By Brady Torgeson
I’m a longtime resident of Santa Monica, and it surprised me to read Bill Bauer’s commentary in the Oct. 30 edition of the Daily Press (“‘Raging gorilla’ is bad for McKeown and city,” page 4) refer to city council candidate Terry O’Day as pro-development. Bill cited O’Day’s voting record on commercial parking requirements as an example of pro-development leanings.To the contrary, building parking in our community actually promotes new development. In fact, extensive parking requirements are also anti-environment. Since O’Day is the only environmental executive in this election, he surely understands this. Bauer should consider the impacts of traffic and parking on the environment before making leaps of logic. The free parking available at the Third Street Promenade is what made it a regional shopping destination in the first place.By labeling pro-environment decisions as negative for our community, Bauer does a disservice to your readers.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 4, 2006. Read the original PDF.