Tuesday’s City Council meeting will be dominated by two Study Sessions, the first of which addresses the economic issues faced by the City associated with hosting the beach volleyball event during the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
And the second of which will also address financial issues, but those regarding enhancing public safety and addressing homelessness. Moreover, both of these will almost certainly draw significant public comment.
The City has engaged in extensive negotiations with the LA28 organization to secure the honor of hosting the beach volleyball event given the history Santa Monica has with the sport and the fact that several other coastal locations in the city of Los Angeles would be more than happy to step in should they need to.
A total of four agreements must be executed to formalize Santa Monica’s participation. The Games Agreement is the first of these and is especially critical because it lays the foundation and framework for all future agreements.
A fiscal impact study conducted by HR&A Advisors projects that the City would be responsible for $15.54 million in estimated costs to prepare for and host the Olympic games. If the City were to choose to not host beach volleyball, it stands to gain $10.65 million in fiscal benefits. The City would only generate $2.79 million in additional revenues if it hosted Olympic events, but would face significantly higher costs. Overall, hosting beach volleyball could translate to a total net loss to the City of $12.1 million.
However, the exact scope of services or level of reimbursement is not actually defined in the Agreement, thus requiring the City to commit to providing services without understanding the required service levels or costs, which will be defined in subsequent agreements.
If the council gives direction to move forward, a finalized Games Agreement would come back for a final vote at a future meeting. Exact terms, conditions, costs and operational details would be negotiated in three additional future agreements.
Back in July, Council directed staff to return with a study session on the best ways to make strategic investments to enhance public safety and address our homelessness crisis. This was done in conjunction with placing a Parking Facility Tax measure (Measure K) on the November 2024 ballot.
The measure was originally rejected during the June 25 meeting, however, during the July 9 meeting Vice Mayor Lana Negrete — who had originally opposed it — asked the City Council to direct the City Manager to halt the process to identify tradeoffs and budget reallocations within the existing budget.
According to the staff report, the decision to place this on the ballot "was driven by the city’s fragile financial position, facing unprecedented liabilities, deferred infrastructure maintenance, slow growth of tax revenues and an extremely competitive labor market."
If approved by voters in November, Measure K is estimated to raise an annual $6.7 million, at least half of which would be spent on public safety and addressing homelessness. In response to that direction, departments with lead responsibilities for public safety and addressing homelessness developed proposals with a "focus on programs and services that would be effective, make the most immediate impact in our community, and increase visibility into how the city is addressing these issues."
Other highlights include a public hearing and adoption of a resolution approving the California Municipal Finance Authority to issue revenue bonds for the benefit of 1634 20th Street LP, a developer of affordable housing in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $45,000,000 to finance the project.
Councilmembers will also hear the adoption of a resolution amending the Council rules of procedure regarding Councilmember discussion items pursuant to direction given at the Council meeting on September 10. The amended rules would require discussion items proposed by Councilmembers to be reviewed by the City Attorney and City Manager before being placed on the agenda.
There are also eight items on the Consent Calendar, so depending on whether or not any are pulled for discussion will very much determine the length of this meeting.
scott.snowden@smdp.com
