City Hall mulls whether to throw switch back on
CITY HALL — Offices here are dark today, as they have been every other Friday for more than a decade. But that may change soon.
Since the early 1990s, California enacted stringent ride-sharing rules for all public and private entities with more than 250 employees. Companies and municipalities enacted programs to reduce the number of trips being made by their employees or pay hefty fines to the state. But most municipalities west of La Cienega Boulevard went a bit farther.
City employees compressed their week, so they work 80 hours over nine days and receive every other Friday off.
But the reduced schedule has raised customer service concerns for many people who need access to City Hall during the work day, particularly developers and architects who need permits and other planning department assistance.
A recent study that examined the inefficiencies of the planning department has suggested that staff be available for the public five days a week.
“We are suggesting the permit center should be open 10 days instead of nine days,” said Gary Goelitz, vice president of the Matrix Consulting Group, which conducted the study. “(Closing on Fridays) is the result of the Southern California Air Quality Board to reduce air pollution, and Santa Monica is trying to do its fair share, but there has to be a balance between customer service and the kinds of issues the air quality board brings to bear.”
City Hall spokeswoman Judy Rambeau said the recommendation is being considered and it’s a possibility that the planning department could open on Fridays in some limited capacity.
City Councilman Herb Katz, an architect who regularly relies upon the plan-ning department, thinks it’s bad business to close City Hall on a weekday.
“The reason (to close City Hall) was silly,” he said. “The idea was it saves on traffic, but when you have a day off, you drive.”
Katz added that many people think City Hall is open on Fridays and make the trip only to find the doors locked.
City Councilman Ken Genser agreed the idea is worth revisiting.
“I think it might make sense to look at it,” he said. “But I don’t hear a lot of complaints.”
According to an official at the Southern California Air Quality Board, in the 180 cities in Southern California, it’s estimated only a couple dozen compress their work week. Many westside cities still use some combination of the compressed work week.
Beverly Hills City Hall used to be closed every other Friday, but altered its policy five years ago.
“It’s good for customer service because before we were closed altogether on Fridays,” said Arlene Vargas, who works in the human resources department. “Now, half of the staff work every other Friday, and the other half the other Friday. We’re open with half the staff.”
That’s the same schedule as Malibu’s City Hall, where every department is open, but with fewer staff.
“The City Council didn’t want to take that approach (closed on Fridays) because of customer service,” said Claudio Sanchez, deputy city engineer.
In Culver City, business hours at City Hall are normal — Monday through Friday, with reduced hours on the weekends.
“Why? Because they (the public) would kill us,” said Monica Torrez, who works in the transportation department. “Friday’s our busiest day.”
The city of West Hollywood used to be closed on Fridays, but when the public complained about a lack of customer service, City Hall opened in a reduced capacity in 1996.
“We changed from closed on Fridays to a very reduced service we call ‘Friday Lite,’” said Vivian Love of the administrative services division. “We have only the first-floor services open, such as the Clerk’s office, cashier, parking staff and rent stabilization.”
Although the SCAQB never mandated shrinking the work week, it operates on a four-day week and closes every Monday.
It’s unknown when and if Santa Monica City Hall would re-open on Fridays, but officials are interested in investigating the idea further.
“It’s worth evaluating periodically,” said City Councilwoman Pam O’Connor. “They did that a while ago and it’s worth-while to see if it’s achieving its goals.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 17, 2004. Read the original PDF.