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March 15, 2013
Dear Supporter of SMCLC,
Over 600 Santa Monica residents, organized by neighborhood groups and the SMCLC, signed an open letter calling for City Hall to dismiss transportation consultant Jeffrey Tumlin, who had described Santa Monicans concerned about overdevelopment and traffic as: "...NIMBYs who used traffic fear as their primary tool for stopping development."
This week, City Manager Rod Gould announced that Santa Monica would no longer be working with Mr. Tumlin.
This fight was always about more than residents having their feelings hurt by an arrogant consultant. The fact is, the development, traffic and parking policies Mr. Tumlin advocated would cripple the ability of Santa Monicans to move around our city.
Mr. Tumlin asserted there "could" be no increase in the amount of afternoon traffic trips despite all the traffic that would be generated from the proposed 36 Development Agreements now in the pipeline. ("If," he says, every transportation mitigation measure discussed in LUCE were funded, implemented, and achieved.) Common sense, as well as our city's history, tells us the obvious: more high-density development will inevitably lead to more traffic, just as it always has.
While Mr. Tumlin's dismissal is a victory for residents, the city will continue to retain the consulting firm for which he works. Residents will need to make sure their voices are heard if we want to protect our city from overdevelopment and the ensuing traffic onslaught it will bring. Neighborhood groups and the SMCLC will monitor the city’s actions so we can again intervene should that be required.
For more information on this, and other development issues, stay in touch with SMCLC and also be active in your neighborhood organization.
To view the residents' open letter, as well as additional materials submitted to the city, including SMCLC's cover letter concerning the transportation policies advanced by Mr. Tumlin, go to: http://www.smclc.net/PDF/TumlinLetterSigned.pdf and http://www.smclc.net/PDF/TumlinDismissalCC.pdf
Thanks to all of you who signed the residents’open letter or made your voices heard in other ways.
Sincerely,
Diana, Victor, Sherrill, and Jeff