Culver City Council Candidates Questionnaire
The Culver City Downtown Business Association traditionally holds a candidate’s forum to discuss issues pertinent to DT business owners. Many of our business owners are residents and the vast majority are deeply invested in the future of our community.This year, we decided to send out a form asking a few questions about the candidates’ positions on the issues that matter most to Downtown business owners.
The DBA does not endorse any candidates for any elected office, and the answers appear below exactly as they were submitted to our team.
The answers appear below in alphabetical order by candidate’s last name.
1. The growth and significant development of areas surrounding Downtown Culver City could threaten the health of our Downtown. What ideas do you have to keep this area a vibrant destination for visitors and residents? Please be specific.
The single most impactful policy change to benefit Downtown would be legalizing and facilitating the construction of a large number of new homes within a short walk, bike ride, or transit trip. The development of satellite parking lots during the Redevelopment Agency days made it possible to bring people in to an area that is special precisely because it was built before post-war car-centric design and zoning regulations; however, traffic conditions throughout the Westside show that we’ve reached the limit of that strategy if we are to retain any semblance of quality of life for the neighborhoods that surround Downtown. Downtown’s best future, and the best policy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing affordability, and addressing geospatial patterns of segregation lies in allowing Downtown finally to become what Harry Culver intended: an actual downtown. In the immediate future, Econ Dev should be tasked with programming activities on Main Street on the weekends and better promoting events that occur at Town Plaza. We should also protect the expanded outdoor dining that the City has invested in. A sizable number of people still have no interest in eating indoors, nor do they want to sit immediately adjacent to cars. We should invest more in sidewalks, and work with the new and incoming neighboring LA council members to ensure that the neighborhoods that surround us, which provide a significant number of our current patrons, are able to get to Culver City safely and comfortably. Finally, we need a transit service connecting Fox Hills and the Jefferson complexes directly to Downtown.
2. The DBA commissioned a study by FM3 to look at the Downtown Business Climate. What, if anything, did you learn from the report that might have impacted your thoughts about the Downtown business community? Is there any action you would take based on the data collected?
I was surprised that support for Move Culver City was as high as it is. If it were easy or immediately popular to make the paradigm shifts necessary to prepare for the Olympics, build the next generation of regional transit infrastructure, and accomplish the changes necessary to meet the state’s climate goals, these things would already have been done. It was also revealing that the number of respondents who believe the changes are bad matched the number of respondents who want everything removed so that they can drive *through* Downtown. Finally, I appreciated much of the information about amenity preferences. People want more space to linger, more festivals and other entertainment. More amenities like these would drive the foot traffic that would support the retail that residents indicate wanting to see.
3. What are your thoughts on how to continue to improve the relationship between the City and the DBA?
The Culver City Chamber of Commerce 2022 community guide and business directory’s feature on local businesses and recovery asserted that “Leadership [in Culver City], including the Mayor, offers accessibility and has recently exemplified flexibility and resilience.”
There is always more we can do, but I agree that Culver City’s efforts to support local businesses during the pandemic really stood out and I hope that has left the relationship sturdy.
I was Mayor during the development of the Economic Recovery Task Force. In what the Culver City Chamber of Commerce characterized as “a slew of ideas that bolstered all businesses,” I worked with my colleagues on council to allow expansion of outdoor dining in the city right-of-way free of charge. We also shut down Culver Blvd until November 2021 to create space for restaurants to provide the safe outdoor dining that customers preferred. When COVID was at its peak, we moved a great deal of the government’s functions online, and many permit fees were waived or reduced. We were one of the few cities on the Westside who had a commercial eviction moratorium, which I think encouraged many business tenants and landlords to negotiate mutually agreeable rent accommodations.
We are still not done with COVID recovery. Sitdown restaurant traffic is soft nationwide. If City Hall and the DBA work together to create events and programming that make Downtown a place where residents and surrounding workers expect something interesting might be happening at any time of day, the result will be a self-reinforcing loop where people simply come to be around other people.
1. The growth and significant development of areas surrounding Downtown Culver City could threaten the health of our Downtown. What ideas do you have to keep this area a vibrant destination for visitors and residents? Please be specific.
The growth in Culver City has been spearheaded by the creative economy. However, the closing of the movie theaters has impacted the downtown business negatively. Since we have Culver Studios, Amazon Studios and HBO in town now, perhaps they could showcase their movies/TV shows in their theaters on a rotating basis not dissimilar from the Sundance Festival, except that it will be year round!
2. The DBA commissioned a study by FM3 to look at the Downtown Business Climate. What,if anything, did you learn from the report that might have impacted your thoughts about the Downtown business community? Is there any action you would take based on the data collected?
As a Culver City resident who lives 7 miles away from downtown, I noticed that it’s harder to get through Washington & Culver Blvd. traffic since mobility lanes were created. Since the paint is already peeling off the street murals, I would let mother nature complete her job. I would also take away the bus & bike lanes, then do an honest to goodness traffic study and let the data tell us how to improve traffic. I would then do a poll of bicyclists to see what their travel routes are and create dedicated bike lanes away from heavily trafficked streets. I would eliminate bus lanes and replace the natural gas powered buses with electric buses to reduce green house gas emissions.
3. What are your thoughts on how to continue to improve the relationship between the City and the DBA?
If the City Council were to incorporate the suggestions of the DBA and grassroots folk rather than making unilateral decisions, I think that we can improve the relationship between all the stakeholders!
1. The growth and significant development of areas surrounding Downtown Culver City could threaten the health of our Downtown. What ideas do you have to keep this area a vibrant destination for visitors and residents? Please be specific.
I see the growth of the areas around Downtown as an area of opportunity if addressed accordingly. First, city officials should always seek ways to partner with our stakeholders in neighborhoods and districts that are experiencing a transformation that has been brought on by forces out of their control. The DBA should know that I will always be proactive in communicating with you, and will always be available to hear your concerns. There are thousands of new residents who have moved into the immediate area, outside of Downtown Culver City’s official borders. This should mean thousands of new customers. What have we done to bring those customers to you? We need to be intentional in our approach to making the customer experience the best it can be from a policy perspective, and work with you to provide programs and incentives for people to make Downtown THE place to shop and dine. And while thousands of new employees are working for our new or expanded businesses, they are not all working from the office on every day of the week. We need to help you make your day to day business experience more stable and predictable by bringing the studios and the DBA together in a way that incentivizes their employees to shop and dine there on a regular basis. I will work with you to achieve this.
2. The DBA commissioned a study by FM3 to look at the Downtown Business Climate. What, if anything, did you learn from the report that might have impacted your thoughts about the Downtown business community? Is there any action you would take based on the data collected?
The FM3 study confirmed what most of the DBA is feeling: The MOVE project has had a significant negative impact on your business. As soon as is possible, I will work with city staff to make access to your businesses as seamless as possible by:
- Returning the dedicated bus lane to the public vehicular right of way.
- Address the lack of “drop zones” for customers, supply vendors and delivery services.
- Make the timing of the street lights work! This is a priority for me.
- Look at making the closure of Main Street to vehicular traffic ONLY when it is programmed to do so: During the Farmer’s Market and maybe a monthly event that actually attracts customers to the street.
- Consider making Main Street and Culver Blvd. a “scramble” pedestrian intersection, so that people can cross in all directions at the same time. This will speed pedestrians to their destinations more quickly, making the intersection safer and providing more time for cars to efficiently move through.
- Put a right hand turn lane off of Main Street to Culver Blvd going westbound.
- Keep the bike lanes, and remove all of the ugly plastic safety sticks and bollards. We need to hardscape these lanes into the existing environment with curbing and planters – not with the eyesore that is currently there.
3. What are your thoughts on how to continue to improve the relationship between the City and the DBA?
Constant engagement. Since I began my campaign for city council, I have participated in two meet and greets with members of your community and have met with at least a dozen business owners, individually. I will always be available to discuss your concerns. We should be working WITH you to help your businesses thrive – not just survive.
1. The growth and significant development of areas surrounding Downtown Culver City could threaten the health of our Downtown. What ideas do you have to keep this area a vibrant destination for visitors and residents? Please be specific.
First, I am most interested in finding out what ideas Downtown Culver City business owners and their employees have about making this area even more appealing than it already is for visitors and residents. This is because I know how creative our local businesses are. It was incredible to experience the ways that you pivoted to delivery, take out, and then outdoor dining during the throes of the pandemic! This can-do spirit of many Downtown businesses to take on the challenges they faced, during a very trying time, showcased the strength, ability to innovate, and resilience of so many of you. On a personal level, I have a great deal of respect for the businesses I have been fortunate enough to frequent, because I see how hard you work to provide goods and services that are needed and valuable to your customers and the community.
Second, health, in all senses of the word as you used it in this question, is critically important. Making sure that customers have safe and attractive outdoor options when they visit Downtown Culver City businesses is vital, because many people are still concerned about COVID and need to be able to take advantage of open air dining and shopping options that take their health concerns into account. And, so many people now appreciate being able to spend time outside, which we are able to do year-round because of the weather here. The easier and more pleasant we make it for people to get to and move around Downtown Culver City, the better. Car traffic and the pollution it generates is not healthy and it is not pleasant for any of us. It’s people that shop, so let’s make sure that Downtown Culver City is enjoyable and accessible on foot, while using a wheelchair, scooter, bicycle, the Circulator, bus and the Metro train.
The hallmark of a vibrant downtown is people. I think making Downtown Culver City better for pedestrians is key. This effort has begun and can be improved upon. People can currently get to Downtown Culver City many ways, but we need to make it easier for more people to end up here without a car. It’s wonderful that the Culver Steps expands our “town plaza,” and I’d like to see Main Street fully activated. I hope this could be achieved via a partnership between the Downtown Culver City businesses and the city.
I also look forward to further diversification of the businesses in Downtown Culver City. It’s great to have Village Well (books), Lundeen’s (gifts) and a new bakery, Sweet Lily, is coming soon, in addition to our many fabulous eateries. We are fortunate to have long had some great arts, culture, and entertainment venues in Downtown Culver City, too, and it would be positive to expand those business opportunities. Several residents have brought up their excitement about the refresh/redesign of Media Park, as we haven’t had a lot to offer children and youth in Downtown Culver City. I expect that many of the businesses in downtown benefited from the presence of the former movie theater, and I look forward to the day it re-opens to the public.
2. The DBA commissioned a study by FM3 to look at the Downtown Business Climate. What, if anything, did you learn from the report that might have impacted your thoughts about the Downtown business community? Is there any action you would take based on the data collected?
I did find a number of interesting data points; I’ll provide the highlights of what I learned here:
Of great interest to me as an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, is that 75% of the visitors who responded to this survey were people of color (slide 5). We need to ensure that everyone, residents and visitors, are made to feel welcome in our City, so this is very encouraging.
In slide 11, we see that 65% of visitors surveyed report visiting Downtown with the same frequency or greater, as compared with pre-pandemic times; for residents, 60%. In slide 12, we learn that 69% of non-resident visitors find it about the same or easier to visit Downtown than pre-pandemic; for residents, that figure is 49%.
Of the respondents, 69% of visitors and 48% of residents say it’s about the same or easier visiting Downtown since the pandemic (slide 12).
It’s heartening to see that almost 20% of the residents who participated in the survey, say they have used the dedicated bike lanes in Downtown Culver City, and 22% of residents said they are likely to use the bike lanes as their primary travel method (slide 17).
And, it’s interesting that just over half of residents who participated in the survey believe replacing two motorized vehicle lanes with dedicated bike and bus lanes has been bad, and only 38% of visitors have a negative view of this change. A significant number didn’t perceive a difference (10% of residents and 21% of visitors). (Slide 22) It would be interesting to gauge support for the new mobility lanes again, after they have been in use longer.
On average, only 45% of respondents think the MOVE Culver City changes have been bad, so there were more people who took the survey who thought they were good, didn’t make a difference, or didn’t know (slide 23).
The slides near the end of the report provide an interesting indicator of and guidance for the kinds of activities visitors would enjoy and what would draw more folks to Downtown Culver City. It seems that respondents favor being able to “get through” downtown more easily, unimpeded by bus and bike lanes; however, many other studies have shown that slowing down traffic and encouraging biking and walking increases business revenues. It’s good to know that there are many people who live in and visit Culver City who either embrace or accept MOVE Culver City. We need to prepare for moving people around our city in a sustainable manner.
Surveys based on perceptions are valuable, because peoples’ perceptions matter. I would also find it valuable to compare these perceptions to the actual data of transportation usage in Downtown Culver City. And it would be interesting to learn what percentages of people who spend time downtown are visitors and how many are residents. I expect the percentage actually skews in favor of visitors, but the survey conducted received responses from 493 residents but only 223 visitors (slide 2)
It’s fantastic that so many of the survey respondents who are visitors are from Inglewood (28%) and Baldwin Hills/West Adams (25%), but I also wonder what we might do to engage and attract more visitor traffic from Palms, which is directly next door to Downtown Culver City, but made up just 20% of visitors who took the survey (slide 4).
3. What are your thoughts on how to continue to improve the relationship between the City and the DBA?
The relationship between the City and the DBA is important to advancing the main goal held in common: keeping Downtown Culver City vibrant and helping the area to continue to thrive. Communication is the most important element needed to keep the relationship strong and productive. As a council member, I will meet regularly with residents, neighborhood associations, mobility advocate groups, business owners and business groups, including the Culver City DBA. Together we can foster a vision of our Downtown that becomes a model for other cities to emulate.
1. The growth and significant development of areas surrounding Downtown Culver City could threaten the health of our Downtown. What ideas do you have to keep this area a vibrant destination for visitors and residents? Please be specific.
Growth should not be seen as negative, but instead as an opportunity to expand the types of businesses offered in Downtown. We may need to shift focus to service-based retail rather than traditional retail at this moment because shopping habits have changed, especially after the pandemic. The new town plaza has created a gathering space for residents and visitors, and with regular and specialty programming it has all the potential to become a lively entertainment spot. I’ve seen old photos of Main Street decorated for the holiday season, something as simple as changing the look with banners and decor encourages community members to keep visiting.
Culver City has a large creative economy base, if we can provide store fronts for creatives, we may further reignite interest in Downtown Culver City.
I see Downtown Culver City as a place where we can effectively implement walkable parking, meaning you park once and walk around town. Ensuring the safety and walkability of our streets and sidewalks is essential to keeping Downtown accessible to everyone.
2. The DBA commissioned a study by FM3 to look at the Downtown Business Climate. What, if anything, did you learn from the report that might have impacted your thoughts about the Downtown business community? Is there any action you would take based on the data collected?
The downtown business community is struggling and customers are frustrated.
Years ago the plan was set into motion to revitalize Downtown Culver City and it became a success. Now our once vibrant downtown is diminishing due to the difficulty of getting there. Additionally, Downtown Culver City has the largest collection of historic buildings that have been meticulously restored over the years, and the configuration of the MOVE project has negatively impacted this aesthetic. I believe the MOVE project can be reconfigured to benefit the multi-modal accessibility of the downtown area.
3. What are your thoughts on how to continue to improve the relationship between the City and the DBA?
Taking the time to listen to the needs and concerns of the DBA is important. Through regular communication and positive engagement we can work together because a thriving downtown is essential to Culver City. I intend to have regular listening sessions with Culver City residents and stakeholders, and would welcome the DBA to participate and share their ideas and the challenges they are facing.
1. The growth and significant development of areas surrounding Downtown Culver City could threaten the health of our Downtown. What ideas do you have to keep this area a vibrant destination for visitors and residents? Please be specific.
Rip out bus lanes. Improve safety and cleanliness. Work with businesses to organize the events they want.
2. The DBA commissioned a study by FM3 to look at the Downtown Business Climate. What, if anything, did you learn from the report that might have impacted your thoughts about the Downtown business community? Is there any action you would take based on the data collected?
Confirms my own beliefs about the stupidity of bus lanes. They must go.
3. What are your thoughts on how to continue to improve the relationship between the City and the DBA?
Listen to your concerns. Reduce regulations and make permitting processes easier and cheaper. Improve safety by policing the homeless better.
To learn more about the DBA study referenced in question 2, click here.
