The Downtown Santa Monica Board held its first meeting last week with six newly appointed members following the Santa Monica City Council's extraordinary decision to fire all of its prior appointees to the organization in July.
The meeting proceeded with routine introductions from the new board members and only a brief mention of the controversial process that installed them from Chair Michele Aronson who declined to comment on ongoing legal issues.
"As many of you know, there was a meeting held on July 29 at this board, and that meeting has not been respected by the City of Santa Monica," Erickson said. "I understand their position at this point. I know that there are other questions and legal issues around that that some have raised."
The mass firing stemmed from a July 25 memo authored by Councilman Barry Snell, along with Councilmembers Dan Hall and Caroline Torosis, requesting the removal of all six city appointees. The Santa Monica City Council announced the discussion publicly on July 28 and voted on July 29 to recall the appointments.
The memo cited "growing concerns regarding the lack of transparency and accountability" but provided vague justifications for the unprecedented action. Council members argued the board was too heavily weighted toward property and business owners and lacked representation from individuals not economically connected to Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. (DTSM).
Snell expressed concerns about how downtown was being managed and whether DTSM was honoring its agreement with the city. DTSM is a private nonprofit that manages the downtown business improvement district with a $10 million annual budget, funded primarily by special assessments.
The organization operates under a 13-member board structure with six city-appointed members, six elected by property owners, and one position reserved for the city manager.
The mass removal followed the announcement that CEO Andrew Thomas would depart after failing to secure a $50,000 raise to his $250,000 salary.
Mayor Lana Negrete was the sole opponent of the mass firing, questioning the emergency justification and comparing the action to authoritarian tactics.
DTSM attempted to block the council's decision through an emergency meeting to amend its bylaws, but the City Attorney's office deemed the action invalid. The removal has prompted at least two of the fired members to threaten legal action.
The newly appointed board members include Sean Besser, Richard Bloom, Gleam Davis, Jonathan Gregory, Hodge Patterson, and Elaine Polachek.
Several of the new appointees bring extensive experience in Santa Monica governance. Davis served on the city council for almost 16 years and was previously a planning commissioner. She described downtown Santa Monica as "the economic heartbeat of Santa Monica."
"I really believe that downtown Santa Monica is the economic heartbeat of Santa Monica, and our economic development ebbs and flows with the ebbs and flows of the downtown," Davis said.
Bloom, who lived in Santa Monica since 1981, served on the city council for about 13 years and later represented the city in the state assembly for a decade before serving as a superior court judge.
"I've seen it grow from a local and regional attraction to a world renowned area," Bloom said. "It is absolutely critical to the economic development and the future of our city."
Polachek, a former 28-year city employee who retired in 2017, recently served as interim city manager from February through July while the City Council selected a new permanent manager. She previously sat on the Downtown Santa Monica Board for about eight years in the city manager's designee position.
Other new members include Besser, a 25-year Santa Monica resident and president of the Ocean Park Association; Gregory, who brings more than three decades of corporate experience and founded a homeless organization 30 years ago; and Patterson, CEO of the Santa Monica Family YMCA.