Council prioritized public safety over streets at its last meeting by diverting money from road projects to the Santa Monica Police Department.
The fiscal year 2024-25 proposed budget study session in Tuesday’s City Council meeting generated nearly three hours of discussion that was ultimately dominated by a trade off between a number of Capital Improvement Program (CIP) items, such as essential sidewalk maintenance and CCTV camera upgrades, in favor of adding four additional police officers in addition to its full quota.
The original choice, selected by City staff, to create funding for the four extra officers was to eliminate two one-time projects (sidewalks and security cameras), eliminate increases to city-wide facilities renewal program beyond base funding of $2 million and finally the use of Measure CS funds.
Each option comes with its own unique set of pros and cons. Measure CS was approved by voters in 2022 and increases taxes paid by visitors when staying in Santa Monica. The tax increase was pitched to voters "to address homelessness, improve 911 emergency response times and neighborhood police protection, make public areas safer and cleaner, including streets, sidewalks, parks, and the beach, and provide other vital City services."
Councilmember Gleam Davis expressed concern with the proposals.
"I was reading some historical documents from the early 2010s 2012 and back then there were some financial issues with cities, including Santa Monica. They were put on Moody's watch list, because we were tapping into our reserves [and there is] a risk that if we start tapping into our reserves, rating agencies will consider downgrading our bond," she said.
Police Chief Ramon Batista explained that currently, the department stands at 212 active officers, with 16 positions vacant. With the new officers, the department can now hire a total of 20 officers. Fifty five officers have been hired over the past two years.
There were options available to Council including manipulation of other projects on the CIP list or possibly additional cutbacks to hire eight new officers. However, few alternatives were discussed and Vice Mayor Lana Negrete was the only councilmember to suggest an alternative, which was to substitute eliminating the annual paving and sidewalk repair program with the court/ally equivalent. "I feel like if we're going to do Sophie's Choice that seems like a better choice," she said.
Davis was in agreement, remarking that part of her day job was dealing with "slip ‘n fall" lawsuits in the City of Los Angeles and anything that might increase those in the City of Santa Monica was not a good idea.
Councilmember Caroline Torosis asked Batista which would be more useful to the police department, CCTV or extra sworn officers, to which he replied, "When faced with a question about whether a person needs pants or shoes, a person needs both. This case, the department needs both."
The department ultimately received both after Council chose to make additional cuts to facilities programs rather than cut the cameras.
The final motion was to remove the annual paving program from the Held List (FY25-26 $250,000) and divert that to police department recruitment and hiring. The CCTV program goes back into the Funded List and the $500,000 alley renewal also goes into the police department staffing and recruitment. And on an ongoing basis, the city wide facility program will be reduced by $500,000. Finally, the Quick Build program will move from the Held List and go into the Funded list.
The issue of reducing airport fees was also discussed, but little to no action was possible. This is because under the conditions of the Consent Decree together with rules instigated by the FAA, the airport must remain non-profit and any surplus monies cannot be invested in other elements of the airport. Consequently, fees must be reduced to bring the profit back to zero. Breaking these terms could result in very expensive federal litigation.
The motion was made by Brock, seconded by Negrete and passed unanimously 7-0. A final public hearing of the budget will be presented to Council on June 25, 2024.
