COUNCIL QUERIES, from page 1 City Councilmembers voicing their concerns
(Editor’s note: This is the third article in a series detailing City Hall’s proposed budget.) CITY HALL — As city staff lays out next year’s proposed budget, elected officials this week voiced their desires on what the final document should include.
Santa Monica City Council-members took turns on Tuesday making inquiries of and suggestions to city staff regarding the proposed budget for fiscal year 2005-06. The City Council is taking part in budget study sessions which began on Tuesday in anticipation of a public hearing on the proposed budget on June 14. The council is expected to formally adopt the budget on June 21.
Twelve City Hall department heads presented their proposed budgets. Discussion among councilmem-bers ranged from a desire to see better code enforcement, increased parking, better neighborhood transportation and improvements, and a reassurance that some city services will be appropriately staffed.
After transfers and reimbursements from existing accounts, City Hall’s budget grew last year by $12 million to $433 million in revenues. City officials have attributed the growth as a sign that the economy is recovering.
BREAKWATER AND BREAKING THE CODE Councilman Ken Genser’s primary concerns are the breakwater project, which he feels may be falling by the wayside, and code enforcement, which is not being taken seriously enough.
“I’d hate for us to lose (the breakwater project) with inaction without doing so affirmatively,” Genser said about restoring the breakwater just north of the Santa Monica Pier to re-establish a harbor there.
Representatives from City Hall’s resource management division said they may be waiting for the Army Corps of Engineers before the project can be completed. Staff said they could come back to the council with more information.
Genser also voiced concerns over a lack of code enforcement among Santa Monica businesses.
“I think staff has made an attempt to not enforce the laws, because the laws should be easy to enforce, and since they are not (being enforced), I don’t know what else to think (staff could be doing),” Genser said.
Genser referred to turnover that occurs among car dealership owners as an example. While signage for those facilities is specific to the city code, he said businesses have been putting out signs beyond the scope of what laws allow.
“Sidewalk signs are back,” Genser said. “There is no follow-up. One, I know, is eternally illuminated.”
Genser said new business owners who might be unaware of the code requirements could have the effect of engendering some disregard for the law. He said a new owner could come in and put up an illegal sign, prompting other competing businesses to follow suit.
To correct that, Genser said more enforcement is needed, enforcement that should be relatively easy and inexpensive.
“I see these places around town,” Genser said. “All it should take is to drive around town and input the information in a computer.”
Genser said code violators could be informed by letter and that City Hall might have to make better attempts to educate the public on what the laws allow.
SEEING TOO MUCH RED Both Councilman Herb Katz and Genser said they would like to see the red lines — used to prohibit parking along curbs — shortened and standardized to maximize parking citywide.
“I’m not seeing a reduction in the red line to increase parking,” Katz told city staff. “Can we get on that? We’ve been talking about this for years. It’s time to get someone out there painting.”
Genser also supports the idea of reducing the red.
“It would be a one-time expense to standardize the spaces,” Genser said. “It would be a relatively cheap way to get more parking.”
Councilman Richard Bloom asked staff to update the council on plans to modernize parking meters so that motorists are able to pay with stored valued cards instead of coins, a move intended to make parking more convenient.
Councilman Bobby Shriver used Tuesday night’s session to ask detailed questions about the numbers presented in the proposed budget.
He asked staff questions about the assessment for Santa Monica Place Mall, which has fluctuated from $200,000 to $800,000 in just a few years.
Staff responded that the mall’s average assessment was on target, in the range of $600,000.
MORE BOOKS AND PEOPLE A report from City Attorney Marsha Moutrie, in which she said the city attorney’s office is “doing more work with less people,” prompted questions from Councilman Kevin McKeown, who wanted to make sure the city’s consumer affairs unit, which handles fair housing issues, is adequately staffed.
“More workers means we could do more work,” McKeown said.
Moutrie said she would return to the council with more information regarding the city attorney’s office staffing situation.
McKeown also wanted to be certain the new Main Library — a $55 million facility to go online toward the end of this year — will be stocked with enough new books when it opens.
“Can we play catch-up and get new books?” McKeown asked.
Staff said part of the library proposed budget’s $1 million increase in funding for next fiscal year has taken into account the need for new books.
McKeown, a proponent for Macintosh-related software, said he would be discussing further with city staff how the new library’s 50 computers, based on Windows, might be adapted inexpensively so it could be used with Macintosh.
McKeown would also like to see the Big Blue Bus come up with a plan to serve neighborhoods with a small shuttle bus, for users who had to run local errands.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 26, 2005. Read the original PDF.