1 October 10, 2023
CITY OF SANTA MONICA
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
OCTOBER 10, 2023
A regular meeting of the Santa Monica City Council was called to order by Mayor Davis at 5:30 p.m., on Tuesday, October 10, 2023, at City Council Chambers, 1685 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA.
Roll Call: Present: Mayor Gleam Davis
Mayor Pro Tem Lana Negrete
Councilmember Phil Brock
Councilmember Oscar de la Torre
Councilmember Christine Parra
Councilmember Caroline Torosis (arrived at 5:42p.m.)
Councilmember Jesse Zwick
Also Present: City Manager David White
City Attorney Douglas Sloan
City Clerk Denise Anderson-Warren
CONVENE/PLEDGE On order of the Mayor, the City Council convened at 5:30 p.m., with all members present except Councilmember Torosis. Councilmember Zwick led the assemblage in the Pledge of Allegiance.
MOMENT OF SILENCE The Council held a moment of silence to acknowledge those impacted and affected by the events unfolding in Israel and Gaza.
GENERAL PUBLIC INPUT:
Councilmember Torosis arrived at
5:42 p.m.
Members of the public Tania Owen, Cristina Coria, Monica Buelna, Laura Linder, Jill Hawkins, Rhea de Vlugt, Anthony, Sara Lee, Michael Pitkin, Jerry Rubin, Johnathan Foster, Peterson Loftin, Gail Gordon, Taylor Megdal, and John Madlin commented on various local issues.
PUBLIC INPUT FOR CLOSED
SESSION, SPECIAL AGENDA
ITEMS AND CONSENT
CALENDAR ONLY:
Members of the public Debbie Mulvaney, Ericka Leslie, Nicole Faries, Chris Harding (time donated by Laurie Lieberman), Dr. Anna Rogers, Karina Quintanilla (time donated by Esther Hickman), Michael Feinstein, Natalya Zernitskaya, Maria Loya, Ahmad Zahra (time donated by Anna Little), Angie Jimenez, Ambrose Brooks, Claire Simonich, Kevin Shenkman (time donated by Milton Grimes), Miguel Coronado, John Raphling, Richard Polanco (time donated by Alex Aldana), Rocio Castellanos, John Medlin, commented on closed session items.
There were no members present to comment on special agenda items.
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Members of the public Denise Barton and Peter Borreses commented on consent calendar items.
PROCLAMATIONS/
COMMENDATIONS/SPECIAL
MEETING ITEMS
3.A. Proclamation: Fire Prevention Week, was presented.
3.B. City Manager's Report, was presented.
CLOSED SESSIONS On order of the Mayor, the City Council recessed at 7:24 p.m., to consider closed sessions and returned at 11:30 p.m., with all members present, to report the following:
4.A. Conference with Real Estate Negotiator pursuant to Government Code §54956.8: Properties: 1) 2772-2800 Donald Douglas Loop North, Santa Monica, California, office space (~70,500 sq. ft.), Hangars 18-21 and 27-30 (~8,900 sq. ft.); 2) 3000 31st Street, Santa Monica, California, office space (~10,500 sq. ft.) and hangar space (~30,000 sq. ft); City Negotiator: Stelios Makrides, Chief Operations Officer/Airport Director; owner of record: City of Santa Monica; persons to be negotiated with:
Snap Inc.; under negotiation: commercial lease terms
The City Attorney advised this matter was heard with no reportable action taken.
4.B. Conference with Real Estate Negotiator pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.8: Property: 2828 Donald
Douglas Loop North, Santa Monica, California Offices and Pilot Lounge Premises (~5,300 sq. ft.), Corporate Hangar and
Maintenance Shop (~6,450 sq. ft.), Aircraft Main Ramp (~145,000 sq. ft.), Aircraft Overflow Ramp (~32,000 sq. ft.); and 3100 Donald Douglas Loop North, Santa Monica, California “Fuel Farm” (~3,800 sq. ft.) consisting of three 12,000 gallon and one 500 gallon underground storage tanks and associated systems and equipment; City Negotiator: Stelios Makrides, Chief Operations Officer/Airport Director; owner of record: City of Santa Monica; persons to be negotiated with: Atlantic SMO Holdings; under negotiation: terms for modified and extended lease. (continued from September 26)
The City Attorney advised this matter was heard with no reportable action taken.
4.C. Conference with Labor Negotiator - Government Code Section 54957.6. Consideration of the City Clerk Appointment and Process
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The City Attorney advised this matter was heard with no reportable action taken.
4.D. Conference with Legal Counsel – Existing Litigation – Gov. Code Section 54956.9(d)(1): Pico Neighborhood Association and Maria Loya v. City of Santa Monica; LASC Case No.
BC616804; Second District Court of Appeal Case No. B295935; California Supreme Court Case No. S263972
The City Attorney advised this matter was heard with no reportable action taken.
4.E. Conference with Legal Counsel – Considering Whether to Initiate Litigation – Gov. Code Section 54956.9(d)(1): City of Whittier, et al. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County, et al.; LASC Case No. 23STCP03579 (requested by Councilmember
Brock)
The City Attorney advised the Council approved joining the lawsuit by a 4 to 3 vote, with Councilmembers Zwick, Torosis, and Mayor Davis voting no.
Mayor Davis stated her no vote was because she doesn’t think this lawsuit will reinstitute cash bail nor will it make the city any safer. It simply reverts to the system that we were all existing to prior to October 1st, which many people were very concerned about, so she does not think this lawsuit in any way makes the city safer, keeps more criminals off the streets, and in fact it reduces our ability, the county’s ability to come up with a better bail system that the Judicial Council is trying to institute.
Councilmember Torosis stated her no vote was because she has seen firsthand how undue incarceration hurts people, hurts families, hurts women. And there’s empirical evidence, the Judicial Council of California released a recent report finding that a risk-based, zero bail system, which is what we have had since the pandemic, has led to increased public safety of 5.8% drop in people being re-arrested for misdemeanors, a 2.4% decrease of people being re-arrested for felonies, and the impact of our pandemic zero-based bail policy concluded that the rates of failure to appear in court and re-arrest, or new offenses remained either below or similar to historical averages, and in fact, for black people, for homeless people, for people with severe mental illnesses, the failure to appear rate was actually lower than it was prior to these zero-based policies. She also thinks it criminalizes poverty and perpetuates inequality in justice in our criminal legal system, and that’s actually why our courts have ordered DocuSign Envelope ID: CA73D00B-DE18-430A-848E-969996FAF908 4 October 10, 2023
that cash bail is unconstitutional. It doesn’t prevent crime from happening, but it keeps low-income individuals and disproportionally people of color in jail before trial. Black folks are much more likely to be subject to pretrial detention or receive higher bail than white people, and we all here believe in innocent until proven guilty. We are not talking about release after trial, we’re talking about prearraignment procedures. We should give L.A. Superior Court time to implement these procedures before spending county resources on illfated lawsuit that is likely going to be dismissed.
4.F. Conference with Legal Counsel – Existing Litigation – Gov. Code Section 54956.9(d)(1): Eric Canonico v. City of Santa Monica; LASC Case No. 21STCV22615
The City Attorney advised this matter was heard with no reportable action taken.
4.G. Conference with Legal Counsel – Existing Litigation – Gov. Code Section 54956.9(d)(1): Hector Orozco v. John Doe, Does 1-2; LASC Case No. 23SMCV03120
The City Attorney advised this matter was heard with no reportable action taken.
4.H. Conference with Legal Counsel – Existing Litigation – Gov. Code Section 54956.9(d)(1): John U.N.B. Doe, et al. v. City of Santa Monica, et al.; LASC Case No. 23STCV12746
The City Attorney advised this matter was heard with no reportable action taken.
4.I. Conference with Legal Counsel – Existing Litigation – Gov. Code Section 54956.9(d)(1): City of Santa Monica v. ICSOP, et al.; OCSC Case No. 30-2022-01261243
The City Attorney advised this matter was heard with no reportable action taken.
4.J. Conference with Labor Negotiator: Government Code
Section 54957.6 - Agency Designated Representatives: City Manager David White, Acting Human Resources Director
Michael Arnoldus, and Human Resources Manager Robert
Scalise; Bargaining Units: MTA-AFSCME Local 4819
This item was removed at the request of staff and not heard.
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CONTINUE PAST 11:00 PM. Motion by Mayor Davis, seconded by Councilmember Torosis, to continue with the Council meeting past 11:00 p.m. The motion was unanimously approved by voice vote, with all members present.
REPORT ON COUNCIL
TRAVEL
There was nothing to report on Council travel.
CONSENT CALENDAR: All items were considered and approved in one motion unless removed by a Councilmember for discussion.
Motion by Councilmember Brock, seconded by Councilmember Torosis, to approve the Consent Calendar, reading resolutions by title only and waiving further reading thereof. The motion was approved by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers de la Torre, Torosis, Brock, Parra, Zwick, Mayor Pro Tem Negrete, Mayor Davis
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
TAXICABS 5.A. Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance No. 2760 (CCS) Amending Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 6.49 on Taxicabs to Transition from Taxicab Franchises to Taxicab Permits, was adopted.
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the attached Ordinance.
DOWNTOWN AREA
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
5.B. Second Reading and Adoption of an Interim Zoning
Ordinance No. 2761 (CCS) Extending Interim Zoning Ordinance No. 2754 (CCS) Promoting Economic Recovery in the City’s Downtown Area, including the Third Street Promenade Area and Santa Monica Place, and Providing Other Minor and Clerical Amendments to the Zoning Ordinance Related to Economic
Recovery, was adopted.
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the attached Ordinance.
CITYWIDE ROOFING
SERVICES
5.C. Approval of First Modification of Agreement No. 10854 (CCS) with Best Contracting Services, Inc. for Citywide Roofing Services, was approved.
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
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1. Adopt a finding of Categorical Exemption pursuant to Section 15301 (Existing Facilities), of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines.
2. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a first modification to Agreement No. 10854 (CCS) in the amount not to exceed $854,620 with Best Contracting Services, Inc., for citywide roofing contractor services. This would result in a seven-year amended agreement through September 26, 2026, with a new total amount not to exceed $1,229,620, with future funding contingent on Council budget approval.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
FEES
5.D. Adoption of Affordable Housing Production Program Fee Resolution Nos. 11549 (CCS) & 11550 (CCS), were adopted.
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of no possibility of significant effect pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines.
2. Adopt attached Resolution No. 11549 (CCS) increasing the Affordable Housing Unit Base Fee by 5.8 percent for new market-rate apartments and condominiums (Attachment A).
3. Adopt attached Resolution No. 11550 (CCS) increasing the Affordable Housing Unit Development Cost by 5.8 percent (Attachment B).
FINAL TRACT MAP
2002 21st STREET
5.E. Adoption of Resolution No. 11551 (CCS) Approving Final Map for Condominium at 2002 21st Street, was adopted.
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding that the proposed project was previously analyzed in the certified 2002 21st Street Project
Environmental Impact Report (State Clearinghouse No.
2007031019), and no further review is required pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act; and
2. Adopt the attached resolution approving Final Tract Map No. 66625.
ANNUAL STREET PAVING
AND SIDEWALK REPAIR
PROJECT
5.F. Award Construction and Construction Management
Contracts for Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Annual Street Paving and Sidewalk Repair Project, was approved.
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
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1. Adopt a finding of Categorical Exemption pursuant to Section 15301 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines.
2. Award Bid #SP2680 to Sully-Miller Contracting Company for construction services for the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Annual Street Paving and Sidewalk Repair Project for the Public Works Department.
3. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute Contract No. 11487 (CCS) with Sully-Miller Contracting Company in an amount not to exceed $2,853,346 (including a 10%
contingency).
4. Authorize the Director of Public Works to issue any necessary change orders to complete additional work within contract authority.
5. Award Request for Proposals (RFP) #SP2680 to PSOMAS to provide construction management, observation, and material testing services for the FY 2023-24 Annual Street Paving and Sidewalk Repair Project and the Street Lighting
Modernization Program - Package 3 Project for the Public Works Department.
6. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute Contract No. 11488 (CCS) with PSOMAS in an amount not to exceed
$600,000.
LONG TERM INSURANCE
COVERAGE
5.G. Approval of Agreement No. 11489 (CCS) with Trustmark for Long Term Care Insurance Coverage, was approved.
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of no possibility of significant effect pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines; and
2. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with Trustmark for Long-Term Care (LTC)
insurance coverage for a period of 5 years with one additional one-year option for the Human Resources Department. This is a no cost contract to the City with an estimated value of $240,000. All services are paid by the plan participants, who are employees that voluntarily elect to obtain LTC coverage.
PUBLIC INPUT ON
REMAINING AGENDA
ITEMS:
Members of the public Denise Barton, Michael Feinstein, Marc Verville (time donated by Lori Brown), Adrian Harewood, Clare Thomas, Kathy Knight, Jeanne Laurie, John Murdock, Zina Josephs (time donated by Karen Greenwalt), Tricia Crane (time donated by Lynette Kozdron), Karen Melick, Stephan Mark, Pam O’Connor, DocuSign Envelope ID: CA73D00B-DE18-430A-848E-969996FAF908 8 October 10, 2023
Alan Levenson, Cathy Larson, Ann Bowman (time donated by Jaleh Mirhashemi), Andrew Wilder, and John C. Smith commented on Item
7.A.
Member of the public Peter Borresen commented on Item 10.C.
Member of the public Denise Barton commented on Item 10.D.
Members of the public Ericka Leslie, Natalya Zernitskaya, Lori Brown, Dan Hall, commented on Item 16.C.
Member of the public Denise Barton commented on Item 16.E.
Members of the public Ericka Leslie, Natalya Zernitskaya, Michele Aronson commented on Item 16.F.
Member of the public Peter Borresen commented on Item 16.G.
Member of the public Kelli McLin commented on 16.H.
Member of the public Denise Barton commented on Item 16.I.
STUDY SESSION:
AIRPORT PANEL PROCESS
7.A. Discussion on the Lottery-Selected Panel Process for the Airport, was presented.
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that City Council:
1. Review and comment on the democratic lottery process as the primary public engagement method for the Future of the Santa Monica Airport project;
2. Provide direction to staff about: the framing question the Lottery Selected Panel would answer and whether the Lottery Selected Panel should be comprised of Santa Monica residents only or also include business owners and/or people from the adjacent West Los Angeles area; and
3. Direct staff to prepare a sole source contract, as an exception to the competitive bidding process pursuant to Section
2.24.250 (b), for Healthy Democracy to provide the services related to the democratic lottery process and bring it back for Council review in November.
Questions asked and answered of staff included: this is not the only opportunity for people to weigh in on the Future of the Airport process; does the Council have to accept the recommendation; are the panels open to the public; isn’t there an information committee that is being formed, and will board and commission be involved in the DocuSign Envelope ID: CA73D00B-DE18-430A-848E-969996FAF908 9 October 10, 2023
information committee; how do we ensure that we have a statistically diverse demographic on the committee; what exactly defines demographic; what information is being included in the letter being sent out to potential committee members; what is meant by “balanced information”; why was any mention of a park or Measure LC in the staff report or any of the documents; whose going to be administering the third party evaluation process; whose being called in as professionals as part of the evaluation process; is there a relationship between Healthy Democracy and former Housing Commissioner Leonora Camner; what is the cost of the Healthy Democracy process; why wasn’t a RFP done and where do the other firms fall that weren’t recommended; what is the end result in Petaluma; what are the international projects and where are they; how do we get more information on the specificity of what the lottery system is going to be in order to reassure the public that the wishes of Measure LC will be upheld; if we went through a normal process, how would that look compared to the recommended lottery process; how much staff time would it take to do this process in-house as opposed to going with an outside consultant, and what would that look like; who will have the ultimate authority on making the final decision on the
recommendation; what about Measure LC, will it have to change or be rewritten to meet the recommendation; what are the traditional failures in the process the way things are; how does this process make the conversation less confrontational; what are the stakeholders opportunities to participate in the information process; how does the random selection process work; if people are selected, how do you mitigate the different levels of education, socio-economic status to ensure that everybody’s starting at the same point; how do you deal with the activist voice at the table, and how can they be heard; is there any time when a process has not gone well; how do we create a process that brings more people into the process; did our staff reach out to Petaluma to find out their satisfaction with the lottery process; with regards to Healthy Democracy, is there anything they do to guide the results; is one of the benefits that staff sees is that the recommendation was a rigorous process that has legitimacy to it that’s hard to ignore; how long would a complete RFP process for the public participation take; are there other groups who do the same type of work as Healthy Democracy; why are we still at only one vendor, and was there a wider net cast in the RFQ process; what are the past processes for outreach; and, what is the ability of any other group to ensure a broader input from the public.
Considerable discussion ensued on topics including, but not limited to: there doesn’t seem like Healthy Democracy has a lot of projects that they can show as examples of their work; concern that there is a better use for these monies to address the cities basic needs; it seems DocuSign Envelope ID: CA73D00B-DE18-430A-848E-969996FAF908 10 October 10, 2023
like staff is advocating strongly for Healthy Democracy and the lottery process; there’s a lot of distrust of city staff and that’s why there is so much negativity around this proposed process; there’s a lot of questions regarding Healthy Democracy’s motives and if they are pushing for housing; concern that certain groups in the city are upset that this process will broaden the outreach process and that those residents will lose their power to influence the final recommendation; and, falling back on using the traditional methods of outreach to receive public process is not very inclusive or will bring diverse opinions to the table.
Motion by Councilmember Torosis, seconded by Councilmember Zwick, to approve the recommendation and provide direction: 1) strike out the word “and development” from the framing question one and add wording “a manner consistent with Measure LC, and 2) the panel would include up to two people who live adjacent West Los Angeles area, but not non-resident business owners, and direction to staff to prepare a sole source contract as an exception to the competitive process for Healthy Democracy to provide the services related to the democratic lottery process and bring it back for Council review in November.
Substitute motion by Councilmember Brock, seconded by
Councilmember de la Torre, to direct staff to open a competitive bid process for the public participation process of the Airport planning.
Councilmember Brock amended his substitute motion to go back to Sasaki to get a price for a traditional outreach portion of the contract and bring back their proposal in November when they return with the technical part of the Airport planning process. The amendment was considered friendly by the seconder.
The amended substitute motion was approved by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Parra, Brock, de la Torre,
Mayor Pro Tem Negrete
NOES: Councilmembers Zwick, Torosis, Mayor Davis
ABSENT: None
CONTINUE PAST 11:00 P.M. Motion by Councilmember Torosis, seconded by Councilmember de la Torre, to continue the remainder of the agenda to the October 24th meeting, with the exception of hearing items 16.D. and 16.E. tonight, due to the timing on those items. The motion was unanimously approved by voice vote, with all members present.
ORDINANCES: 10.A. Introduction and First Reading of an Ordinance DocuSign Envelope ID: CA73D00B-DE18-430A-848E-969996FAF908 11 October 10, 2023
ACCESS & STREET
IMPROVEMENTS
Replacing Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 7.04.800
(Access and Street Improvements) in its Entirety, was continued to the October 24, 2023 meeting.
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of exemptions pursuant to Section 15301, 15303, 15304, and 15305 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines and Section 21080.25 of
CEQA.
2. Introduce for first reading the attached ordinance replacing the codified text of Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter
7.04.800 in its entirety to clarify the City’s public right of way requirements for new development.
MASTER SERVICES
AGREEMENT
10.B. Introduction and First Reading of Ordinance Amending Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 2.24.110 and
2.24.220(g)(Master Services Agreements), was continued to the October 24, 2023, meeting.
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of no possibility of significant effects pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines
2. Introduce for first reading a proposed ordinance amending Santa Monica Municipal Code Sections 2.24.110 and
2.24.220(g) related to Master Services Agreements.
MARIJUANA ZONING
ORDINANCE AMENDMENT
10.C. Introduction and First Reading of an Interim Zoning Ordinance Amending the Text of the Zoning Ordinance to: (1) Replace the Term “Medical Marijuana Dispensary” with
“Medicinal Cannabis Retailer”; (2) Remove Certain
Requirements for Medicinal Cannabis Retailers for Consistency with State Law; and (3) Permit Medicinal Cannabis Retailers To Deliver, Cultivate, and Sell Adult-Use Cannabis or Adult-Use Cannabis Products to Persons 21 Years of Age and Over, was continued to the October 24, 2023, meeting.
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of Categorical Exemption pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines.
2. Introduce for first reading an Interim Zoning Ordinance amending the text of the Zoning Ordinance to replace the term DocuSign Envelope ID: CA73D00B-DE18-430A-848E-969996FAF908 12 October 10, 2023
“Medical Marijuana Dispensary” with “Medicinal Cannabis Retailer”, to remove certain requirements for Medicinal Cannabis Retailers for consistency with State law, and to permit Medicinal Cannabis Retailers to deliver, cultivate, and sell adult-use cannabis or adult-use cannabis products to persons 21 Years of Age and Over.
3. Introduce for first reading an Ordinance amending Section
6.203.010 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code to allow
medicinal cannabis retailers with medicinal cannabis permits issued before October 10, 2023, to deliver, cultivate, and sell adult-use cannabis and adult-use cannabis products to persons 21 years of age and over, subject to Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.31.185.
WATER & WASTEWATER
CAPACITY STUDY
10.D. Introduction and First Reading of Water and Wastewater Capacity Study Ordinances, was continued to the October 24, 2023, meeting.
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of Categorical Exemption pursuant to Section 15061 (b)(3) and Section 15308 of the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines.
2. Introduce for first reading the attached ordinance to amend Santa Monica Municipal Code 7.12.180 to require water
capacity studies for new developments.
3. Introduce for first reading the attached ordinance to amend Santa Monica Municipal Code 7.04 to require wastewater
capacity studies for new developments.
COUNCILMEMBER
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
DISABILITIES COMMISSION
16.A. Appointment to one unscheduled vacancy on the
Disabilities Commission for a term ending on 6/30/2025, was continued to the October 24
th meeting due to there being no
applicants.
DISABILITIES COMMISSION 16.B. Recommendation to accept Cinzia Paganuzzi's resignation from the Disabilities Commission and authorize the City Clerk to publish the vacancy, was continued to the October 24, 2023, meeting.
JUSTICE FOR RENTERS ACT 16.C. Request of Mayor Davis and Councilmembers Torosis and Zwick that the City Council support the Justice for Renters Act.
The California Secretary of State has verified that the Justice for Renters Act has qualified for the November 2024 state ballot. The Justice for Renters Action is an initiative which will expand local control over rent laws by replacing The Costa-Hawkins Rental DocuSign Envelope ID: CA73D00B-DE18-430A-848E-969996FAF908 13 October 10, 2023
Housing Act. Costa Hawkins prohibits rent control on singlefamily homes, condominiums and rental units that were built after 1995. The Justice for Renters Act removes this ban on rent control in California, giving local communities the right to stabilize rents and make apartments more affordable for lowincome and middle-income renters. Repealing Costa Hawkins will help local government address one of the root causes of homelessness--skyrocketing rents and unaffordable housing.
Mayor Davis and Councilmembers Torosis and Zwick also
request that the City Manager issue a press release indicating the City Council’s support for the proposed ballot initiative and send a letter of support from the City to the Governor, Senator Ben Allen, Assemblymember Rick Zbur, and to the proponents of the Justice For Renters Act, was continued to the October 24, 2023, meeting.
VETERAN’S DAY FEE
WAIVING
16.D. Request of Mayor Davis that the City waive application, administrative, and rental fees associated with the partial use of the parking lot on the Santa Monica Pier as well as Santa Monica Beach Parking Lot 1 North to support the City’s annual
commemoration of Veterans Day honoring and celebrating all those who have served our country in the Armed Forces, being planned in coordination with the United States Army, was presented.
Motion by Councilmember de la Torre, seconded by Councilmember Torosis, to approve the recommendation. The motion was approved by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Zwick, Parra, Brock, Torosis,
de la Torre, Mayor Pro Tem Negrete, Mayor Davis
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
TRAVEL FUNDS 16.E. Request of Councilmembers Parra, de la Torre, and Mayor Pro Tem Negrete that the Council authorize the use of their travel funds to accept an invitation from the Embassy of El Salvador to visit the country from November 6-10, 2023. The agenda includes meeting the ambassador and various government officials to discuss public safety, education, and tourism as well as evaluating beach communities for future sister city partnerships, was presented.
Motion by Mayor Pro Tem Negrete, seconded by Councilmember Parra, to approve the recommendation. The motion was approved by the following vote:
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AYES: Councilmembers de la Torre, Torosis, Brock, Parra, Zwick, Mayor Pro Tem Negrete, Mayor Davis
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
SUPPORT BARRINGTON
PLAZA TENANTS
16.F. Request of Councilmember Torosis, Mayor Davis and Councilmember Zwick that the City Council adopt a resolution in support of the tenants of Barrington Plaza as they fight mass eviction, and direct staff to send copies of the adopted resolution to the Barrington Plaza tenants' association, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, the Los Angeles City Councilmember that represents the tenants of Barrington Plaza, and to Douglas Emmett Inc. headquartered in Santa Monica, and other parties as deemed appropriate, was continued to the October 24, 2023, meeting.
SUPPORT AB 1033 16.G. Request of Councilmember Zwick, Councilmember Torosis and Mayor Davis that the City of Santa Monica support AB 1033 (Ting) and, upon the governor’s signature, draft a local ordinance to allow the separate conveyance of the primary dwelling unit and ADU or ADUs as condominiums, was continued to the October 24, 2023, meeting.
ENGINEERED
COUNTERTOPS
16.H. Request of Councilmember Brock that the City Attorney and City Manager consider developing and evaluate the impacts of an ordinance prohibiting the manufacture, sale, and/or installation of engineered countertops in Santa Monica. The fabrication of engineered countertops releases silica dust, and inhalation of silica dust can cause silicosis, a serious and deadly disease. On June 6, 2023, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors adopted a motion instructing the Director of Public Health to report on options to ban the sale, fabrication, and installation of silica fabricated stone in Los Angeles County. In addition, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health has indicated that they will develop workplace standards for workers who handle engineered stone. Prior to developing a local ordinance, the City Attorney and City Manager are being asked to consider the findings of the Los Angeles County Director of Public health and standards developed by Cal/OSHA to determine its feasibility. - New item Received 10/5/2023, was continued to the October 24, 2023, meeting.
REGISTRATION FEES &
TRAVEL EXPENSES
16.I. Request of Councilmember Zwick that the Council
authorize use of his travel funds to cover the registration fees and travel expenses associated with attending the YIMBYtown Annual Conference to be held February 26-28, 2024, in Austin, DocuSign Envelope ID: CA73D00B-DE18-430A-848E-969996FAF908 15 October 10, 2023
TX. - New item Received 10/5/2023, was continued to the October 24, 2023, meeting.
HOUSING COMMISSION 16.J. Appointments to two unscheduled vacancies on the Housing Commission for terms ending on 6/30/2024 and
6/30/2026. - New item Received 10/5/2023, was continued to the October 24, 2023, meeting.
ADJOURNMENT On order of the Mayor, the City Council meeting adjourned at 3:55 a.m. in memory of Ron Goldman.
ATTEST: APPROVED:
Denise Anderson-Warren Gleam Davis
City Clerk Mayor
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