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# Managing downtown a million dollar task for Bayside District
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/managing-downtown-a-million-dollar-task-for-bayside-district/
- Published: 2003-10-27T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T03:07:58.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: Education, Downtown, #archive-import

*Bayside funding has remained flat for years*

The nonprofit that manages downtown Santa Monica spent more than $1 million last year, according to its annual audit approved by officials last week.

More than half of the money went into marketing campaigns to promote downtown and paying the salaries of workers at the Bayside District Corp.

Bayside, which is funded mostly through assessments on downtown businesses, runs the Third Street Promenade and the surrounding areas. It oversees the maintenance of sidewalks and alleys, keeps track of which musicians are performing in public, communicates with local businesses and markets Santa Monica.

One of Bayside’s largest purchases between June 30, 2002, and June 30, 2003, was $331,865 for holiday decor on the Promenade. Plastic icebergs and faux evergreen trees are part of the decor for Winterlit, a campaign now in its second year designed to draw shoppers downtown during the lucrative holiday season.

Another $306,368 was spent on wages and salaries for Bayside employees. There are six workers at Bayside — an administrative assistant, a venue manager that oversees street performers and other events, an operations manager that keeps tabs on graffiti, trash and the condition of downtown’s infrastructure, as well as a marketing manager, a part-time communications specialist and executive director Kathleen Rawson.

More than $100,000 was spent on Bayside’s lease, and for professional expenses like hiring an outside auditor and an accountant, Rawson said.

The remaining expenses included everything from $48,942 in employee benefits and $18,059 for banners and lighting, to $24,778 in moving expenses, $8,541 in office supplies and $10,132 in telephone charges.

All told, expenses totaled $1,041,460, according to the audit, which was done by L.A.-based auditor Quigley & Miron. Because expenses were slightly higher than revenue last year, Bayside dipped into its assets, which total about $1 million.

Rob Rader, chairman of Bayside’s finance committee, said using an outside auditor gives integrity to the budget process.

“I’m as suspicious as the next person to make sure the public dollars are spent fairly,” Rader said. “We definitely do not want to be led by our noses. We want to make sure things are done correctly.”

Bayside’s coffers are primarily fueled by local businesses who pay local assessment fees to City Hall. According to the audit, $797,536 of those assessments on downtown businesses was given to Bayside. Some of the assessments also go into funds for police and maintenance, among other things, Rawson said.

The assessments are calculated by taking between.1 percent and 1 percent of total sales from businesses between Wilshire Boulevard to the north and the Santa Monica Freeway to the south, and from Ocean Avenue on the west to Seventh Street on the east. The higher rate is charged on businesses in the heart of downtown, while businesses further away from the Promenade pay less.

Rawson said this year’s expenses probably won’t change too much, other than that the holiday decor has already been bought and will only need to be installed and guarded. She said Bayside will look at partnerships with other city groups to see if money can’t be saved through collaborative marketing efforts.

“We just have to tighten our belt, because our costs have gone up,” she said. “We have a de facto budget cut.”

Despite that downtown has become more lucrative in recent years, Bayside’s funding has neither increased nor decreased, Rader said.

“We should have really pushed for bigger increases when times were flush,” he said. “We’ve been flat for the last three years and relatively flat for years before that.”

Film crews paid Bayside $40,250 to film downtown between 2002 and 2003; $53,700 was raised through events; $17,501 in various contracts and $9,958 in interest, according to the audit.

The money spent by Bayside is less than is spent by its competitors, Rader said.

“The problem is, when you compare us to the private companies, say the Grove or the Beverly Center or the Century City Mall... or the Westside Pavilion or the Hughes Center just down south of us, they all have huge marketing budgets compared to us,” he said. “Now, nobody’s crying because we have so many other advantages... but we can’t become complacent either.”

Rader pointed out that Bayside’s overhead costs are less than 10 percent of its budget, a figure he said is excellent for the public sector. And with both the auditor and the accountant for Bayside hired independently, Rader said there is little room for mismanagement of the money.

Officials agree. “Given all the circumstances they’re doing a fine job,” said City Councilman Bob Holbrook, who offered his opinion on the Winterlit holiday decor.

“I’m more of a Santa Claus, reindeer person, frankly,” he said. “Little elves, stuff like that. I’m not that avante garde when it comes to holiday celebrations. I like wreaths, trees — but I’m sure it helps.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 27, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/102703.pdf?ref=smdp.com)