City Hall spent $100,000 of taxpayer money to hire a firm that works for large commercial developers to do a report on RIFT. As expected, this company, which specializes in helping developers get their large projects approved, came back with a taxpayer funded hit piece on RIFT. Worse, it was presented to Council in a manner that allowed for no opposition or questioning of its one-sided approach.

The following letter was sent to Council about their "study."

June 24, 2008

TO: City Council

RE: Item 3-A RIFT Study

Dear City Council:

In its handling of the Residents’ Initiative to Fight Traffic, the City Council has unwittingly shown why that initiative is the only effective way for Santa Monicans to seriously address issues of traffic and development. Council has shown it is unwilling to deal with this issue seriously or even with basic fairness.

Council’s approach to the Residents’ Initiative to Fight Traffic is a perfect microcosm of how development decisions are made in our city: With very limited public input, the end result decided beforehand, no sharing of necessary information which would allow residents to comment seriously or intelligently, and with very limited time given for any opposition.

In this case, Council hired a firm with ties to developers-- a firm that consistently favors development over residents' interests. This is a firm entrenched in the LUCE process, a process set up to reach the end result of unfettered commercial development. Now when this one-sided, pro-development study comes in, data is not even shared with the public before the hearing on the report. Without information, the Council has ensured that intelligent discussion about this important issue, any intelligent dissent, will be impossible. Without facts, residents are once again, left on the sidelines.

You are telling over 10,000 Santa Monica residents who signed RIFT petitions, who are crying out for serious action on traffic and development that their concerns will never be taken seriously.

This PowerPoint presentation is a sales job. It is meant to sell the idea that uncontrolled commercial development is good for us. It is not meant to objectively inform. As such, it is propaganda. It is useless, except as a political tool for those who don’t believe residents should control commercial growth in their city. Adding more insult, Santa Monicans paid $100,000 of their tax dollars to finance what is essentially a political tool to undermine their opposition to development.

If any good comes from this worthless study, it is this: It allows residents to see once again that Council has no intention of seriously addressing development and traffic issues, or allowing residents meaningful input into these decisions. You have challenged us to find redress at the ballot box. And we will.

Sincerely,

The Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City