MARIA LOYA

GENERAL QUESTIONS:

1. Who are you? Describe yourself in 100 words or less.

I am a community leader with 12 years of experience in fighting for social & economic justice. As Director of Public Policy and Advocacy for the LA Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE), I work to strengthen communities by promoting worker rights through public policy, political advocacy and coalition building. I worked as an organizer with an environmental justice organization called People Organized in Defense of Earth and Her Resources (PODER). I am the first woman in my family to attend college. I completed a Bachelors Degree in Economics. I am an elected board member of the Pico Neighborhood Association.

2. What is your favorite book? Movie? Food?

Favorite book:The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
Favorite movie:The Imitation of Life.
Favorite food: Italian Food.

3. How long have you lived in Santa Monica?

I have lived in Santa Monica for four years.

4. Describe your history of community involvement, if any, in 75 words or less.

MULTIPLE CHOICE

Please choose the statement with which you agree most. Feel free to explain your answer in 50 words or less.

5. Tourism is one of Santa Monica's most important industries and has been almost since the city's founding. Yet, especially in the summer and on weekends, Santa Monica can appear downright crowded. Ignoring the economic benefits, with which statement do you agree more:

A. Tourism creates a major inconvenience for Santa Monica residents.

B. Being a world-renowned magnet for tourism is a tribute to Santa Monica and has made our city a more lively, fun and interesting place to live.

6. Over the years, the City has received two kinds of complaints about traffic. Some residents complain that there is too much traffic going through their neighborhoods, often going too fast, and have pressured the City to construct various forms of "traffic calming." Other residents complain that our streets are clogged with so much traffic that it takes too long to drive around town. With which statement do you agree more:

When it comes to traffic:

A. The most important thing is to protect neighborhoods by slowing down and discouraging cut-through traffic.

B. The most important thing is to find ways to speed up the flow of traffic.

7. Over the past decade, more than a thousand apartments have been built or approved in downtown Santa Monica in response to City incentives. With which statement do you agree more:

A. Santa Monica needs more housing to be built, downtown is the best place to build it and the City should encourage more housing to be built there.

B. Downtown is too crowded already and the City should do what it can to discourage more housing development there by increasing regulations and/or downzoning.

8. It's generally acknowledged, within and without City government, that navigating the building and development permit process in Santa Monica is a nightmare for developers and homeowners alike, and much more complicated and time-consuming than in other local jurisdictions. With which of the following statements do you agree most:

The major cause of the problems with the building process in Santa Monica is:

Seems that the problem is a little bit of each. I am not in a position to place blame on any one entity.

A. An incompetent bureaucracy suffering from high turnover and bad training and supervision.

B. The Planning Commission, which has demoralized planning staff and made them fearful of approving projects and has slowed down the approval process itself by applying vague and varying standards.

C. The City Council, which over the years has enacted an overly complex set of laws governing zoning, environmental review and building standards.

9. Preferential parking districts are controversial in Santa Monica. With which statement do you agree more:

When it comes to street parking in residential neighborhoods located near commercial districts or boulevards,

A. The rights of the residents come first, and no resident should have to compete with a non-resident for a parking space on a resident's street at any time of day.

B. In designating preferential parking districts, the City needs to be more cognizant of the needs of employees and customers.

C. The streets belong to everyone, and the City should get out of the business of designating preferential parking districts.

10. True or false: The Third Street Promenade has become primarily a destination for visitors and does not cater to local residents. Explain in 50 words or less.

True. Many working class families cannot afford to shop at the Promenade anymore. I would support affordable shopping options for youth and families at the Promenade.

11. Pick one and explain in 50 words or less:

The City's policies attract an influx of homeless who would not otherwise come to Santa Monica.

The homeless come to Santa Monica for reasons outside the City’s control. Homelessness is a national, state and regional problem. We need to support effective programs in and outside of Santa Monica to support the homeless, especially those who suffer from mental illness.

12. With which of the following statements do you agree most. Santa Monica's traffic problems are the direct result of,

A. City policies approved by the SMRR majority, including traffic calming, the development of the Promenade and the fostering of tourism.

B. Major developments -- such as the large office complexes in the city's industrial corridor -- approved in the mid-1980s by councils controlled by non-SMRR pro development factions.

C. Regional growth outside the control of the City Council.

13. With which statements do you agree. You can choose more than one.

Affordable housing:

A. Creates blight.

B. Pays back hotel and restaurant union workers for their political support and creates more tenants to vote for Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights.

C. Addresses a legitimate need, especially in Santa Monica.

14. With which statements do you agree. You can pick more than one. Community input in planning and building design,

A. Improves Projects

B. Is overly skewed towards pleasing nearby neighbors as opposed to
meeting the interests of the community as a whole.

C. Unreasonably slows the process and is a way for opponents to
eliminate new development.

D. Needs to be streamlined.

15. With which statement do you agree most. Santa Monica tenants in rent-controlled units,

A. Need more protections from harassment by landlords eager to re-rent units at market rates.

B. Are being subsidized by landlords who can't charge fair rents and make
a profit.

D. Should not have majority control of the City Council.

16. In the past two years, the number of laws passed by the City Council has increased from 32 in 2002 to 41 last year. This is:

A. A reasonable response to the concerns of residents.

B. A council that tries to please everyone.

C. A council that believes it knows what's best for the City and likes to impose its will.

GENERAL QUESTIONS

17. What would you do to improve Santa Monica? (50 words or less)

I would bring a community-centered approach to decision making. This would include support for education and after school programs. I would improve neighborhood safety by implementing a community-policing model with SMPD and community leaders. I would champion the issues important to working families in Santa Monica and address issues that are of concern to women, children, seniors and families.

18. What is your "wish list" for Santa Monica? (Maximum of 5 items)

1. Expanding community input in development projects to preserve Santa Monica’s neighborhood charm and character.
2. Strengthening partnerships between schools, neighborhoods and City Hall.
3. Improving the quality of life for all Santa Monicans.
4. Protecting tenants’ rights and rent control.
5. Securing a prosperous future for our workers and their families by championing worker’s rights and implementing a living wage.

19. What is the best thing about Santa Monica?

The progressive leadership that exists in our families, schools and civic organizations.

What is the worst thing about Santa Monica?

Polluted beaches and the inequality that is evident in our neighborhoods and schools.

21. What is your favorite place in Santa Monica? Your least favorite place? In 30 words or less give your reasons.

The beaches and palisades park

22. A measure on the November ballot calls for increasing the City's hotel bed tax. Do you support or oppose the measure?

I support it.

23. Do you support the $135 million Santa Monica College bond measure on the November ballot?

I support Measure S. SMC needs to respond better to the needs of its neighbors.

24. An analysis by The Lookout found that Santa Monica spent $1,906 per resident to provide basic services in fiscal year 2003-04. By comparison, Culver City spent $1,349; Pasadena spent $1,244 and Torrance spent $1,005. Do you think the City can cut back on its spending or is spending the right amount? (See analysis)

We can do a better job of investing public dollars to meet community needs.

25. Over the course of more than a century, Santa Monica has had many personalities, usually more than one at any given time depending where you are standing. A tony resort and haven for the rich and beautiful; a honky-tonk beach town known for the Pier and P.O.P. and Muscle Beach for everyone else; a blue-collar factory town and arsenal of democracy; the wide-open "Bay City" of Phillip Marlowe; a "leafy suburb"; a working-class city of dingbat apartments and little bungalows; a conservative bastion run by real estate and business interests; the "Peoples' Republic of Santa Monica"; and other historical realities you can probably think of, not to mention today's reality of regional center for retail, entertainment and white-collar employment. What historical era or personality of Santa Monica do you most identify with, and how does that relate to your vision of Santa Monica's future?

As a community activist, I connect most with the beginning of the movement that led to the establishment of rent control in Santa Monica. I hope to build on this movement to ensure that workers, renters and working families are represented by our government.