> ## 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. # ‘Routine’ agenda items include $8M in expenditures - URL: https://www.smdp.com/routine-agenda-items-include-8m-in-expenditures/ - Published: 2002-10-17T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T00:47:57.000Z - Author: Carolyn Sackariason - Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica, #archive-import *AGENDA, from page 1 City spends on renewals* (Editor’s note: This is the first of an ongoing series that tracks the city’s expenditures which appear on the upcoming Santa Monica City Council consent agenda.) By Carolyn Sackariason Daily Press Staff Writer The Santa Monica City Council next week is poised to vote in one fell swoop on about $8 million in expenditures for public projects. The council’s consent agenda, which is routinely voted on in one motion with little public input, has four items that combined will cost millions of dollars. The largest single item that the council is asked to approve is $7.2 million to buy a new management system for the Big Blue Bus. Called the “Advanced Fleet Management System,” it applies state-of-the-art technologies in an attempt to be more efficient in operations, scheduling and traveling times, among other things. The system includes bus radios, global positioning system locators, an “automatic vehicle location system,” a “computer aided dispatch,” “automatic passenger counters,” scheduling and trip planning software and an “interactive voice response” system. The Big Blue Bus formed a special committee to review bids from 14 companies that offer such systems. It has chosen Siemens Transportation Systems, Inc., which will train Big Blue Bus employees on how to use the new technology. Big Blue Bus hopes to improve driver and passenger safety, provide travelers with real time transit and traffic information and be able to provide faster and more accurate reporting of information required under Federal Transit Administrations regulations. The actual system would cost $6,311,245.90 and a 5-year maintenance contract would cost $939,547\. The money will come out of the Big Blue Bus’ capital budget, which is funded directly by federal, state and local sales taxes, said Joe Stitcher, the bus company’s customer relations manager. Another $700,000 may be spent to assist the city’s building and safety department, which contracts with outside companies to handle the current amount of construction activity in Santa Monica. The city already pays Bing Yen and Associates for the review of geotechnical and engineering geology reports on construction projects within the city. The city also pays Esgil Corporation to provide plans and review services for the building and safety division. City staff is asking the council to amend those contracts to cover expenses for a total of $400,000\. Another $300,000 would be given to a new contract with JAS Pacific for temporary staffing for code enforcement, inspection services, plan checks and review for the building and safety division. For the Bing Yen contract, city staff expect no impact to the general fund because user fees cover the costs of providing the services. For the Esgil Corporation contract, city staff is developing a new fee structure because the current ones don’t cover the additional costs. JAS Pacific’s contract would be paid for from excess funds saved in non-paid salaries because of vacancies in the building and safety department, the city staff report said. All told, the city will have paid $1.3 million to the three outside firms for their services, if the contracts are amended next Tuesday. City staff also recommends that the council appropriate $267,315 to furnish the new public safety facility behind City Hall for the police and fire department’s dispatch centers. There is also another $40,000 needed to pay Twinings Laboratories of Southern California, Inc. for more material testing and services during construction of the Public Safety Building. In order to meet certain code requirements, the builder had to make significant changes to the structural elements of the building, which has resulted in additional inspection and testing requirements. Items that are placed on consent agendas are usually previously discussed issues that don’t attract attention from the public. People are allowed to comment on consent agenda items and if council members feel an issue needs to be discussed, they can pull it off and place it on the regular agenda, said city clerk Maria Stewart. “It’s a collective agreement among the people that put the agenda together, which includes myself, the city manager’s office, department heads and the mayor,” she said. About half of the time council members pull items off the consent agenda for discussion, but it’s usually for minor things like they need to abstain from voting or they weren’t at the previous meeting and don’t feel comfortable approving the minutes, she said. Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies, a West L.A.-based nonprofit organization that monitors government, said consent agendas are designed to expedite meetings. “Especially in Santa Monica, you really need to keep things moving along,” he said. “But usually they’ve all agreed to vote for it and at least for themselves, there is no controversy.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 17, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/101702.pdf?ref=smdp.com)