The main item on the agenda for the June 27 Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. (DTSM) monthly board meeting was supposed to be a presentation by security firm Legion after six months of deployment, followed by a vote on how to proceed with this program going forward to next year.
According to the agenda, there was to be a presentation by Joseph Shelley, Founder of Legion Corporation, on the "status of the downtown private security pilot program" lasting approximately 60 minutes. That was to be followed by a discussion tabled for around 30 minutes, where the "Board will discuss amending the property-based assessment district management plan to extend or make permanent the downtown private security pilot program."
However, an unexpected presentation, lasting 48 minutes that was not listed on the agenda, threw a little confusion into proceedings.
This focused much more on the role of the SMPD in policing the Promenade and Downtown area and while it prompted considerable discussion among the board members and public input, it was never going to be an item that required a vote of any kind. Thomas told the Daily Press that it was "intended to inform the private security discussion," adding, "It went a little long."
During Shelley’s presentation, which was somewhat condensed given the new time constraints, he explained how 93% of 5,400 arrests were people that did not originate from Santa Monica. "This reflects the transient nature of the City and how much is really committed by people who don’t actually live here," Shelley said.
"As we all know, Santa Monica is more than just a city, it’s an ideal, a brand and an icon. To uphold these ideals, we must be ready to adapt and adjust as the world changes around us," Shelley said, adding, "One key reason for the widespread use of security services is their unique ability to address issues that are not criminal in nature."
He explained that not having overnight security leads to a buildup of activity and camping at night, leaving extra work in the morning to clean up and reset for the day. "People know there is no overnight security, so it draws people to the area during the day where they wait in parks and on the beach," he said.
Shelley presented statistics showing the number and types of incidents the members of Legion have faced each month since their inaugural deployment on December 2, 2023. There didn’t appear to be any kind of predictable pattern, but what he did share with the board was a number of instances of how the staff of Legion have actually managed to save lives.
Credit: Legion Corporation
In the six month period since Legion began operating, they’ve observed nearly 1,500 individual instances of drug use. As such, they’ve identified many who are suffering from an overdose and by acting quickly and effectively, together with calling emergency services, Legion has saved lives.
"In January, our officers observed an adult male who was in apparent medical distress, heavily intoxicated and visibly swollen. Emergency Services were contacted and he was transported to the hospital," Shelley said, citing just one example.
The board’s discussion, while somewhat fragmented towards the end, seemed to still be very positive.
However, prior to Shelley’s presentation and as Leyva’s presentation was wrapping up, Board Member Luke Cain announced that he had to leave. Some time afterwards, Board Member Leo Pustilnikov also got up and left. Only he didn’t actually utter a word. It wasn’t until later when Andrew Thomas, CEO of DTSM, asked where Pustilnikov was and no one actually knew, it became clear that he had left the room without informing anyone.
The Daily Press reached out to Pustilnikov to inquire what his reason was, to which he responded by email, "I only showed up to make sure we had quorum [sic]. I asked Andrew [Thomas] if we could start earlier as I had a Beverly Hills council hearing to prepare for with my attorney."
Vice Chair Michele Aronson had also exited the meeting early and Board Member Lucian Tudor announced that he too had to leave. However, his departure was past the point in the evening’s proceedings where a vote would’ve taken place. Moreover, with the already declared absenteeism of Bruce Fairty and Julia Ladd, together with Susan Cline, the quorum was lost following Pustilnikov’s exodus. Consequently, the future of Legion was left undetermined until the next board meeting in July.
Speaking to the Daily Press regarding the troubling truancy of some board members, Thomas said, "Our DTSM, Inc. board members volunteer their time to serve their community. The attendance record of our Board members is very high. There are occasions when our members cannot attend a meeting or they must leave a meeting early."
"Fortunately, we just need a quorum to conduct business, so we have, almost without exception, been able to do our work even when a member or members miss a meeting. The June 27, 2024 meeting is certainly an outlier for us," Thomas said.
July’s meeting, scheduled for July 25, will see new appointees joining the DTSM board. Joining a reelected Joshua Gilman from Walter N Marks, Inc, who will serve his third and final term representing Zone 1, will be the also reelected Bruce Fairity from Cypress Equity Investments serving the Lincoln Zone and the new face will be Zone 2 elected candidate Edna Galindo, from United El Segundo, inc.
And we still have the three appointments from the City Council coming on July 9. Peter Trinh, Ericka Lesley and Barry Snell are all City appointees. Snell has served three terms, so he cannot serve a fourth. Trinh and Lesley are, in essence, incumbents and have only served one term, however Lesley is running for a seat on council, but she can remain a member of DTSM until her election is successful, at which point she has to leave. But both of them can — and have —applied to be appointed once again for the city-appointed seats. The full list of all 11 applicants also vying for those seats can be found here. Applications closed on Tuesday, July 2 and the results will be announced on Tuesday, July 9 during the City Council meeting.
