Since the 1990s, Santa Monica City Hall has been closed to the public every other Friday. It’s part of a statewide effort to reduce car trips — to cut down on pollution and traffic.
Several other cities also are part of the program, but practice it in different forms. In Santa Monica, employees are supposed to work 80 hours a week in nine days, with most taking the 10th day off. Other cities just reduce their staff levels and keep their services available on Fridays.
But staff are considering opening some departments, like building and safety, to the public five days a week. The idea was proposed in a recent study looking at inefficiencies within City Hall, which also suggested customer service needs improvement.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 22, 2004. Read the original PDF.