Message from Mayor Gleam Davis

February 5, 2019 11:21 AM
by Gleam Davis

This article originally appeared in the February edition of Seascape. 

Dear Santa Monica Community,

I am honored to serve as your mayor in 2019. Serving the community during such a dynamic time in the City’s history is a wonderful opportunity to elevate Santa Monica’s priorities. In the year ahead, we have much work to do to continue Santa Monica’s transformation into a Sustainable City of Wellbeing.

To collaborate successfully, the City is committed to initiating thoughtful dialogue with you to understand what is important to the community, and to improving communication between you and City Hall. We know from the results of the 2018 resident satisfaction survey that there are high satisfaction levels with city services overall – with library services, trash and recycling collection, parks and beaches, and tree trimming receiving the highest marks. We also learned that residents reported concerns in the areas of public safety, homelessness, parking and traffic. As Mayor, I’m committed to leading Council on addressing each of these issues, and ensuring we make tangible progress in 2019.

Yet the City Council cannot solve these big issues alone. We need your help. We must encourage each other to respectfully discuss difficult topics – and focus on a collective search for solutions.

In our City and across the globe, we live in an era of rapid communication where information, real or fake, circulates around the clock with astounding speed and volume across multiple mediums. It’s often difficult for local government and concerned residents to compete and break through this constant flow of information and rumor that feeds the 24/7 news cycle, social media and real life. Yet we remain clear on our commitment to transparency and providing factually sound information to the community. It is our job to make sure our constituents understand what City Hall is doing and why we are doing it. That is why we are revamping the City’s website and have an active presence on social media.

We want you to know about our data-driven approach to decision making, programming, and service delivery. Our new performance management program tracks the City’s success and effectiveness through hard data. And we want you to know how we are using a new Framework that unites our work efforts to achieve outcomes that create a stronger community for us all. I encourage everyone to visit smgov.net/PerformanceManagement and to view our “Santa Monica’s Framework for a 21st Century Government”, which explains our approach here smgov.net/framework.

Finally, I hope to see you in our community! Join me at my monthly Let’s Read with Gleam story time at our libraries. The next one is on February 19 at the Main Library at 6 p.m.

With great commitment and care, intense focus, reliable data, and a collaborative spirit, I predict 2019 will be a year of accomplishments and advancements in Santa Monica. Let’s achieve this the Santa Monica way, by taking care of each other and honoring our differences. As Mayor, I look forward to listening and learning in 2019.

Keep in touch – follow me at @SaMoMayor on Twitter; say hello to me at a community event, or reach out by emailing council@smgov.net.

Gleam Davis
Mayor

Authored By

Gleam Davis
Council Member