A seemingly straightforward agenda item regarding the amendment of Council rules of order and procedure turned into a hotbed of heated discussion and a passionate exchange of personal perspectives during the most recent meeting.
Proposed changes included but were not limited to, changing the start time for regular Council meetings from 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. and establishing a rule that stipulates who is allowed to attend councilmember briefings and agenda preparation meetings.
The issue stems from Councilwoman Caroline Torosis who has been using her council-funded stipend to pay for graduate student interns who have participated in some council activities. Other councilmembers took issue with both the way those interns were being funded and how they were being used.
According to Councilmember Christine Parra, a list of attendees at a recent meeting with the Pier Corporation included someone named Kendall Damon, who was there representing City Management on behalf of Councilmember Caroline Torosis.
"I don’t know who Kendall Damon is and so I can only assume that it must be Councilmember Torosis’ intern and this was of concern to me," Parra said, adding, "Because this went out to everyone on that mailing list and it looks like Kendall Damon is an employee of the City of Santa Monica … And I’m going to make an assumption here, because I don’t know how Councilmember Torosis is paying for her intern, but I do know that they’re not being paid by the City of Santa Monica.
"That’s great that you have that support, I wish I had that same support, but I don’t believe that they should be representing you as a city employee out in public," Parra said.
The new, proposed guidelines, referred to as "Rule 32," state that no council member shall authorize or permit any person who is not a City of Santa Monica employee, or duly appointed agent of the City, for example, outside counsel, contractor or consultant acting within the scope of that person’s job duties to rapidly represent them as a councilmember or represent the Council or the City at any meeting function or event.
Negrete said she, along with Parra and Councilmember Oscar de la Torre had at one time, all inquired into the possibility of having an intern and were told it wasn’t possible.
"The frustration was that I attended a meeting and was not informed there was another [Council representative] in the room and I didn’t know that Councilmember Torosis had found a way to have interns, which is nothing against her personally, but we would all love to have that support. And some of us don’t have the financial means to do that, so it makes it really unequal across the board," Negrete said.
In brief comments, Torosis said she had always been open with her intent to use interns.
"I just want to say that when I was running for this position, I told everyone when I was campaigning that I was planning to use my stipend to hire graduate students to help me and not one single person had an issue with that," she said. "Never have I ever held out anyone to be an employee of the City, however, I will say that I’ve proudly used my stipend to hire graduate students. Yes, I am someone with a full-time job and it isn’t possible for me to attend meetings on the pier between the hours of nine to five. I think that if you send someone to be your eyes and ears, I understand that some people have an issue with that," Torosis said.
"I would also say that I too, tried to bring an item to have staff and I wasn’t permitted to do that, so the acceptable compromise was for me to compensate through my stipends. I do support us having staff … I think we need to be serving the public in the best way possible. So if I choose to use my stipend to serve the public in the best way that I think is possible, that’s what I’ve chosen to do," said Torosis.
Councilmember Jesse Zwick said he didn’t understand why the use of interns was a problem.
"That’s a net benefit to the city when someone wants to use their resources to hear from more constituents and make sure that they are heard. So it doesn’t feel like it hurts me if someone wants to use their stipend to be more responsive to the community at which they were elected.
"I don’t see this as a zero sum game … I think with a city of this particular size and budget, we could all stand to have extra help, but if someone chooses to get extra help in order to be more responsive to the residents of this city, I’m very confused by how that hurts anyone," Zwick said.
At which point Negrete unloaded both barrels. "I would just like for everybody to take a moment and listen to what privilege sounds like because I just heard it, back to back. I’m speaking as someone who doesn’t come from privilege and … I’m going to guess that there’s some generational wealth on this dais," she said.
Staring directly at Zwick, she said the facial expressions and body language of some councilmembers was smug while criticizing what she said were statements about diversity while ignoring the reality of bringing diverse voices to the council.
"For me, I need my stipend, that $18,000 that we get … goes towards the time that some of us miss work. Some of us have people who we have to pay to pick up our kids to take them to soccer and whatever else they have to be at, so you can make all the faces you want because you don’t understand that reality," Negrete continued.
"The reason why this dais has not looked so diverse for so many years has, in my opinion, less to do with the color of your skin, but more to do with socio economic advantages. And if you don’t have the money and the luxury of time to do this job, let alone run to get up here, you’re probably not sitting up here," she continued.
Negrete described Zwick’s comments as offensive and comical saying someone who is in the midst of buying a home in the city can’t understand the difficulty lower-income individuals face when trying to live and work in the city. More specifically, Negrete said she felt candidates who run for office with a promise to represent the city should do that in person, not by proxy.
In response to the barrage of criticism, Zwick said he agreed that the Council as a group needed more support and that he supported efforts by other councilmembers to find ways to achieve that support.
Ultimately, after considerable back and forth over language, failed secondary motions and amendments, Council voted on the original motion made by Parra and Negrete five-to-two in favor of retaining the 5:30 p.m. start time and for the adoption of Rule 32 with Zwick and Torosis voting no.
