Santa Monica Pier is one of the most Instagrammed places in the world, visited by thousands of people every year. But not everything about the popular tourist destination is picture-perfect.
Parking, pedestrian access, earthquake preparedness, event planning — they’re all ongoing issues for the local agency that is tasked with addressing those and other matters relating to the Santa Monica landmark.
And after a couple years of interim status, the Santa Monica Pier Corporation Board has finally achieved a measure of stability. Tonight’s meeting of the pier board, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Ken Edwards Center (1527 4th St.), is its second with a seven-member group that includes three new appointees and four people from the previous panel.
The three new appointees have four-year terms. The four holdover members of the board were given two-year terms.
Abby Arnold, Christopher Foster and Allan Lipsky are recent additions to the board, a City-appointed nonprofit corporation that works closely with City staff on a variety of pier issues.
Arnold, a longtime Santa Monica resident, has worked as a budget analyst and grant writer for nonprofit organizations and government agencies. She currently serving as executive director of the Los Angeles Trade-Technical College Foundation.
Foster, a developer with strong ties to Missouri, is new to public service.
“Having grown up at Lake of the Ozarks and been involved in projects that balance the needs of both tourists and residents I feel I have a lot to offer the pier board,” Foster recently told LakeExpo.com, a Missouri-based news service. “One of the board’s primary goals is to make the pier more accessible for the locals while still attracting tourists.”
Lipsky, a real estate management consultant, is a former Planning Commission candidate who served on the old Pier Restoration Corporation. He was once the chief operating officer of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the agency overseeing the extension of the Expo Line to Santa Monica.
“When there’s a change in membership, there can be changes in emphasis,” board chair Judy Abdo said. “But the charge, really, is to operate the pier and to market and brand the pier and create events that are appropriate for the pier to bring local people there. Those ideas have not changed. The people who were appointed all expressed support for those kinds of tasks.”
Arnold, Foster, Lipsky and Abdo are part of a board that also includes Misti Kerns, Susan McCarthy and Barbara Stinchfield.
At tonight’s meeting, the board is expected to hear an update from city beach administrator Judith Meister, discuss Colorado Esplanade construction and review progress on capital improvement projects.
Abdo said the board will also likely move forward with an orientation for its new members and assign members to subcommittees following the recent reconfiguration. Previous working groups have focused on governance and transportation, among other issues.
“We’ll have to be clear about what the next deliverables might be,” she said.
jeff@www.smdp.com
