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# Consultants for human resources to cost $150K
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/consultants-for-human-resources-to-cost-150k/
- Published: 2004-12-14T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T05:48:06.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*LEASES, CONSULTING*

*By SUSAN TAM Special to the Daily Press*

(Editor’s note: This is part of an ongoing series that tracks the city’s expenditures, which appear on the upcoming Santa Monica City Council consent agenda. Consent-agenda items are routinely passed by the City Council with little or no discussion from elected officials or the public. However, many of the items have been part of public discussion in the past).

COUNCIL CHAMBERS — More than $3.6 million will likely be spent tonight on everything from tearing down part of City Hall to beefing up the planning department’s staff to promoting Santa Monica as a tourist destination.

The City Council is expected to spend $2.475 million to demolish the east part of City Hall, according to city staff reports. The empty building, located behind City Hall, used to house the Santa Monica Police Department. When the SMPD moved to the new $72 million Public Safety Facility last year, it left the city responsible for the empty building’s maintenance and security. As a result, city officials devised a two-phase plan to get rid of the structure and replace it with a courtyard. The courtyard is only temporary — public officials have not yet determined what to develop on the site, according to city staff.

The original City Hall, built in 1939, was a U-shaped structure and is historically landmarked. In 1958, a three-story building was added in the back to allow room for the SMPD to expand. However, the SMPD outgrew its space.

AT CITY HALL The City Council also will inject $533,000 into the planning department so it can hire more employees from outside firms. The decision is based on recommendations made by the Matrix Consulting Group, which was hired by City Hall for $75,000 to study why the planning department operates inefficiently.

The department has been under fire by residents, developers and business owners for being notoriously slow and bureaucratic. They complain that getting what should be simple approvals costs them thousands of dollars in time and delayed plans.

But officials within the department, who say they are short-staffed and City Hall’s complex laws and policies slow down the process, hadn’t until recently been ready to take action on fixing the problems.

Among the expenditures will be $300,000 in contracts with two firms that will provide construction plan review and inspection services. An additional $233,000 will be added to existing contracts with outside firms that provide engineering geology services and field review services, according to city staff reports.

A $2 MILLION MARKETING PLAN The City Council also plans to spend another $500,000 in next year’s budget to help the Santa Monica Convention and Visitor’s Bureau promote tourism in Santa Monica. City Hall will now give the bureau $1.9 million annually, according to city officials.

The additional funds will come from revenue generated by Measure N, which was approved by Santa Monica voters this past November. As a result, Santa Monica’s hotel bed tax will be raised in January from 12 percent to 14 percent. Nightly rates at local hotels will be raised by an average of about $4.

The bureau is charged with advertising the city as a “walkable” city, a center for arts and a fine-dining destination. The bureau also targets longer-stay visitors, namely international tourists, who are known to spend more and have less impact on traffic and parking. Money in the past has gone to the downtown visitor’s center and special promotional projects. The bureau has a contract with City Hall that will expire in 2009, according to city staff reports.

EQUALS $211,766 Another $150,000 is expected to be spent on a three-year extension of an ongoing contract between the City Hall’s human resources department and consulting firm AON Consulting. AON provides consulting for employees regarding their benefit plans, according to city staff.

City Council also will likely spend $61,766 to extend a lease for another year for City Hall’s finance department, which doesn’t have space in the City Hall. The current lease at 1717 Fourth St. expires in March of 2005.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 14, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/121404.pdf?ref=smdp.com)