We've scheduled our Annual Meeting for June 9, 10:30am-12:30am at the Main Library.
As usual, we've lined up speakers who can answer many of your questions about what's happening in Santa Monica.
We're also getting some great raffle prize donations.
We'll be updating this with additional information!

The Regular Meeting of the Zoning Administrator will consider whether or not to permit shared use of parking, allowing leasing of existing spaces for medical office and restaurant uses.
The meeting is at City Hall, in Council Chambers, at 10:30am Tuesday, April 10, 2012.
It is not clear whether or not email comments will be considered. If you wish to comment by email, send your comments to the Planner: grace.page@smgov.net and the Zoning Administrator: amanda.schachter@smgov.net

Wilmont will be participating in the Buy Local Expo on the Promenade. Originally, the Expo was scheduled for March 17, but the rain forced a postponement.... Now the Expo will be on March 31. Wilmont's table will be between Wilshire and Arizona, across from J. Crew.
Discounts and the scavenger hunt will still kick off on the 17th and will run until April 2. Go to www.buylocalsm.com/buylocalweekend and www.buylocalsm.com/scavengerhunt for details.

As you know, the Marathon will finish in Santa Monica again this year. It seems to be bringing rain with it again. Much of Downtown and the western part of Wilmont will be inaccessible except by foot for much of the day.
The Marathon and the City will be keeping us informed at http://www.smgov.net/marathon/marathon.aspx

Wilmont filed a comment to the Bergamot Transit Village Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR). We, and others, noted that the DEIR describes huge traffic impacts to all of Santa Monica. The impacts would affect intersections from Venice and Walgrove to Montana and Barrington, effectively cutting Santa Monica off from West LA.

As we all know, parking in Wilmont is a Very Big Deal. For some Wilmonters, dealing with parking is the single most stressful aspect of their lives. We will have Santa Monica's Parking Coordinator, Frank Ching, and his boss, Don Patterson as our very special guests for the next Board Meeting. They want to knoe about Wilmont's parking concerns. Unfortunately, they will not be able to solve all of them immediately.... (darn!).... They want to know about specific problems parking in Wilmont. Residents, businesses, and visitors face different challenges.

Every year, the City's Office of Emergency Management hosts a Pet Emergency Preparedness Fair. Our animal companions need food, water, and other supplies available in case of a disaster. Because pets can become separated from their homes and families, it's also important to have them microchipped. At this event, free microchipping is provided.
This year's fair will be at Clover Park, Saturday February 25, 2012, 9am-3pm.

This presentation was really informative, and we had a great discussion. Jory has provided us with a copy of his presentation. We have attached the file.
Santa Monica is working on the Community Benefits phase of the LUCE now. We need to set the rules for benefits to be part of every project and additional benefits that can be used to enhance our neighborhoods. We can consider benefits such as affordable housing, parking above the required amount, parks, community buildings, or other things no one else has thought of!

The Draft Environmental Impact Report on the Bergamot Transit Village Center has bee released. This proposed project is located at 1681 26th St., Santa Monica. It is the site of the old Papermate facility. It is also known as the Hines project.
As you know, the project is huge and (if built) would affect all of Santa Monica. The DEIR is correspondingly large. Therefore, we'd like as many people as possible to read as much of the document as they can and to forward comments appropriately.

There are lots of City construction projects underway or planned for the very near future. The City is hosting a community open house on Thursday, February 9, 5:30-7:30pm at the Ken Edwards Center, 1527 4th St., Santa Monica. You can come by and leave any time during the event.
We'll be able to meet and talk with project managers at this mixer-style event.