Parks master plan + protecting reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights
Hi friends,
I hope you had a great Super Bowl Sunday / Kendrick concert for all who celebrated.
Council Meeting Tonight
There’s a Council meeting tonight at 7PM! This meeting will again be held at the Culver City Senior Center (NOT City Hall), because Council Chambers is being upgraded.
Here are just a few important items on tonight’s agenda.
C-6 will determine if Culver City supports a train route from the Expo/Sepulveda Station to Van Nuys, stopping at UCLA and connecting to several Culver CityBus lines.
A-1 will decide whether we approve an award of $15,000 to Walk n’ Rollers for their proposed Earth Day Elenda Open Street Event on Tuesday, April 22.
A-2 will decide whether to amend any city policies to help secure access to reproductive health services and better protect LGBTQ+ rights, both currently under threat from the Trump administration.
A-3 will decide whether to adopt the Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Department’s 15-Year Plan.
I hope you join us tonight!
As always, you can watch in person or remotely via Webex. You can request to speak here or send in a comment electronically here by 3PM or by emailing city.council@culvercity.org.
Happy Black History Month!
Schedule of nearby BHM events courtesy of our LA. County Supervisor, Holly J. Mitchell
Happy Black History Month! Celebrate in Culver City with a number of events including the Pan African Film & Arts Festival at the Culver Theater and Westfield Culver City Mall now through the 17th.
Westfield Culver City Mall is also hosting their Black History Month celebration with art pop ups and events from now until 2/23.
MLK Jr. Day Celebration
The city’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebration was rescheduled due to the wildfires and will take place on Saturday 2/15 at Veteran’s Memorial Center. Hope to see you there!
Public Safety Convening
I was grateful to attend the Local Progress Seminar on Public Safety this past weekend alongside Vice Mayor Puza and Councilmember McMorrin.
Public safety is our #1 responsibility as elected leaders, but it’s also a deeply personal topic that can incite powerful emotions and difficult conversations.
This seminar was able to cut through the noise and get right down to solutions. The room was full of electeds and advocates from across L.A. County who are committed to delivering safety, accountability, and justice for our communities, instead of doubling down on the same policies and systems that have failed us for so long.
What I’m reading
I am halfway through How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith, a Recknoning with the History of Slavery Across America.
Smith writes in poetic detail about the horrors of chattel slavery and how it continues to shape our society today. It’s a clarifying and personal account of the darkest chapters of our country’s history, and I can’t recommend it enough.
I just finished Railtown by Ethan Elkind which details the long and arduous political journey to get rail transit in Los Angeles County. Building a rail system that car-dominated L.A. County had destroyed once before was considered a pipe dream for decades, and it was only made possible by a handful of bold visionaries who pushed to make it a reality. Now, our Metro system serves a staggering 1,000,000 boardings a day and is expanding faster than anywhere in the country. I’d only recommend this book for the hardcore transit nerds.
That’s it for now… thank you for catching up with me, and have a fantastic week.
With gratitude,
Bubba