In Tuesday’s relatively light City Council meeting, not only was Phil Brock officially recognized as Mayor as he and former Mayor Gleam Davis went through the formality of swapping seats, but long-serving City Clerk, Denise Anderson-Warren, was honored in her last Council meeting before retiring from public service.
Anderson-Warren’s first appearance in chambers was a special meeting on Friday, November 21, 2003, almost 20 years ago to the day. Back then, Richard Bloom was Mayor of Santa Monica and George W. Bush was President. The Iraq War was in progress, Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as governor of California and England became Rugby World Cup champions after defeating Australia 20-17 in extra time.
However, by this time, she’d already been an employee of the City of Santa Monica for over five years, serving as Deputy City Clerk before obtaining her certification as a Certified Municipal Clerk in 2003 from the International Institute of Municipal Clerks.
A video showing archived footage of that meeting was shown as part of a tribute to Anderson-Warren, who was Deputy City Clerk then. In May of 2016, a special proclamation on behalf of the City Council was made, declaring May 1 through 7, Municipal Clerks Week and she collected a certificate from then-Mayor Ted Winterer.
Interestingly, Gleam Davis joined the City Council in February 2009 and upon being elected to the position of Mayor Pro Tempore in December 2016, Anderson-Warren presided over the swearing in ceremony, her first at that point. The video montage included a nice collection of entertaining Council clips, including one showing the time on a clock as 4 a.m. during a particularly long meeting.
Councilmember Caroline Torosis presented Anderson-Warren with a certificate of recognition of service saying, “We recognize her for her dedication and service to the voters of Santa Monica, but I also want to acknowledge that she and her office were city clerks during a period of really great change for the way that we do elections in LA County … And that she was also the clerk during a global pandemic.
“I also just want to say that Denise and her office are the conduit between the public and the elected and although they’re behind the scenes, none of this would happen if it weren’t for Denise and her team,” Torosis added.
Following in a recently established tradition, Davis presented Anderson-Warren with a mocked up street sign in the style of the City of Santa Monica that had “Anderson-Warren Way” printed on it. She credited her husband Larry and her son Darius and her daughter Aneissa and spoke of how Santa Monica could pride itself on being a city that allows and encourages free and fair elections.
“I have to give my shout out to Maria Stewart. She was my clerk for 18 years and she taught me how to be patient, how to be fair, how to not take things personally. And when you sit here remember, you’re working in partnership with the Mayor or the Mayor Pro Tem to run this meeting to be efficient and effective,” Anderson-Warren said, adding, “Gleam, you’ve done an excellent job. Councilmember and soon-be-Mayor Brock, I wish you all the best and I leave you in good hands, I leave all of you in good hands with my staff.”
Every member of Council took a turn in thanking Anderson-Warren for her tireless service and patience.
“Denise, I just want to say thank you as someone who came on completely new and in the dark. You’re so patient, that’s an understatement, and so willing to teach and guide and really just made me feel welcome,” Mayor Pro Tempore Lana Negrete said.
“It’s pretty scary when you get up here and you don’t know the order of things. And then we get 800 page agendas. And I just appreciate the encouragement. And also being constantly and consistently available even after hours. Your family probably didn’t appreciate you being here to all hours of the morning, but we certainly did,” Negrete said.
scott.snowden@smdp.com
