> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Promenade a power point for enthusiastic performers - URL: https://www.smdp.com/promenade-a-power-point-for-enthusiastic-performers/ - Published: 2003-01-27T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T01:24:00.000Z - Author: Carolyn Sackariason - Tags: local, Promenade, #archive-import *City creates complicated system to accommodate entertainers* Nowhere is freedom of expression more exercised in Santa Monica than on the Third Street Promenade. But it does comes with a price. In order to protect First Amendment rights and keep the peace, many minds are at work within City Hall to manage a complicated system that regulates hundreds of artists who come here to either express themselves, entertain or make a living. The Third Street Promenade has become well known around the world as a mecca for street performers. When the outdoor mall was redeveloped more than a decade ago, city leaders found themselves grappling with how to balance protecting people civil liberties while maintaining order on the public street. Laws were created about five years ago that provide a method to the madness. On any busy weekend night, there are thousands of people taking in the eclectic mix of entertainment delivered by not only talented artists but also some wacky personalities. Issues of public safety, crowd control, preserving the city’s aesthetic values and minimizing unfair competition always are on the minds of city regulators. Each year, the Santa Monica City Council reviews the laws and makes changes to the system in an effort to protect the public and maintain a sense of order. As a result, City Council members find themselves engaged in philosophical discussions over what is art, what is craft and what is performance — important distinctions when it comes to the rules of who can or cannot be on the Promenade. “Some people think we are being overly bureaucratic,” said Councilman Ken Genser. “But we are trying to allow people to do what they want to do, but also maintain order and not restrict freedom of expression. So we accommodate them with this convoluted process.” The ordinance regulating street performing is 10 pages, built with layers of restrictions that were designed from experience over the years. City attorneys spend hundreds of hours a year on crafting new laws in an attempt to address the issues that arose from the past year. “It’s like our Golden Gate bridge — we keep painting it and painting it but we never finish and that’s OK,” said City Attorney Marsha Moutrie. “It is truly organic because it changes every year.” In a city where constitutional freedoms are heavily protected, many resources go into managing street performers on the Promenade, which is arguably the biggest attraction for tourists and commerce downtown. As more and more artists realized the magnitude of exposure the Promenade offered, the city realized it couldn’t handle the influx of performers with just an ordinance alone. So the city hired a street performer liaison in 1999 whose primary job is to manage the artists and maintain order. “We try to service them while regulate them,” said Steele Smith, the street performer liaison, who spends his days and nights monitoring the three-block mall. “The city is amenable to getting politically involved, but it’s all new territory and we are on the cutting edge with these regulations.” There are only a handful of cities that offer venues for street performers, and Santa Monica looks to them when considering new laws. “(The laws) have all been significant and based on experience,” Moutrie said, adding she and her staff spend hundreds of hours researching the ordinances they bring to the council. “I like that about them.” A system at work One of the more significant laws affecting street performers was passed a few years ago, which made it easier for artists to set up camp on the Promenade. At the time, it was a free-for-all when artists showed up and secured their spot for the day. What ended up happening, however, was artists began fighting among each other over key locations. It also allowed them to dominate one place all day long. The city devised a rotation system that requires artists to move locations every two hours. The system is on a first come, first served basis. When an artists shows up for the day, they pick their spot and sign in with Smith, who then rotates them to designated spots on the mall throughout the day. “That way, you don’t have to be a slave to your spot,” Smith said. Most artists agree the rotation system works, but there are still plenty of issues that haven’t been resolved. The types of acts that have descended upon the Promenade have changed over the years. Performers are now more focused on entertaining the crowds through gimmicks rather than performing an art. The result is musicians who come to express themselves through instruments and verse now compete with loud boom boxes from performers who use comedy and fast moves to attract large circles of people. On a recent Saturday afternoon, acoustic guitarist Bob O’Dair — stationed next to the Krypto-Knights, a four-man dancing team that played to the crowd with a blaring boom box — watched as the group drew more than 100 people. It created a wall of people between O’Dair and the street. “You can’t compete with that,” he said. “It’s gotten a lot more competitive in the last three years.” Noise is definitely an issue on the Promenade, especially on a busy weekend night when up to 28 acts could be performing simultaneously. Performers have to be 40 feet away from each other, which is supposed to create enough room that when a person walks by they only hear one act. But when one performer goes beyond the legal decibel level, the artist next door has to turn it up so he can be heard. Within a short time, the sound level has risen beyond what’s allowed. Chris and David Smith, two acoustic guitar players, performed on Friday afternoon next to “Mr. Animation,” arguably one of the most popular performers on the Promenade. They too were drowned out by the music and crowd generated by Mr. Animation, who dances and uses comedy to draw people in. The Smith brothers, like many free-spirited artists, would prefer that the city back off and let them hash out the issues on their own. “It’s all up to us and there’s a way to do it,” David Smith said. “What I noticed when I first got here is how short 40 feet really is.” One artist suggested that there be spots dedicated to just music by alternating the acts so there is a musician in every other location. That would alleviate high levels of noise in a condensed area, he said. “We just need sound spaces and quiet spaces,” he said. The Smith brothers have gotten three sound violations since they showed up on the Promenade more than two years ago. The duo, along with other performers, say the city arbitrarily enforces the noise ordinance, which is 97 decibels on average and 107 at night. “We’re one of the quietest acts here,” David Smith said. “When I got the two violations, no one had even complained.” But they still appreciate the city’s efforts and its recognition of local artists. “They are doing their best to keep the sanity,” Chris Smith said. “We are really grateful for this and the opportunity it provides for us to show people what we do.” “Mr. Animation,” who is easily spotted by his L.A. Lakers jersey and his “Michael Jackson when he was black” impersonation, has been on the Promenade for 12 years. Currently he is on probation for allegedly violating three of the city’s laws — loud music, not moving locations and leaving his equipment unattended. “They are harassing street performers for no reason,” he said of the police force stationed on the Promenade, who monitor noise levels and enforce the laws. “They ticket us so we have to pay these crazy fines. They don’t like it because we make more money than them. > “They ticket us so we have to pay these crazy fines. They don’t like it because we make more money than them.” “They need to go back to the original way — leave us alone,” he said with a smile. Some artists are satisfied with the city’s ever-changing laws, even though they are restrictive. “It’s definitely for the better,” O’Dair, the guitarist, said. “The scene and the environment is good down here.” > “The notion of sending artists to jail was crazy,” — Moutrie said Another performer, Steve Barbato, said he was on the Promenade for six years but left two years ago. He has recently returned and is especially happy with the rotation system. “It’s a lot better now the way it’s run,” he said. “I like it better because I used to have to hold a space all day.” Barbato’s performance is a bit less artistic than some of his competitors, but he makes his fair share of cash. The act is his monkey, “Jo Jo,” who sucks on lollipops, wears a American flag smock and collects dollar bills mostly from children. A money maker The business of regulating street performers may be yet another level of bureaucracy in City Hall, but it also generates some revenue for Santa Monica. The city issues nearly 1,000 permits a year to artists at $37 a pop. And citations, fines and tickets can cost hundreds of dollars for performers. City Attorney Moutrie said performers are routinely cited for infractions usually involving public safety hazards. Some get tickets, and others are cited and charged with misdemeanors. But instead of pursuing the violation criminally, the city has set up its own justice system for street performers — artists who violate multiple laws have to go before a city administrative hearing officer who will determine if their permit should be suspended or revoked. After a few years of experience, city officials realized just ticketing and giving fines to performers wasn’t addressing the public safety concerns they had. Officials created a distinction in the law that gives harsher penalties for more serious and consistent violations. “People were just paying the tickets because they were making more money by creating the hazard,” Moutrie said. While the city rakes in the cash from permits and fines, so do performers through audience “donations.” After some trial and error, the city early on created a law that forbids artists to charge for their performances, but they can accept donations. For some performers, the acts are their only source of income. Others perform in hopes of finding their fast break to stardom. “This is my only job,” Mr. Animation said, who performs Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Smith, the street performer liaison, said the scene on the Promenade is a microcosm of the entertainment business, where vanity runs rampant and people are looking to be discovered. “You just never know who will be in your crowd that will change your life,” he said. “We are known as a venue that provides some opportunity.” > “You just never know who will be in your crowd that will change your life.” — — STEELE SMITH Street performer liaison Some performers bring in hundreds of dollars a night while others make that in a week. The Smith brothers, who live in a van down by the ocean (the title of their latest CD), say they make about $200 a week. The Krypto-Knights stop in mid-performance and use laundry baskets to collect dollar bills from their audience before finishing. They joke with the crowd by saying, “Kids, if your parents don’t give us any money, that means they don’t love you.” While performers are hesitant to say how much they make, they do admit that their acts allow them to pay the rent and more. “That guy Twirlibird mentions money about 50 times a night,” said musician Chris Smith. Performers are not shy about asking for money from their spectators. They either guilt the crowd into giving them money or put on a spectacular show that makes people want to donate. Either way, the Promenade’s street performer scene is one of the cheapest forms of entertainment in the Los Angeles area. Yet, it’s a love-hate relationship for many of the merchants and business owners who operate on the Promenade. They recognize that thousands of people are drawn to the mall because of its artists, but the noise and scene can be too much to handle at times. Some artists get the feeling they are not wanted on the Promenade, but are tolerated so businesses can reap the benefits of their performances. “They don’t want us here but they use us to advertise,” said David Smith of a recent radio commercial that lured people to the Promenade during the holidays. “When the merchants complain, I ask what are they doing here? This is the Promenade.” Promenade a target for civil liberty challenges Some question the level of talent that the Promenade attracts, which can be questionable at times. But as city officials have to continually point out, it’s a public street and they can’t arbitrarily select artists over others. It’s not like City Walk in Los Angeles, which is privately owned and where people have to audition before they are allowed to perform, said Moutrie, the city attorney. “If you can sing or you can’t sing, you can apply for a permit and throw your hat on the Promenade,” she said. “We can’t pick good singers over bad singers. It’s their constitutional right to be there.” But as much as the city attempts to protect people’s First Amendment rights, there are limits. And individuals who are prohibited under the city’s laws routinely challenge them. However, Moutrie said the ordinances are designed to withstand civil rights lawsuits. “A lot of legal work goes into making these laws stick,” she said. Still, there are some pending lawsuits levied by artists who have been kicked off the Promenade. One of them involves Henna artists who were banned last year. Some were using a skin dye that cause skin rashes and other health-related complications. It resulted in a lawsuit against the city by someone who got infected from getting the non-permanent tattoo. Subsequently, the City Council voted 4- 3 to ban Henna not only because it created a public safety hazard, but some members didn’t think it was performance art. “It’s just a lawsuit away that we would have to start allowing manicuring and hair braiding,” Councilman Genser said. The minority of the council, Richard Bloom, Mike Feinstein and Kevin McKeown, voted to keep Henna because they agree the 5,000-year-old practice is an art form. Another performer argues he should be able collect money for producing small flowers made out of palm leaves. He’s says it’s an art form. The city says it’s handicraft that is mass produced and doesn’t fall under the realm of a First Amendment right. “The council wants things that are interesting and fun to watch, not a street market,” Moutrie said. > “The council wants things that are interesting and fun to watch, not a street market.” — — MR. ANIMATION Street performer – MARSHA MOUTRIE Santa Monica City Attorney Genser, who has helped craft street performing laws since their inception, said it’s one of the more complicated issues he faces in City Hall. “It’s kind of silly, but we are trying to accommodate everybody and stay within their constitutional limits,” he said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/012703-02_01.jpg) (Photo: Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/012703-02_02.jpg) Mr. (Photo: Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/012703-02_03.jpg) “Jo Jo” the monkey does three things to entertain the crowd on the Promenade: Sucks on lollipops, yanks on his leash and takes money from children who are fascinated by him. (Photo: Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/012703-02_04.jpg) Street performer liaison Steele Smith, right, makes sure a drummer on the Promenade has the proper permits issued by the city. (Photo: Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/012703-02_05.jpg) Street performer liaison Steele Smith, left, takes a minute from a busy Saturday afternoon to chat with acoustic guitarist Bob O’Dair. (Photo: Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 27, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/012703.pdf?ref=smdp.com)