2023 State of the City: Speech by City Manager David White
February 8, 2023 7:01 AM
by David White
The City of Santa Monica broadcast its annual State of the City on February 7, 2023. The complete video is available on YouTube. In this blog post, we share the text of City Manager David White's address. See Mayor Gleam Davis's address here.
It is wonderful to be delivering my second State of the City. When I came to you last year, I had been with the organization four months. This year’s address is meaningful to me because I have seen the commitment and care of our workforce firsthand, I have been able to meet and interact with many residents, businesses, and community leaders that care deeply about Santa Monica, and I’ve worked closely with our City Council to shape Santa Monica’s future.
In reflecting on the past year, 2022 was busy with some very exciting moments:
- After being apart for so long, we reopened public facilities like City Hall, and the Fairview and Montana Ave. Branch Libraries, and the 4th of July Parade returned to Main Street!
- We heard your call for a “clean and safe” Santa Monica and deployed an interdepartmental team to support a vibrant and thriving beach and Pier.
- We approved two catalytic development agreements – one with St. John’s that will govern the redevelopment of their campus and bring over $10 million to address behavioral health and homelessness services in Santa Monica, and another multi-use project at Santa Monica and Ocean Avenue that was designed by our very own Frank Gehry and provides over $50 million in community benefits.
- We opened the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Project that will reduce our reliance on imported water supplies and get us closer to a sustainable future!
- We opened the new Marine Park Playground and home to our fifth community garden site.
- Over 3,000 people attended our Juneteenth celebration at Virginia Avenue Park;
- Our City Council warmly embraced and adopted a Statement of Apology to our African American Community; and
- We dug in to challenging topics like homelessness and housing and achieved a certified Housing Element.
This barely scratches the surface of some of the highlights from 2022. Tonight, I am excited to tell you more about the state of our city.
After what is likely the hardest three years in this organization’s history, I’m proud to share that we are rebuilding and recovering. We have a talented leadership team with Assistant City Manager Susan Cline supporting me in the City Manager’s Office; Chief Ramón Batista leading our Police Department; Fire Chief Danny Alvarez now with almost one year in the role; City Attorney Doug Sloan; and dedicated Directors across multiple departments.
With a talented set of leaders and a committed workforce, we are poised to make progress on our community priorities: addressing homelessness, safe and clean neighborhoods, and an equitable economic recovery. And as Mayor Davis shared, we will do this while advancing equity and inclusion, our longstanding commitment to environmental sustainability, and with transparency and accountability central to how we do business.
I have a finance background, so I would like to lay the foundation of where we are as an organization by looking at the numbers and digging into our economic recovery.
Equitable Economic Recovery
We are very fortunate to have Gigi Decavalles-Hughes and her team at the helm of our Finance Department, which has retained Santa Monica’s AAA credit rating for decades. In 2022, the Government Finance Officers Association awarded Santa Monica the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting.
Over the past 3 years, this community has invested over $5 million in 25 city programs to accelerate our economy. From prioritizing basic needs like housing, food and public health, to keeping our businesses open and workers employed by implementing permanent outdoor dining and zoning changes, our work has gone above and beyond what other cities of our size could accomplish, and we remain in a period of positive economic recovery.
Sales tax across a number of sectors continue to show strong growth. 2022 Q3 sales tax revenues show many of our business sectors recovering, with particularly strong year-over-year growth among restaurants, hotels, building and construction, and auto sales, which showed increases of up to 14%. People want to eat here and are enjoying outdoor dining opportunities citywide along with our mix of casual and fine dining venues.
Revenue from restaurants and hotels increased 97% from a year ago and occupancy levels at local hotels continue to rise while room rates across the board exceed pre-pandemic levels.
In the past year, 103 restaurants and coffee bars, 92 health and wellness businesses, 73 retailers, 65 beauty and personal care businesses, 35 fitness/gym businesses, and 17 auto-related businesses have opened in Santa Monica. What an accomplishment!
The total number of monthly employees has steadily increased from 75,000 to 83,045, with noticeable increases in Accommodation, Food Services, Arts/Recreation, and Entertainment. The total number of businesses is 9,845.
While undoubtedly some of the growth is due to inflation, the reality is that our results genuinely reflect our local economic recovery.
In addition to all the businesses that have recently opened, our hospitality and tourism sector is poised for success and bringing new life and energy into our downtown and shopping districts as we look toward exciting events like 2026 FIFA World Cup and LA28. There are new hotels in the works such as the Miramar Santa Monica, and the recently approved Frank Gehry multi-use project on Ocean Avenue. Frank Gehry is world-renowned and the planned project will include a hotel, commercial space, residential units including rent-controlled and affordable housing, a museum, plus a public rooftop deck, interlaced by pedestrian paseos that will be open to the public.
Along with these new investments, existing hotels are deploying significant resources in upgrades and improvements and there are at least 14 major new investments in the Downtown that will accelerate our recovery including the Georgian Hotel, The Pierside Hotel, and Loews Santa Monica.
This speaks volumes and shows me we are moving forward. Many thanks to the Chamber, DTSM, SMTT, and all of our Business Improvement Districts, we could not have gotten through these difficult days without you and our recovery continues to hinge on our strong partnership.
Revenues are steadily increasing, but to be economically resilient, we need to continue to diversify our economic base and attract a mix of businesses, leaning into the traits that set our community apart – our commitment to the environment and diversity, equity and inclusion; our beachside locale; creativity and the arts; and our dynamism as an innovative, multi-modal community.
The arts are an essential part of our recovery and it’s been inspiring to see new art popping up around town, including the new Shepard Fairey mural that just went up at the Pierside Hotel.
Throughout 2022, the Art of Recovery program continued to put artists to work on Santa Monica’s recovery efforts. Since November 2020, 35 projects have been funded, which have supported 215 artists and 84 arts producers and other creatives. Over 60 additional partners were engaged in collaboration on Art of Recovery projects, with 91% of grantees saying that their project connected them to Santa Monica partners they hadn’t worked with before, which is a key goal of the program.
Santa Monica is a place people want to be!
Looking at the recovery of City services, we will continue to recover and restore vital City programs that have had service level cuts and reduced staffing over the last three years as resources become available. As we do this, we also must address one-time financial liabilities on the horizon. These liabilities stem from:
- Aging infrastructure such as Parking Structure 1, that need significant seismic upgrades,
- A lawsuit against the City related to the California Voting Rights Act,
- and ongoing discussions related to claims of sexual abuse involving a former employee.
We are developing plans to address these one-time budget impacts. The plan centers on preserving community services and programs and the jobs that fuel those services. As resolution of our liabilities becomes more clear, we will communicate the impacts, as our recovery will be hampered.
Given the constraints on our budget, I’d like to pause here to weave in the themes Mayor Davis shared.
As your City Manager, I am focused on making progress on our priority areas. To see the kind of improvements I know the community expects, we will need to stay focused. I know the community is eager to see the expansion of Library hours and after school camps and clubs. I am too! I know our turnaround time on roadway and streetlight repairs is not what it was before the pandemic. The list of areas where there is a need for more from this organization is not insignificant and it is something we watch closely.
This is a time when we need the community’s understanding and support as we rebuild our operations as finances and staffing allow. And hiring in today’s market is a challenge experienced across industries, and we are not at all immune. Our staff vacancy rate is also high, and we know you are feeling that.
Thank you for reinvesting in this organization and in the other two City priorities of a clean and safe community and addressing homelessness.
In 2022, Santa Monica voters supported Measures CS, GS, and HMP. Over time, these Measures will bring in much needed resources to support community priorities.
Measure CS will provide the fuel to expand services to address homelessness, support and grow our Police Department to address public safety, and improvements to the safety and cleanliness of our public spaces.
Measure GS creates a new funding stream to support homelessness prevention, affordable housing, local schools, and the creation of an 11-member Oversight Committee to advise Council on expenditure guidelines and priorities.
Measure HMP establishes a business tax on licensed cannabis businesses and our Community Development Department is in the beginning stages of developing and bringing forward land use changes needed to allow uses such as nonmedicinal cannabis retailers to operate in the City.
The new funds generated by these tax measures come at a critical moment and are a financial lifeline that will ensure Santa Monica sees results on the community’s top three priorities.
Now let’s turn to an update on our two remaining community priorities.
Clean and Safe Santa Monica
There is no priority greater than keeping Santa Monica clean and safe. But it’s not just about statistics, we care about perceptions of safety, as well. We want everyone to feel and be safe when they are carrying out their daily routines or visiting one of our vibrant neighborhoods.
The Santa Monica Police Department under the leadership of Chief Ramón Batista is hard at work preventing and addressing crime when it occurs. We have a skilled and responsive Police Department that is incorporating new technology and deployment measures to meet evolving community needs. I am grateful for their courage, determination, and ingenuity.
Some of the things I am particularly proud of from the last year include:
The results from strategic deployments.
When we heard from community members about the prevalence of unpermitted vending activity, including the use of open flames on our wooden Pier, our Police, Fire, Public Works, Code Enforcement, and City Attorney teams worked together to direct unpermitted operations, to a pathway to become permitted.
During the busy summer months and then during the holiday season, this strategic deployment approach brought forward a higher level of visibility and proved to reduce instances of crime in high-traffic areas, including in the Downtown and Third Street Promenade. During the six-week holiday deployment period, we saw 95 fewer crimes than the six weeks prior.
We know that catalytic converter and vehicle theft overall are challenges in every major city. In response, our police department has set up special operations targeting these types of thefts. This is the type of responsiveness and innovation our police department delivers and will continue to deliver in 2023.
We welcomed 28 new officers in 2022 and we are recruiting more. If you are looking for a way to be of service, working for the Santa Monica Police Department is an excellent opportunity.
In 2020 and 2021, instances of crime were down compared to pre-pandemic levels. Our focused efforts in specific areas have shown measurable results. Santa Monica’s crime picture overall is tracking closely with countywide data with a 13% increase in Part 1 crimes in 2022 compared to 2021. The biggest contributing factors are property crimes, including larceny and auto theft. Incidents of aggravated assault and robbery have also increased.
We take these matters seriously and you will continue to see our focus on recruitment, officer deployment, and smart technology solutions. Santa Monica is not addressing this in isolation. I am convening with city managers in other westside cities to collaborate on public safety issues.
Turning to the Santa Monica Fire Department, which under the leadership of Chief Danny Alvarez, received the highest rating a fire department can receive – a class 1 designation from the Insurance Services Office.
Our Fire Department responded to 17,400 calls for service in 2022 with a citywide total response time of 6 minutes, 5 seconds.
The Fire Prevention Division completed over 3,800 building inspections, 1,500 new construction inspections and investigated 21 fires.
In response to the growing fentanyl crisis, the Fire Department initiated the Narcan leave behind program to reduce deaths associated with opioid overdose and our Community Services Department is partnering with our school district to keep our future leaders safe. We are watching this issue very closely and are looking for ways to reduce harm and protect people from this deadly synthetic drug.
The Community Response Unit, which is a special unit within the Fire Department that is specially trained to support people experiencing homelessness and other vulnerable populations had its first full year in operations. The team was deployed to 312 calls for service, relieving 178 engine companies, and providing 185 service referrals.
We welcomed 12 new recruits to our fire ranks and the Department is embarking on a strategic plan to guide how our Fire Department can best serve Santa Monica into the future.
Now let’s talk about the clean aspect of our clean and safe community priority.
When I was first interviewed to become your City Manager, I was immediately impressed by our parks and public spaces. This is an important part of life in Santa Monica and one our dedicated Public Works team addresses daily. As a snapshot, in 2022, this team:
- Responded to over 4,100 graffiti removal requests within 3 days.
- Recycled over 12,600 tons, or over 25 million pounds of green-bin organics in the last 12 months.
- Collected over 1,100 tons or 2.4 million pounds of bulky items for residential and commercial customers, in addition to abandoned items left in alleys and streets.
- Repaved 2.9 miles of City streets.
- Completed over 2,300 repairs to streetlights and sidewalks.
- Replaced 40,000 Sq. Ft of decking on the Santa Monica Pier.
The City’s Promenade Maintenance and Parking Operations Divisions combined with efforts by private businesses and Downtown Santa Monica Ambassadors to provide extensive maintenance, sanitization, and custodial services daily in our Downtown.
- Trash removal occurs four times a day and staff service 200 trash cans throughout the district.
- A dedicated crew of 20 staff cover 2-3 million square feet daily to ensure the cleanliness and sanitization of streets, public restrooms, sidewalks and streets, forestry, and Promenade amenities.
- Downtown Santa Monica’s 12 public parking structures and three surface lots are monitored 24/7 by staff who routinely walk through and inspect each facility, including elevators, multiple times over a 24-hour period.
I am proud of the work we do and eager to work with our Department leaders to address issues of crime, safety, and cleanliness in our community.
Addressing Homelessness
The number one issue of our time is homelessness. It is an absolute tragedy that we have more than half a million people living without shelter in the United States, more than 66,000 people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County, and about 807 people experiencing homelessness in Santa Monica. These numbers are staggering.
For many years, Santa Monica has treated homelessness as an emergency and our comprehensive approach is effective. During the 2022 homeless count, Santa Monica saw an 11% reduction over the last count that was performed in 2020.
We must do more, and we are at a critical moment with great promise to see positive change across every level of government.
- President Biden recently announced a commitment to reduce homelessness by 25% by 2025.
- Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass – a city with 42,000 people living without shelter – in her first days in office declared a state of emergency, signaling a commitment to improve conditions expeditiously.
- The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously supported Bass’s declaration and issued their own.
We are eager to seize this moment to work with our government partners. And to also seize the public’s support for our work affirmed through the adoption of Measures CS and GS as I shared earlier. At their upcoming workshop in March, the Council will be considering funding allocations for resources that are available in the foreseeable future to achieve a Clean and Safe Santa Monica and to Address Homelessness, with more to come as these taxes come to life.
So what do we do today to address homelessness? Our approach, which is rooted in best practice, balances compassion and enforcement. We connect people experiencing homelessness to services, we focus on keeping people housed and increasing the supply of affordable housing, and we work hard day in and day out to keep our community clean and respond to issues of public safety.
In 2022, we achieved the following:
- The City’s three street outreach teams made more than 11,000 contacts and and provided direct medical or psychiatric services to 808 participants.
- Over 230 people were connected to temporary interim housing and 45 people moved into permanent housing.
- Our Police Department received almost 20,000 calls-for-service attributed to people experiencing homelessness and through the Homeless Liaison Program Team and Patrol, responded to more than 1,800 calls for service addressing encampments throughout the City.
- Our Fire Department received slightly more than 3,000 calls-for-service attributed to people experiencing homelessness.
We know that without more housing, we have nowhere for people to go. Focusing on housing is proven to work in cities like Houston, which I visited last year along with city managers throughout Los Angeles County and County CEO Fesia Davenport. Here in Santa Monica, we are focused on producing affordable housing with more on the way.
Here’s a roundup of what Santa Monica has done related to housing and rental assistance over the past year:
- Santa Monica supports over 1,600 households with over $29 million in federal funding for local affordable housing.
- Over $39.5 million in state rental assistance went to 2,300 Santa Monica households to prevent homelessness since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
- $750,000 in funds were made available to support severely rent-burdened households in rent relief through the Rent Control Adjustment Relief program. The first round served over 450 households, and we are processing applications for another round that recently closed.
- 100 new federal Emergency Housing Vouchers were secured and assigned to individuals experiencing homelessness.
- Legal assistance was provided to over 590 Santa Monica households at risk of eviction to ensure residents remain housed.
- The Preserving Our Diversity program provided cash-assistance to 200 low- income senior households.
- 134 new permanent affordable housing units opened in Santa Monica since 2020 and 297 additional affordable housing units are currently in development.
We continue to secure additional federal funding to support affordable housing production and homelessness. Representative Ted Lieu has been critical in ensuring we tap into federal dollars, including $2 million for the future affordable housing project in Downtown and a behavioral health strategy that is underway.
A recent study completed by our auditor, Moss Adams, validated Santa Monica’s approach to addressing homelessness. The report also provides us with a strong set of recommendations to optimize our work and move us into the future.
I can feel the momentum around this issue, and I can see the path to the positive results I know our community is eager to see.
There is more work to do, and I ask for your continued partnership and thank those of you who came out to our point-in-time count two weeks ago. That kind of collective energy is what we’re going to need as we steadfastly pursue this priority.
Now let’s turn to our social safety net and other programs that support community members from working families to seniors.
- We provided a safe and seamless school day for 1,900 Santa Monica youth and families through out-of-school time programming at Virginia Avenue Park, Police Activities League, and CREST.
- Our Five Star Santa Monica Public Library expanded service hours by 43% in 2022 and all branch locations are back serving the community.
- The Library saw over 731,000 physical and digital items checked out and welcomed over 133,000 walk-in visitors and 517,000 virtual visitors.
- Library programs served over 18,000 patrons through 54 adult programs and 148 youth programs.
- Community Recreation held 370 Youth Camps & Classes with over 3,600 participants.
- The Swim Center hosted over 1,900 youth aquatic program participants and over 92,000 swimmers last year.
- 287,000 visitors came out to the Annenberg Community Beach House, which was named by the BBC as one of the top public pools in the world and received the 2022 Santa Monica Conservancy Stewardship.
- The Santa Monica Farmers Market increased sales by 37% percent.
- We launched the next four-year round of funding request for proposals for the Human Services Grants Program, which provides $8 million in contracts to 19 social services agencies with 35 programs that serve over 28,000 participants.
- 2,600 people participated in Americana in the Park, a community concert series in Gandara Park produced by the City and McCabe’s Guitar Shop.
- 34 commercial fitness trainer permits issued for training in the parks and on the beach – up from 11 in 2019 thanks to the reduction and elimination of quarterly use fees by City Council in August 2022.
Without a doubt, we strive and are eager to do more.
What’s Coming Up
There are a few initiatives on the horizon to keep in mind.
- First, next week Frieze LA is coming to the Santa Monica Airport from the 16th through 19th. Hosting such a venerated art fair in Santa Monica brings a host of economic benefits, while also connecting the event to local artists and arts organizations and leveraging opportunities to expand the arts at both the Santa Monica Airport and beyond.
- The Reframe & Acknowledge Together initiative was launched, a program that produces public art projects that center community voices with the aim of creating a more just and equitable Santa Monica. As an initial part of the City Hall mural Reframe focus, artist Glenna Avila taught a workshop on representation and belonging with local youth, and their artwork was displayed in the lobby of City Hall. More public events and activities are being planned for early 2023.
- We are beginning the process to reimagine the 227-acre Santa Monica Airport, which returns to local control in 2029.
- Finally, we are working on a behavioral health strategy and we invite you to participate by sharing your perspective on what our community needs to support people with substance abuse disorder and mental health needs. We look forward to engaging the community in this important dialogue to shape a strategy designed for Santa Monica’s unique needs.
Without a doubt, there is no place to live, work, and play like Santa Monica and there is no better place to be in public service. We are a fun, active, creative, sustainable, and determined City!
For those of you that have met me over the course of the past year, you know the passion and energy I bring to this work. It is fueled by our tremendous, amazing workforce and our passionate, innovative community. We have a lot of work to do – I'm up for it and I hope you are too because when we come together as one city and one community with an open mind we can tackle any issue no matter how big or how small. Thank you!
Authored By
David White
City Manager