SR 08-23-2022 16D
City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: August 23, 2022
Agenda Item: 16.D
1 of 1
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Denise Anderson Warren, City Clerk, Records and Election Services
Department
Subject: Request of Mayor Pro Tem McCowan and Councilmembers Brock and
Negrete that the City Council allocate up to $15,000 of their discretionary
funds to the Public Policy Institute at Santa Monica College to support the
2023 Public Policy Symposium - an event jointly sponsored by Santa Monica
College and Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District.
Prepared By: Denise Anderson Warren, City Clerk
Approved
Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Discret Funds as of 8.23.22
B. Written Comment
16.D
Packet Pg. 1304
Council Discretionary Funds
As of August 23, 2022
Sources (All Available Funds are start of FY 2022-23):
Amount
Unspent and uncommitted funds from prior year 88,067.16$
FY 2022-23 - New Appropriation 122,696.00
Total unspent funds and new appropriation 210,763.16$
Uses (Programmed Discretionary Funds):
Description Amount Programmed Date
Pier Palisades Signage (5,107.21)$ Rollover programmed from prior year
Pico Youth and Family Center (PYFC) Car Show (5,000.00) Rollover programmed from prior year
Police Activities League (PAL)(5,000.00) Rollover programmed from prior year
Legal review of the deed of March 3, 1888 by Arcadia Bandini (10,000.00) Budget Adoption FY 2022-23, 6/28/22
Business Improvement District (BID) Annual Support (29,000.00) Council meeting, 7/14/22, Item 16A
Westside Coalition for Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration (10,000.00) Council meeting, 7/14/22, Item 16A
Santa Monica Pony League to repair scoreboard at Los Amigos Park (5,000.00) Council meeting, 7/14/22, Item 16A
Samohi for bilingual graduation celebration (3,000.00) Council meeting, 7/14/22, Item 16A
Santa Monica Sister Cities Association travel expenses for the official
signing of a Friendship City agreement with the City
(3,500.00) Council meeting, 7/26/22, Item 16C
Total Programmed (75,607.21)$
Unprogrammed Balance Available 135,155.95$
August 23, 2022
16.D.a
Packet Pg. 1305 Attachment: Discret Funds as of 8.23.22 (5320 : Discretionary funds to support Public Policy Symposium)
1
Vernice Hankins
From:Ann Maggio <annmaggio@gmail.com>
Sent:Saturday, August 20, 2022 5:07 PM
To:councilmtgitems
Subject:Council Item 16D
EXTERNAL
Dear City Council,
No more boondoggles!
Nothing relevant came from the last taxpayer handover for this thing that was NOT supported by the PNA or
FOSP!
A handful of us attended a few of those and it was as one would expect, the same old same old people
showing up and patting themselves on the back for having done so.
This is NOT the way to spend our LIMITED RESOURCES. Just STOP!
Apply our money to meaningful things, like making our streets safe so kids don't keep getting
mugged en route to and from school...so they are not enticed by a quid pro quo "Data for FREE
Ice Cream" by undoubtedly unlicensed Ice Cream Ladies and conned into downloading an app
and uploading their school schedules which include student names, Id#'s, grade, gender, parent
address, parent phone numbers, etc... and so they can use OUR PUBLIC LIBRARIES again -
SAFELY!
D.Request of Mayor Pro Tem McCowan and Councilmembers Brock and Negrete that the City Council
allocate up to $15,000 of their discretionary funds to the Public Policy Institute at Santa Monica College
to support the 2023 Public Policy Symposium - an event jointly sponsored by Santa Monica College and
Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District.
Sincerely,
Ann Maggio Thanawalla
"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth." ‐ Albert Einstein
Item 16.D 08/23/22
1 of 9 Item 16.D 08/23/22
16.D.b
Packet Pg. 1306 Attachment: Written Comment (5320 : Discretionary funds to support Public Policy Symposium)
1
Vernice Hankins
From:diana hinek <diana.hinek@gmail.com>
Sent:Monday, August 22, 2022 2:16 PM
To:councilmtgitems
Subject:Agenda item 16.D - oppose
EXTERNAL
Dear City Council,
This is not the time to be allocating our precious taxpayer dollars on an inexplicable SMC event next year.
Please direct these resources to fund the things we need TODAY.
We need to have our libraries FULLY OPENED and SAFE.
We need a CROSSING GUARD at Lincoln and Ocean Park so the grade school kids can cross safely to and from school.
Thank you,
Diana
90405
‐‐
Birth Doula and Photographer
www.dearbirth.com
www.facebook.com/dearbirth
https://www.instagram.com/dearbirth
Item 16.D 08/23/22
2 of 9 Item 16.D 08/23/22
16.D.b
Packet Pg. 1307 Attachment: Written Comment (5320 : Discretionary funds to support Public Policy Symposium)
2
Vernice Hankins
From:Nikki Kolhoff <nhkolhoff@yahoo.com>
Sent:Monday, August 22, 2022 2:10 PM
To:councilmtgitems
Subject:Agenda Item 16.D. (SMC Public Policy Symposium) - OPPOSE
EXTERNAL
Dear City Council -
I am writing to oppose the "Request of Mayor Pro Tem McCowan and Councilmembers Brock and
Negrete that the City Council allocate up to $15,000 of their discretionary funds to the Public Policy
Institute at Santa Monica College to support the 2023 Public Policy Symposium - an event jointly
sponsored by Santa Monica College and Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District."
This is not the time to be allocating our precious taxpayer dollars on an inexplicable SMC event next
year. Please direct these resources to fund the things we need TODAY. We need to have our
libraries FULLY OPENED and SAFE. We need a CROSSING GUARD at Lincoln and Ocean Park so
the grade school kids can cross safely to and from school.
Thank you,
Nikki Kolhoff
Santa Monica Resident
Item 16.D 08/23/22
3 of 9 Item 16.D 08/23/22
16.D.b
Packet Pg. 1308 Attachment: Written Comment (5320 : Discretionary funds to support Public Policy Symposium)
1
Vernice Hankins
From:Wade Major <wm@lakemajor.com>
Sent:Monday, August 22, 2022 4:59 PM
To:councilmtgitems
Subject:Agenda Item 16.D. -- OPPOSE!!!
EXTERNAL
I’m a Malibu resident — so you don’t have to care what I think, but as we’re still part of the same school district — this is
an insane expenditure.
$15,000 for the PUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTE at SMC? Su supposed the 2023 Public Policy Symposium? WHY?
How does this do anything for SMMUSD? I understand what it does for SMC and for the two SMMUSD Board Members
who have SMC affiliations (aka “conflicts of interest”) but our district schools have more pressing needs.
Arts programs, teacher’s aides and more.
If you’re going to throw away sums like this… throw them at something which shows up in SMMUSD classrooms — SMC
can pay for its own perks.
This is a shocking thing to even propose.
Wade Major
Item 16.D 08/23/22
4 of 9 Item 16.D 08/23/22
16.D.b
Packet Pg. 1309 Attachment: Written Comment (5320 : Discretionary funds to support Public Policy Symposium)
1
Vernice Hankins
From:Wendy Dembo <wendydembo@gmail.com>
Sent:Monday, August 22, 2022 7:09 PM
To:councilmtgitems; Council Mailbox
Subject:Re: Agenda Item 16.D. Oppose
EXTERNAL
Dear City Council,
This is not the time to be allocating our precious taxpayer dollars to an inexplicable SMC event next year.
Please direct these resources to fund the things we need TODAY.
We need to have our libraries FULLY OPENED and SAFE. I keep unsuccessfully trying to go to the main library
on Friday. The library should be open on Fridays.
Also, kids need a CROSSING GUARD at Lincoln and Ocean Park so they can cross safely to and from school.
Thank you,
Wendy Dembo
Santa Monica resident, homeowner, and voter
Item 16.D 08/23/22
5 of 9 Item 16.D 08/23/22
16.D.b
Packet Pg. 1310 Attachment: Written Comment (5320 : Discretionary funds to support Public Policy Symposium)
1
Vernice Hankins
From:Johanna Kracke <jokracke@gmail.com>
Sent:Monday, August 22, 2022 9:09 PM
To:councilmtgitems; Council Mailbox
Subject:Re: Item 16.D
EXTERNAL
Dear council members,
Please consider opposing item 16.D which would direct $15,000 to a project between SMC and SMMUSD in 2023. While
maybe you don't consider this to be a lot of money, it could still be put to immediate use in our community. Areas such
as paying crossing guards to keep our kids safe going to school (the local and national statistics on bike and pedestrian
safety are absolutely terrifying, we need to be leaders in this and do everything possible to prevent traffic deaths). Also
to reopen our PUBLIC libraries fully ‐ rehire our librarians and bring back *all* the vibrant programming they used to
offer all over town!!
Thank you for your time and efforts.
Johanna Kracke
90404 resident with 2 children in SMMUSD
Item 16.D 08/23/22
6 of 9 Item 16.D 08/23/22
16.D.b
Packet Pg. 1311 Attachment: Written Comment (5320 : Discretionary funds to support Public Policy Symposium)
1
Vernice Hankins
From:Elizabeth Van Denburgh <emvandenburgh@gmail.com>
Sent:Monday, August 22, 2022 11:51 PM
To:councilmtgitems; Sue Himmelrich; Kristin McCowan; Christine Parra; Oscar de la Torre; Lana Negrete;
Phil Brock; Gleam Davis
Cc:David White
Subject:8/23/22 City Council Mtg. Agenda Item 16-D - Why is the city giving SMC $15,000 to the Public
Policy Institute at SMC?
EXTERNAL
Mayor Himmelrich and City Council Members,
Why is the city giving SMC $15,000 from its discretionary fund when I can't even get the Community Services
Department to give my neighborhood group any dollars to help activate Reed Park this summer? So you
know, we're having our second Fourth Friday Festival this Friday 8/26 with live music at 7 PM and an outdoor
movie of E.T. Bring your blanket, camp/beach chairs, picnic and/or snack and enjoy a summer evening out at
Reed Park. Event is sponsored and paid for by Wilmont, SMPD and SMPOA. If you can't make it this Friday,
please join us for 9/23 for live music at 7 PM and an outdoor movie of The Sandlot at Reed Park.
I researched the Public Policy Institute at SMC and saw that Dr. Richard Tahvildran-Jesswein, incumbent and
candidate for SMC Board is the Co-Director along with Shari Davis. SMC has a proposed budget for 2022-
2023 of more than $67 million. With that large a budget, how does the city decide to give the SMC Public Policy
Institute $15,000 for a symposium instead of activating Reed Park?
Somebody at SMC seems to be a much better negotiator than this resident.
Elizabeth Van Denburgh
Item 16.D 08/23/22
7 of 9 Item 16.D 08/23/22
16.D.b
Packet Pg. 1312 Attachment: Written Comment (5320 : Discretionary funds to support Public Policy Symposium)
1
Vernice Hankins
From:emsmail135@gmail.com
Sent:Tuesday, August 23, 2022 12:08 AM
To:councilmtgitems
Cc:Sue Himmelrich; Kristin McCowan; Gleam Davis; Lana Negrete; Christine Parra; Oscar de la Torre; Phil
Brock
Subject:Oppose CC agenda item 16D
EXTERNAL
Dear City Council,
I oppose the use of limited taxpayer dollars for this SMC event. Our finite resources must be
directed to critical City infrastructure and services, not superfluous, niche expenses.
Thank you,
Michelle Gray
Santa Monica resident
Item 16.D 08/23/22
8 of 9 Item 16.D 08/23/22
16.D.b
Packet Pg. 1313 Attachment: Written Comment (5320 : Discretionary funds to support Public Policy Symposium)
1
Vernice Hankins
From:Eunice Paek <minikiwi100@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, August 23, 2022 5:40 AM
To:councilmtgitems
Subject:Agenda item 16.D-OPPOSE
EXTERNAL
Hello;
Please add crosswalk between Pearl st and Ocean Park blvd on Lincoln Blvd. Or at the minimun have cross walk aids for
Ocean park blvd.
‐ Pearl st and Ocean Park Blvd is 4 long blocks far. Most cross walks on Wilshire blvd or Santa Monica Blvd are 1~2 block
apart. 4black apart is very pedestrian unfriendly.
‐ Adding a crosswalk will lower the motorcycle races on Lincoln blvd. in late nights. There will be less speeding cars.
‐ Link project which was already approved (Adding crosswalk islands and making Lincoln blvd. a more pedestrian friendly
street) were to add a cross walk on Cedar or Pine st. This will be a more efficient and safe place to cross and add cross
guards.
‐ With one of the most highly rated Elementary school being relocated to the corner of Lincoln+Ocean Park, this
crosswalk addition would be essential for the hundred of young children’s safety.
‐ Lincoln Blvd is the area that has the most potential to be developed with restaurants, coffee shops and all sorts of
amenities. People flow to Abbot Kinney or Rose after enjoying Ocean Park beach. We can bring back the flow to Lincoln
Blvd, with few anchor stores and shops to begin with and pedestrian friendly cross walk. The crosswalk and
development will pay for itself vey soon.
Thank you very much for your support and love for the city.
Sincerely,
Eunice Paek
90405
Item 16.D 08/23/22
9 of 9 Item 16.D 08/23/22
16.D.b
Packet Pg. 1314 Attachment: Written Comment (5320 : Discretionary funds to support Public Policy Symposium)