As City Council meetings regularly seem to sail into the early hours of the morning more often than not recently, some items will invariably get pulled. One noticeable item that was on the agenda for the last meeting and suffered from the scythe of agenda management was a discussion item on the annual appointments to a number of boards and commissions within the City of Santa Monica.
There are currently 25 different boards and commissions, including the recent Human Services Commission and a number of attempts have been made in recent meetings to discuss new appointees, with one or two popping up periodically on the agenda. However, all seven members of Santa Monica City Council must be present in order to pass a decision on any of these.
The list includes some significant entries including, but not limited to, the Planning Commission, the Housing Commission, the Recreation & Parks Commission and Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. (DTSM).
The structure of each of these can vary significantly. For example, DTSM votes within its members to appoint new board members, but at the same time there are three City-appointed positions that form part of that board and it’s these that are coming up.
Board members Peter Trinh, Barry Snell and Ericka Lesley are all CIty appointees. Snell has served three terms, so he cannot serve a fourth. Lesley and Trinh 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 Lesley and Trinh can — and have — applied to be appointed once again for the city-appointed seats.
But there are nine other applicants also vying for those seats. That list includes, Kurt Isensee (owner of Santa Monica Mailbox Rental), Natasha Rusler (owner of Solidarity restaurant), Jon Farzam (co-owner of The Shore Hotel and the Ocean View Hotel), Berta Negari (affiliated with XYZ Rent), Hudson Maudlin (asset manager for Promenade Gateway), Michelle Cardiel (events permitting), Hodge Patterson (CEO Santa Monica YMCA), Andrea Salerno (VP, SPI Management) and Albin Gielicz (business development consultant).
Gielicz is no stranger to local politics as he ran for council a few years ago. However, as an example of how you don’t have to raise tens of thousands of dollars to make a difference in this city, he’s running for a place on the DTSM board instead.
"As a staunch supporter of our local businesses and economy, I’ve decided to apply my knowledge of Santa Monica, strong relationships and 10+ years of experience on the Montana Merchants Association to work with the DTSM staff as a board member and ensure a full economic recovery with the revival of the Promenade and other commercial corridors in the downtown," he told the Daily Press.
Another example is the Recreation & Parks Commission. However, these positions are all decided by councilmember’s votes. Six people in total are vying for three positions and the list includes two incumbents, Steven Johnson, current Chair and Maryanne LaGuardia. Joining them are Larry Arreola, Nikki Kolhoff, Jaleh Mirhashemi and Greg Morena.
The Santa Monica Pier Corporation is also looking to fill three positions, with six residents looking to compete for those, including incumbents Randi Parent, Christopher Foster and Jeff Jarow together with newcomers Julieta Giner, Greg Morena and David Newberg.
The Disabilities Commission is also looking for three appointees as is the Building & Fire-Life Safety Commission, but where the former simply stipulates that the applicant must "reside or work in Santa Monica and self-identify as a person with a disability," the latter is looking for more specific qualifications; one must be a California licensed building contractor, one must be a California-certified access specialist and one must be a California-registered fire protection engineer.
With the exception of Planning Commissioners, these roles are unpaid, volunteer positions. According to the City website, members of boards and commissions may be reimbursed for expenses in the amount of $25 per meeting, not to exceed $50.00 per month. Planning Commissioners receive a meeting stipend of $40.47 per meeting, with a monthly maximum of $100. Attendance at at least three quarters of the meeting is mandatory to receive payment.
Fingers crossed the results of these will be discussed and announced at the Council meeting on Tuesday, July 9. Finally, there are a lot of Consent Calendar items, including a number of budget plans, so providing none of those get pulled, the meeting stands a reasonable chance of getting to the end. That said, two discussion items have been placed on the agenda that, if addressed, will no doubt spark considerable conversation. The first is that "the City must do more to address public safety and the homelessness crisis" and the second is regarding the recent Grants Pass Supreme Court decision and how it applies to the city’s commitment to clean and safe living.
