m20221129_Spec 1 November 29, 2022
CITY OF SANTA MONICA
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
NOVEMBER 29, 2022
A special meeting of the Santa Monica City Council was called to order by Mayor Himmelrich at 6:07 p.m.,
on Tuesday, November 29, 2022, at City Council Chambers, 1685 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA.
Roll Call: Present: Mayor Sue Himmelrich
Mayor Pro Tem Kristin McCowan
Councilmember Phil Brock
Councilmember Gleam Davis
Councilmember Lana Negrete
Councilmember Oscar de la Torre
Absent: Councilmember Christine Parra
Also Present: City Manager David White
City Attorney Douglas Sloan
City Clerk Denise Anderson-Warren
CONVENE/PLEDGE
On order of the Mayor, the City Council convened at 6:07 p.m., with all
members present except Councilmember Parra. Councilmember Davis led
the assemblage in the Pledge of Allegiance.
AGENDA
MANAGEMENT
Motion by Mayor Himmelrich, seconded by Councilmember Davis, to: 1)
allow the three Santa Monica High students speak at the beginning of the
meeting on the proposed laureate program; 2) hear the Statement of
Apology prior to Closed Session; 3) at the request of one of the sponsors,
continue Item 8.D. to December 13th meeting; and, 4) suspend the Council
rules to reopen public comment on the continued items. The motion was
unanimously approved by voice vote, with all members present, with
Councilmember Parra absent.
PUBLIC INPUT FOR
CLOSED SESSION,
SPECIAL AGENDA
ITEMS AND CONSENT
CALENDAR ONLY:
Members of the public Denise Barton, David Morris, commented on closed
session items.
Members of the public Robbie Jones, LaVerne Ross, Joanne Berlin, Gina
Frazier, Jamila Williams, Alison Rose Jefferson, Denise Barton, Craig Ali,
and Waverly Nebedum commented on special agenda items.
CLOSED SESSIONS
On order of the Mayor, the City Council recessed at 6:59 p.m., to consider
closed sessions and returned at 9:48 p.m., with all members present, except
Councilmember Parra to report the following:
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3.A. Public Employee Evaluation Government Code Section
54957(b): Title: City Manager
The Mayor advised this matter was heard with no reportable action taken.
3.B. Public Employee Evaluation Government Code Section
54957(b): Title: City Attorney
The Mayor advised this matter was heard with no reportable action taken.
SPECIAL AGENDA
ITEMS:
4.A. Statement of Apology to the African American Community and
Their Descendants, was presented.
CONSENT CALENDAR: All items were considered and approved in one motion unless removed by a
Councilmember for discussion.
Motion by Councilmember Brock, seconded by Councilmember Negrete,
to approve the Consent Calendar, reading resolutions by title only and
waiving further reading thereof. The motion was unanimously approved by
voice vote, with Councilmember Parra absent.
MINUTES 5.A. Minutes of City Council - Special Meeting - November 15, 2022,
were approved.
PUBLIC INPUT ON
REMAINING AGENDA
ITEMS:
Member Craig Miller (time donated by Melania Lopez) commented on
Item 8.A.
Members of the public Claire Kovac, Isis McDowell and Alyssa Cirelie
commented on Item 8.B.
Members of the public Olga Zurawska (time donated by David Morris),
Kathy Knight and Zina Josephs commented on Item 8.C.
CONTINUED ITEMS:
PUBLIC SAFETY
REFORM AND
OVERSIGHT
COMMISSION
8.A. Request of the Public Safety Reform and Oversight Commission
to Receive and Review the Reports Provided by the Public Safety
Reform and Oversight Commission, was presented.
Recommended Action
The Public Safety Reform and Oversight Commission has prepared a series
of reports and recommendations concerning public safety in Santa Monica,
most recently focused on complaint investigations and the status of the
Santa Monica Police Department’s implementations of the reforms
recommended by the OIR Group following their in-depth after-action
report concerning the events of May 31, 2020. Staff recommends that the
City Council receive and review the reports provided by the Public Safety
Reform and Oversight Commission.
Questions asked and answered of staff included: if the Council approves the
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report, would the Police department object; is it unrealistic for the Council
to expect complaint investigations to last longer than six months; what are
the next steps to change the in-progress items in the OIR report to
completed; and did the commission approve all parts of the memo sent to
Council.
Considerable discussion ensued on topics including, but not limited to, that
the progress being made on the recommendations from the OIR report need
to somehow be made available to the Council and the community.
Motion by Councilmember Brock, seconded by Councilmember de la Torre,
to receive and file the report. The motion was unanimously approved by
voice vote, with Councilmember Parra absent.
Motion by Councilmember Davis, seconded by Councilmember Brock, to
direct staff to come up with a way to regularly return to Council and the
community with updates on progress the Public Safety Reform Oversight
Commission is making on the recommendations from the OIR report. The
motion was unanimously approved by voice vote, with Councilmember
Parra absent.
POET LAUREATE
PROGRAM
8.B. Request of Councilmembers Negrete, Parra, and Brock that the
City Manager develop and return to City Council with
recommendations for a Poet Laureate program for the City of Santa
Monica. The program and recommendations shall be developed in
collaboration with the Library Board and Arts Commission, was
presented.
Question asked and answered of staff included, is there going to be a
stipend given.
Motion by Councilmember Brock, seconded by Councilmember Negrete, to
adopt the staff recommendation. The motion was unanimously approved by
voice vote, with Councilmember Parra absent.
NEIGHBORHOOD
ORGANIZATIONS/
BUSINESS
IMPROVEMENT
DISTRICTS
8.C. Request of Councilmember Davis that the City Council direct
the City Manager to contact the head of each Neighborhood
Organization and Business Improvement District listed on the City's
website and ask if the organization or its Board of Directors (acting as
a Board) will refrain from endorsing or opposing candidates or
measures in any future election. If the Neighborhood Organization or
Business Improvement District will not make that commitment, then
the City Manager is authorized and directed to remove that
Neighborhood Organization or Business Improvement District from
any listing of such organizations on the City's website and to remove
any hyperlinks to the organization’s website. In addition, the City
Attorney and City Manager are directed to draft a policy that states as
a condition of receiving City funding any Neighborhood Organization
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or Business Improvement District that makes campaign endorsements
must provide a disclaimer on any written campaign endorsement
materials stating no public funds are used for campaign purposes and
views of the organization do not necessarily reflect the views of the City
of Santa Monica or any of its officials, was presented.
Question asked and answered of staff included, how do we know if the
money being used is city funds or their private membership funds.
Considerable discussion ensued on topics including, but not limited to:
whether or not organizations who receive in-kind services should be
included, and add language in the grant agreements that if they oppose or
endorse candidates or measures they put a disclaimer on their website
stating no public funds are used for campaign purposes.
Motion by Councilmember Davis, seconded by Mayor Himmelrich, to ask
the City Manager and City Attorney to 1) work on putting a disclaimer on
the city’s website where there are links to groups who receive city funding
and that any endorsements made by those groups is not paid for using city
fund and, 2) put in any agreement by a group that receives city money, if
they endorse or oppose candidates or measures, that they put a disclaimer on
their website stating no public funds are used for campaign purposes and the
views of the organization do not necessarily reflect the views of the City of
Santa Monica or any of its officials. The motion was unanimously approved
by the voice vote, with Councilmember Parra absent.
HOUSING AUTHORITY 8.D. Request of Councilmembers Parra, Brock and de la Torre to
direct the City Manager to evaluate the impacts and feasibility of
changing the Santa Monica Housing Authority Payment Standard
basis to Small Area Fair Market Rate and increasing select zip
code/unit size categories to 120% SAFMR to mitigate negative impacts
as recommended by the Housing Commission by mid-December, was
continued to the December 13th meeting.
ADJOURNMENT On order of the Mayor, the City Council meeting adjourned at 10:54 p.m.
ATTEST: APPROVED:
Denise Anderson-Warren Sue Himmelrich
City Clerk Mayor
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