Majority of City Hall workers face commutes See DOUBLETREE, page 6
More than 80 percent of City Hall employees commute to work in Santa Monica.
That means thousands of car trips each day from inland areas like Santa Clarita or Burbank, despite a plan that is supposed to reduce such impacts.
Only 17 percent of city employees live in town, with the highest percentage of locals working in city libraries and the lowest working in the fire department, said Judy Rambeau, a city spokeswoman.
Santa Monica Fire Department Chief Ettore Berardinelli said only two of his 114 workers live in Santa Monica.
“Anybody that had the wherewithal to live in the city would love to live in the city,” said Berardinelli, who commutes each day from Newbury Park. “I would love to live here. I think it would really be a pleasure.
“But the houses have been way out of the ballpark for my entire career.”
Adrian Overton, an analyst for the Rand Corp., a local think tank, said the median value of an owner-occupied unit in Santa Monica is $479,200.
In the city’s most expensive zip code — 90402 — the median value of a single-family home is $1.4 million, according to the 2000 Census. The Census pegged the same value in the 90401 zip code, the city’s most affordable, at $350,000.
William Selby, a local resident and Santa Monica College professor who specializes in urban and governmental issues, said the high cost of housing has increased the number of people with long commutes, some of which are more than four hours.
“It’s a transportation nightmare and it’s an environmental disaster,” Selby said. “Not only are people spending so much time on the road when they could be spending time with their families or being productive, at the same time they’re sitting in their cars polluting the air with their engines idling.
“It’s a transportation nightmare and it’s an environmental disaster.” — — WILLIAM SELBY Santa Monica College professor
“And at the same time we’re laying more concrete and building more structures to serve the car,” Selby added. “It’s a losing situation for everyone involved.”
City Hall isn’t the only local employer that hires workers from outside the area. Ted Braun, spokesman for the UCLA- Santa Monica Medical Center, said many of the hospital’s 1,200-plus workers commute from outside Santa Monica.
“I’m lucky enough to live in Santa Monica but I can certainly empathize with my co-workers who have to commute from outside the area,” said Braun, adding that most would opt to live on the westside if they had the means. “It’s no fun to have to commute an hour to work and have that same drive at the end of the day.”
Braun said the hospital offers incentives to employees who carpool or use alternative forms of transportation to get to work.
In the meantime, City Hall is pursuing its sustainable city plan, which was adopted in 1994 and updated in February. The plan calls on residents and businesses to minimize negative effects on the natural environment and use renewable energy sources whenever possible.
As part of that plan, City Hall is closed every other Friday to limit the amount of time workers spend on the road. To make up for the downtime, City Hall keeps its doors open for longer hours during the other 13 days of each two-week period.
But without the construction of more affordable housing, Selby said the problem will continue to grow. And although the median income in Santa Monica — $50,714 — may have been enough for people to survive in the city a few years ago, that is no longer the case, he said.
“We know we’re not going to solve the problem by building more roads,” Selby said. “We don’t have room. People need to live closer to their work or their school or their childcare. It’s that simple.”
Percentage of City Hall workers who live in Santa Monica, by department: Big Blue Bus 9% City attorney 27% City clerk 17% City manager 17% Community and cultural services. 20% Environmental and public works management 17% Finance 17% Fire department 2% Human resources 12% Library. 42% Planning and community development 15% Police department. 11% Resource management 16%
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 13, 2003. Read the original PDF.