m202211011 November 1, 2022
CITY OF SANTA MONICA
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
NOVEMBER 1, 2022
A special meeting of the Santa Monica City Council was called to order by Mayor Pro Tem McCowan at 6:01
p.m., on Tuesday, November 1, 2022, at City Council Chambers, 1685 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA.
Roll Call: Present: Mayor Pro Tem Kristin McCowan
Councilmember Phil Brock
Councilmember Gleam Davis
Councilmember Oscar de la Torre (arrived at 6:02 p.m.)
Councilmember Lana Negrete (arrived at 6:08 p.m.)
Councilmember Christine Parra
Absent: Mayor Sue Himmelrich
Also Present: City Manager David White
City Attorney Douglas Sloan
City Clerk Denise Anderson-Warren
CONVENE/PLEDGE On order of the Mayor Pro Tem, the City Council convened at 6:01 p.m.,
with Mayor Himmelrich and Councilmember Negrete absent. Councilmember Parra led the assemblage in the Pledge of Allegiance.
PUBLIC INPUT FOR
CLOSED SESSION:
There were no members of the public present to comment on closed session
items.
CLOSED SESSIONS
Councilmember de la Torre
excused at 6:02 p.m.
Councilmember Negrete
arrived at 6:08 p.m.
Councilmember de la Torre recused himself from Closed Session due to a
potential conflict of interest.
On order of the Mayor Pro Tem, the City Council recessed at 6:05 p.m., to
consider closed sessions and returned at 9:25 p.m., with Councilmember de
la Torre and Mayor Himmelrich absent, to report the following:
3.A. Conference with Legal Counsel – Existing Litigation –
Litigation has been initiated formally pursuant to Gov. Code Section
54956.9(d)(1): City of Santa Monica v. The Insurance Company of the
State of Pennsylvania, et al., LASC Case No. 21STCV36027
The City Attorney advised this matter was heard with no reportable action
taken.
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3.B. Conference with Legal Counsel – Existing Litigation –
Litigation has been initiated formally pursuant to Gov. Code Section
54956.9(d)(1): John VMA Doe, et al. v. City of Santa Monica, et al.,
Case No. 22STCV30598; John TAU Doe, et al. v. Santa Monica PAL,
et al., Case No. 22STCV19401; John Doe 1-4 v. Does 1-50, Case No.
21STCV34537; John Doe 5 and John Doe 6 v. Does 1-50, Case No.
22STCV08765; John JH Doe v. Police Activities League, et al., Case
No. 21STCV24491; John Doe (D.C.) v. Santa Monica Police Activities
League, et al., Case No. 21STCV47551; John Doe (MU) v. Santa
Monica PAL, et al., Case No. 22STCV17022; John Doe #1, John Doe #2
and John Doe #3 v. Santa Monica PAL, et al., Case No. 22STCV03113;
John Doe 142 v. Doe 1, Doe 2, and Doe 3, Case No. 22STCV01268; Jose
Villaseñor v. City of Santa Monica, et al., Case No. 22STCV17835
The City Attorney advised this matter was heard with no reportable action
taken.
CONTINUED ITEMS:
ARCHITECTURAL
REVIEW BOARD
8.A. Recommendation to accept Therese Kelly's resignation from the
Architectural Review Board and authorize the City Clerk to publish
the vacancy, was presented.
Motion by Councilmember Brock, seconded by Councilmember Negrete, to
accept the resignation with regret.
The motion was approved by a unanimous by voice vote, with
Councilmember de la Torre and Mayor Himmelrich absent.
BREAK/RECONVENE On the order of the Mayor Pro Tem, the Council took a break at 9:30 p.m.
to allow time for Councilmember de la Torre to return. The Council
reconvened at 9:35 p.m. with Councilmember de la Torre present.
MEASURE A
Councilmember de la Torre
returned at 9:35 p.m.
8.B Request of Mayor Himmelrich and Councilmember Davis that
the City Council express its support for Los Angeles County Measure
A. Measure A would amend the Charter of the County of Los Angeles
to grant the Board of Supervisors authority to remove an elected
Sheriff from office for cause by a supermajority (4 out of 5) of the
Board, was presented.
Motion by Councilmember Davis, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem McCowan,
to adopt the staff recommendation. The motion was not approved by the
following vote:
AYES: Councilmember Davis, Mayor Pro Tem McCowan
NOES: Councilmembers de la Torre, Brock, Negrete, Parra
ABSENT: Mayor Himmelrich
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LINCOLN BOULEVARD 8.C Request of Councilmembers Negrete and Brock that the City
Manager evaluate options to enhance the maintenance and appearance
of Lincoln Boulevard between Olympic Boulevard (north and south),
inclusive of portions of Olympic Blvd east and west of Lincoln, as
depicted roughly in the shaded area in the attached map. This is a
highly trafficked and visible area of the City and serves as a gateway
for visitors to Santa Monica and the City Manager is being asked to
return to City Council with options to improve the area, was presented.
Motion by Councilmember Brock, seconded by Councilmember Negrete, to
adopt the staff recommendation. The motion was unanimously approved by
voice vote, by all members, with Mayor Himmelrich absent.
SISTER CITIES
COMMEMORATION
8.D Request of Councilmember Brock to direct the City Manager to
evaluate the potential of programming the open space along Main
Street adjacent to the City Hall North Parking Lot in partnership with
the Santa Monica Sister City Association that would commemorate our
five Sister Cities: Mazatlan, Mexico (1961), Hamm, Germany (1969),
Fujinomiya, Japan (1974), Kizugawa, Japan (2017), and Brighton,
England (2022), was presented.
Motion by Councilmember Brock, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem McCowan,
to adopt the staff recommendation. The motion was unanimously approved
by voice vote, by all members, with Mayor Himmelrich absent.
PICKLEBALL 8.E Request of Councilmember Negrete to direct the City Manager
to develop construction and annual maintenance cost estimates and
evaluate the impacts of constructing courts dedicated to pickleball on
the Interim Open Space at Santa Monica Airport adjacent to Airport
Park as soon as possible while supporting other current and planned
uses on the Interim Open Space. The City Manager is also being asked
to produce a schedule of permitted and open recreational use of the
tennis / pickleball courts at Memorial Park and evaluate the potential
to expand the use of the courts at Memorial Park for pickleball, was
presented.
Motion by Councilmember Negrete, seconded by Councilmember Brock,
to adopt the staff recommendation. The motion was unanimously approved
by voice vote, by all members, with Mayor Himmelrich absent.
SMOKING ORDINANCE 8.F Request of Councilmember Negrete that the City Council direct
the City Manager and City Attorney to come back with a proposed
Ordinance to the City’s Smoking Ordinance, Section 4.44.020(a) of the
Santa Monica Municipal Code (“SMMC”), to prohibit smoking in
multi-unit residential common areas, and the public right-of-way areas
around multi-unit residential buildings, was presented.
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Motion by Councilmember Negrete, seconded by Councilmember Brock,
to adopt the staff recommendation. The motion was unanimously approved
by voice vote, by all members, with Mayor Himmelrich absent.
HOUSING 8.G Request of Councilmembers Brock, Parra and de la Torre, in
the wake of residents’ concerns about the “Builder’s remedy” permits
just filed for 1,000s of new housing units, overwhelmingly market rate
and up to 15 stories, that the Council ask the City Attorney to hire
appropriate outside legal counsel to conduct a thorough review and
write a report regarding the City’s legal options and remedies,
including rejecting the applications under all applicable laws. The law
firm hired to conduct this review shall be selected by the City Council
and shall have the power to obtain documents it deems useful to its
legal review and be given full cooperation by staff and elected and
appointed officials, was pulled from the agenda by authors.
COUNCIL TRAVEL 8.H Request of Mayor Pro Tem McCowan that the City Council
authorize use of her travel funds for costs incurred from her July 27-
30, 2022 travel to Brighton, England for the official Friendship City
signing ceremony in partnership with Santa Monica Travel and
Tourism and the Santa Monica Sister City Association, was presented.
Motion by Councilmember Davis, seconded by Councilmember de la Torre,
to adopt the staff recommendation. The motion was approved by the
following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers de la Torre, Brock, Negrete, Davis, Parra,
Mayor Pro Tem McCowan
NOES: None
ABSENT: Mayor Himmelrich
ADJOURNMENT On order of the Mayor Pro Tem, the City Council meeting adjourned at
10:31 p.m.
ATTEST: APPROVED:
Denise Anderson-Warren Kristin McCowan
City Clerk Mayor Pro Tem
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