Request to Agendize a Report to the City Council from the Landmarks Commission
On June 14, 2022 the City Council reversed the landmark designation of a property owned, built and occupied by a leading proponent of racist real estate practices.1 The Council also unanimously adopted a motion directing the Landmarks Commission “to work with the Committee for Racial Justice and other groups within town, to try and come up with some criteria and framework for addressing these kinds of issues when they arise in the future, so that we will have a standardized way of dealing with these unfortunate situations.”
2 The Landmarks Commission established a sub-committee and formed a Working Group for Social Justice in Preservation which embarked on a two-year collaboration by the Landmarks Commission, City Staff, the Committee for Racial Justice and community stakeholders to create an expanded lens to evaluate the City’s historical landmarks. The recommendations from this effort are presented in the report, A Place For Everyone in Santa Monica’s History: Report from Working Group on Social Justice/Equity in Preservation.
This report offers seven recommendations based on participant research, listening sessions, and involvement of the diverse resident communities that have been traditionally underrepresented in the City’s Landmarks designation processes. The report also addresses repair of harm from racial and other inequities in the City’s historic preservation processes.
At its June 10, 2024 meeting, the Landmarks Commission reviewed the report and adopted a motion that the Subcommittee send a letter to Council noting that the Commission “endorses the report recommendations with the staff framework; Including that there are steps we can do right away with existing resources; and other recommendations require additional time and resources to develop and will return with future budget requests.”3
The Landmarks Commission requests that the City Council agendize a report from the Landmarks Commission (an Item 13 “Reports from Boards and Commissions”) to present this report and seek guidance from the Council on a path forward to accomplish its recommendations,
Thank you,
Dolores Sloan
Pam O’Connor
Commissioners
1 1665 Appian Way
2 https://santamonicacityca.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=15&ID=1342&Inline=True 3 https://www.smgov.net/departments/pcd/agendas/Landmarks-Commission/2024/20240812/s20240610-2A.pdf Santa Monica Landmarks Commission
Attachments:
Attachment A: A Place For Everyone in Santa Monica’s History: Report from Working Group on Social Justice/Equity in Preservation,
https://www.smgov.net/departments/pcd/agendas/LandmarksCommission/2024/20240610/s20240610-9Ba.pdf Attachment B: Landmarks Commission Staff Report, Revised June 7, 2024. https://www.smgov.net/departments/pcd/agendas/LandmarksCommission/2024/20240610/s20240610-9B.pdf Attachment C: Minutes of June 10, 2024 Landmarks Commission meeting, https://www.smgov.net/departments/pcd/agendas/LandmarksCommission/2024/20240812/s20240610-2A.pdf