1 David Yakobson
From: Evan McGee <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, September 21, 2026 11:48 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Item 16.A – Recreation and Parks Commission appointment – comment from applicant Evan McGee
EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor Torosis and Members of the City Council,
I'm one of the applicants for the vacant seat on the Recreation and Parks Commission, Item 16.A on Tuesday's agenda. I hope to be in the chambers to speak with you in person, but in the event I'm unable, I ask that this letter stand in for my public comment. I'd be grateful if you'd give it the same weight.
My family has called Santa Monica home for 18 years. My two kids go to our public schools, swim on the Sharks, and have grown up in our parks and on our beach the way I suspect many have. I serve as President of the Will Rogers Learning Community PTA, and I sit on the school district's Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee for Measures BB, ES, and SMS, where we provide independent oversight of how voter-approved facility bond dollars are spent.
Professionally, I'm a technology founder and CEO, and my company is based here on Main Street.
I'm applying because I believe our parks are one of the greatest assets to any city, and I believe I can be useful in three main ways during the remaining nine months on the existing seat in this Commission:
The first is keeping the Commission close to the families who use our parks every day. Through the PTA I spend every week with parents, teachers, coaches, and community partners who rely on our fields, pools, playgrounds, and recreation programs, and I hear directly what's working and what isn't. That kind of listening is how Rogers was honored this year as a PTA School of Excellence and became one of only three schools in the nation to win a Phoebe Apperson Hearst award for community engagement. The Commission is at its best when it hears residents that clearly, and I'd work to make sure it does.
The second is careful stewardship of public money on long-term projects. The Commission will be advising on how to care for what we already have while the City plans investments that will shape this town for generations. Bond oversight has illuminated what responsible stewardship of public funds looks like in practice, balancing the difference between asking hard questions and trying to do staff's job. I'd bring that respect into the room. Our new SMMUSD facilities are proof of what this community can build when oversight and expertise work together, and I'd like to help the City's parks get the same result.
The third is helping the City and our community organizations work together more naturally. To a family, a school field, the pool, and a concert on the beach are all just Santa Monica; behind the scenes, each depends on several institutions cooperating well. I've spent years working across those lines and I'd like to help the Commission continue to see our public spaces as one connected place, accessible for all.
I know this is a short term, ending next June. I'd treat it as a working appointment rather than a placeholder. It would be an honor to give something back to the city that has given my family so much.
Thank you for reading this, and for the work you do on our behalf.
Warm regards,
2 Evan McGee
Santa Monica resident, 90405