Officials attempting to reorganize offices
CIVIC CENTER Having outgrown City Hall more than a decade ago, city officials are forced to lease roughly 43,000 square feet of office space at a cost of $130,000 a month so that employees can work with each other instead of on top of one another.
The lack of adequate elbow room within City Hall — where there are over 400 employees crammed into 66,000 square feet — and the physical disconnect between departments situated outside of the Civic Center are making it difficult for employees to function at their very best, those familiar with the situation said.
This has put pressure on the City Council and the City Manager’s Office to develop a plan to address growth, something which is expected to be discussed this fall.
“I don’t think there is a question in anybody’s mind that we need some additional space for City Hall, it’s just how to best achieve it, both in the short term and the long term,” said Assistant City Manager Gordon Anderson, who has been actively involved in creating options for the council to consider, which includes the construction of a temporary office building behind City Hall where the old jail once stood.
Another option could be to continue leasing space and start construction on a permanent municipal services building. The Civic Center Specific Plan identified the need for more than 40,000 square feet, and that does not include space needed to make City Hall more functional.
“We do not have the most efficient layout of space for our employees,” Anderson said. “And while our employees are very productive, I think we could provide better space for them and there is a recognition on the council that they would like to see that happen.”
Built in 1939 by architect Donald Parkinson, City Hall was originally meant to accommodate a city of 53,000. Over 40 years of growth has forced city officials to convert areas of the building that were originally meant for storage or other uses into offices, forcing some taller workers to duck when walking under a doorway.
There have been attempts to expand City Hall, the most recent being the addition of the mezzanine level in 1991, which is currently occupied by staff from plan-ning, community development, and community and cultural services.
Mayor Pro Tem Herb Katz, who has been vocal about the need for more space, has expressed some concern about the cost of a temporary office building, one which would have to be around for more than 20 years in order for the city to reap the full benefits of the investment.
But as rents for downtown offices rise dramatically — the base being somewhere around $5 a square foot, the highest in Los Angeles County — Katz said he is leaning heavily towards building a temporary building and using it until it’s deemed obsolete.
“We need to move on this now,” Katz said. “We have departments like planning and environmental that need to be adjacent to one another because they are working so close together … We’ve got to make it a one stop shop.”
Currently, departments located outside of City Hall include finance, which rents space next to the Doubletree hotel on Fourth Street; environmental programs, which has an office on the Santa Monica Pier and in downtown; and housing and economic development, which is located at the airport.
When leasing space, city officials obviously look for the best deals available, but they also want a lease that provides them with the most flexibility possible so that they can move employees to other locations depending on service needs, Anderson said.
While leasing provides an immediate solution, it isn’t the best option since the space is not under the city’s control.
Ramona Gandara, president of the Municipal Employees Association, said employees have complained over the years about the conditions of some buildings rented by City Hall. She recalls one situation in which there was a severe rodent problem. The problem got so bad, Gandara said the employees “became extremely unhappy and they didn’t stay there that long.”
“We prefer to be working at a city-owned site if at all possible because the city controls that [maintenance],” Gandara said. “If we have complaints, we can go to each other and get it solved quickly, whereas if its a lease, it works differently.”
Gandara said there is also the issue of security. Several months ago, the finance department was robbed by someone who was familiar with the building and could gain entrance fairly easily.
“When you own something, you just have more control over who’s coming and going,” said Gandara, who has worked outside of City Hall for more than 20 years as a member of the public landscaping division.
“It’s really rough at times,” Gandara added. “We really have outgrown ourselves.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 20, 2007. Read the original PDF.