a film festival that featured movies that were filmed on the pier: Elmer Gantry, 1960; Inside Daisy Clover, 1965, The Sting, 1973 and 1941, 1979. In the La Monica tent, dancing. A Salute to the Pier, by Ry Cooder, bluesman, singer Christine McVie from Fleetwood Mac, Billy Burnett's Band with drummer Mick Fleetwood, Blue Indigo, 50's swing, and an all-star comedy show led by Buck Henry. On Sunday , the L.A. Chamber Ballet and Ollie Mitchell's Sunday Band." p. 161
" . . .
"On September 13, 1983, the City Council appointed twelve candidates to an expanded board. David O'Malley, who was later elected Chariman, was an architect and president of Welton Beckett Associates, Herb Katz was an architect, and Mary Houha, was a planner with the L.A. City Community Development Agency. Local businessmen included David Anderson, president of General Telephone, Chris Harding, an attorney, and Wayne Wilson, a management consultant. Other members were Ruth Goldway,* former Mayor of Santa Monica, Judy Abdo,* Ernie Powell,* Henry Custis,* and William Spurgin."
" . . ." p. 162
" . . . in January 1984 . . .
"Sinbad's restaurant was physically moved back forty feet, then forward forty feet to repair the pilings beneath it. . . . Few realized that Sinbad's had been moved to its present location from its old location next to the billiard's building when the La Monica Ballroom was built in 1924.
" . . . The PRC board selected Gail E. Markens [as director of the Pier Restoration Corporation] . . . " p. 163
". . . design contest team winner, March 1983, Moore, Ruble, and Yudall, with the landscape architectural firm Campbell and Campbell, proposed a 5000 square foot children's park with a concrete boat and dragon, a two hundred seat bleacher structure to accomodate volleyball spectatators, and an extension of the pier deck east of the carousel connected by stairs and ramps to the Promenade below. Metal framed pavilions, would flank the bleachers . . .
" . . . " p. 164
" . . .
" . . . the carousel managed to open in mid-August on the closing weekend of Los Angeles' 1984 Summer Olympics.
" . . . Roy Cruickshank operated Skipper's, a fast food business in the northwest corner of the carousel building . . .
". . . [during renovations] he operated out of a popcorn cart in front of the carousel . . .
" . . . Ernie Powell* commented, "I'm of the theory that tells us a stronger pier is all we need. That's a less expensive way to go."
" . . . " p. 165
" . . .
"The Pier Restoration Corporation, in hopes of luring a more upscale crowd to the pier that summer, sponsored a series of free "Twilight Concerts" on Thursday evenings. . . . . in a blue and white tent on the approximate site of the old La Monica Ballroom . . . on June 20, 1985 with the Unlisted Jazz Band. It was followed by a chamber music concert by the New West Brass Quintet. The most popular nights were those that featured dancing with music furnished by jazz groups such as the Rhythm Kings. The concert series eventually became an annual summer event with the emphasis on a series of twilight dances: swing, country-western, reggae, roaring 1920s, folk and 1950s rock n' roll.
" . . ." p. 166
"The Carousel Park opened on June 6, 1986. Ray Camack Shows set up a small children's amusement zone adjacent to it behind the carousel. It featured an Eli 12 Ferris Wheel, a super slide and three platform kiddie rides. . . .
"The crowds that jammed Santa Monica's beaches for the annual Fourth of July fireworks display became larger and more unmanageable throughout the decade. The crowd of 500,000 that was drawn to the beach on Friday evening July 4, 1986 created an unsafe atmosphere that two hundred police and civilian badged employees couldn't control. Some fighting began as early as 3 p.m. in the beach parking lots, then escalated after the pier fireworks ended at 9:30 p.m. Sgt. Barry Barcroft, the event watch commander, reported that most of the assaults seemed to be a result of gangs of up to ten, jumping, beating, and stabbing others. There were reports of several shootings, seven knifings, and a total of nearly two hundred fights. One victim was struck and killed by two motorcycles in a hit and run accident. The police, dealing with a whole army of attempted murders and assaults with deadly weapons, made fifty-nine arrests.
"The gang problem near the pier remained a persistent problem, especially during the annual spring school vacation. While the college crowd preferred to go to Palm Springs, gang members from South-Central Los Angeles preferred to gather on the Santa Monica Pier during the day and in the parking lot just north of the pier in the evening. . . . Santa Monica responded in 1987 with beefed up police patrols at the pier and in the adjacent parking lots."
"The Pier Corporation . . . the shooting gallery . . . . On May 5, 1987 gave lessee John Brown sixty days to vactate. [He] had been operating it for sixteen years . . ." p. 167
"[Brown] claimed the city wanted to evict him to bring in a more upscale business. . . . Santa Monica Municipal Court issued a court order and the shooting gallery closed June 21st.
" . . .
"Summer 1987 festivities began with a dawn Fouth of July fireworks show. Surprisingly over 50,000 spectators awoke several hours before dawn to attend the unusual event. The pier, beach, and Palisades Park were packed with spectators. The peaceful event grew in popularity over the years until more than 200,000 people jammed Santa Monica to watch the fireworks . . ." p. 169
"The pier's third annual Thursday night Twilight Dance series began on July 9th with a performance by the Rhythm Kings. Over 5000 people listened and danced . . .
" . . .
" . . . approval process by the City's Architectural Review and Landmarks committees, Planning Commisssion, and City Council.
"On November 1st Gail Markens gave notice . . .
"Construction on the Newcomb Pier began in early November 1987. . . .
"On January 20, 1988 a brutal winter storm with ten foot high surf struck the Santa Monica Bay . . .
" . . . The project was completed in August 1988.
"The pier merchants . . . charged that the plan would increase rents, create parking problems and force out current merchants and their lower income patrons.
" . . .
"Councilmen Herb Katz and David Finkel . . . sought to give preference to existing pier merchants . . .
" . . ." p. 170
" . . .
" . . . Santa Monica and the Pier Restoration Corporation's Board . . . chose John Gilchrist . . . as director of the Pier Restoration Corporation.
"Gilchrist had lived in Los Angeles before moving to Miami in 1972. He had worked with the architectural firm Victor Gruen Associates from 1955-1963 and was an Associate Professor of Architecture at USC from 1963-1971.
" . . ." p. 172
"Details about how the pier was constructed on pp. 173 and 174
" . . . April 6, 1990 dedication . . .
" . . . Mayor Dennis Zane said, "In Santa Monica, we like to say that the pier is the soul of Santa Monica, and the further the pier stretches to the sea the more soul we have."
"Judith Meister, the pier's manager . . .
" . . . Councilwoman Christine Reed . . .
"City officials then honored the woman who they felt was most insturmental in saving the Pier, Joan Crowne, a former pier restaurant owner was presented with the first "Santa Monica Pier Prize" in commemoration of her 'dedication and devotion' to the pier. She took out a second mortgage on her home to help finance the 1973 save-the-pier effort and was later forced to sell the house.
" . . . " p. 174
" . . .
"Russ Barnard's Long Walk Ldt. . . . envisions a first-class restaurant similar to his Tavern on Main in Ocean Park. . . .
" . . ." p. 176
{P. 146 1978 photo of Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke pitching pennies on the Santa Monica Pier.
{P. 147 1975, photo of fishermen on the Municipal Pier's lower deck, with Boat Rentals, Moby's Dock (cocktails, lunches); Sinbad's (cocktails; dinner); and the Holiday Inn looming at the top of the Pier.}
{P. 148 Bait Boats, New Sunbeam and the Nordica, owned by Pete Peterson, were anchored in Santa Monica Harbor, 1980}
{Pp. 153, 154, 155 1983 storm destroying the pier, with the Santa Monica Port Cafe on the lower deck.}
{P. 167 1989 Temporary trestle pier built to repair the Municipal pier and in the backgrround Holiday Inn, the Santa Monica Freeway, and Rand Corporation, blocking City Hall's view of the ocean, Bambrick owned Fish Restaurant; Hot Dog on a Stick original location.}
Carolanne Sudderth Tenants win fight to preserve historic courtyard complex , Ocean Park Gazette, 15 June 2004, 1980s, 1940s, 1930s, 1926, 1925, 1920s,
"June 15 - . . . residents of 125 Pacific Street celebrated victory last night when the Landmarks Commission voted to grant their building landmark designation that allows them to retain their homes. Owners of the building, an LLC had applied for a permit to demolish the structure's 24 units and replace it.
"Built between 1925 and 1926, Christie Court is one of two surviving (intact) courtyards west of Neilson (nee Trolley) Way, (The other is the landmark Horatio West Courts at 140 Hollister Ave. two blocks away.) The project consists of 24 adjoined units built in a horsehoe around a broad swath of green lawn. The picnic table set therein has served as a gathering ground and meeting place.
" . . .
"And in the 1980s, the building served as home for bodybuilders Mr. Mexico and Mr. Japan."