Council Helps Salvage Mounted Unit, Symphony, Fireworks; Starts Preparing for Retirement

By Erica Williams
Staff Writer

June 19 -- The City Council Tuesday night spent several hours debating how to spend the little that was left of a $353.7 million budget, choosing to keep the mounted police, save the symphony and, with no comment, pump money into the council’s new retirement fund.

Coming after the council awarded $2.25 million in additional funds to local schools (bringing the total to $5.25 million), the deliberations focused on ways to spend $110,000 in discretionary funds.

City Manager Susan McCarthy warned the council “not to burn what remains of our financial flexibility” on additional discretionary expenses in the face of “considerable state takeaways” amounting to an anticipated $4.1 million that could mushroom by another $2.6 million.

“Should you restore items that we propose you cut,” McCarthy said, “you will be restoring expenditures that your professional staff believes are the least impactful to the community and operations.”

The discussions over how to spend the funds -- on everything from port-o-potties for day laborers to increasing the Santa Monica Symphony’s grant to helping pay for the upcoming Independence Day fireworks -- lasted anywhere between 10 minutes and more than a half-an-hour.

But when it came to allocating $8,000 in PERS retirement contributions for the council, an ongoing expense to which members are entitled under the City Charter, the motion (made by Councilman Ken Genser and seconded by Mayor Richard Bloom) passed with record speed -- 20 seconds flat.

McCarthy identified two sources in the next year’s budget the council could tap “for modest ongoing funding” -- $110,000 in the council contingency fund (down from $117,400 last year) and $215,000 (down from $280,000 last year) from the non-departmental account for professional services. The second covers “unforeseen work” requested by the council, such as hiring a consultant for the Promenade Uses Task Force.

“We do not recommend that you cut this account (for consultant fees) by more than half unless you absolutely promise not to expand from this program,” McCarthy said, to the amusement of some in the chamber.

In the end, the took the following actions using monies in the council contingency fund:

• Increased the grant to the Santa Monica Symphony by $11,500 after hearing testimony from several of its representatives that a 56 percent cut in its budget was too much to absorb all at once.
  
• Restored $12,500 to the police department budget to keep the mounted unit a-trot through the end of 2003. The move came after another impassioned plea this year by actress June Lockhart to save the horses. It buys time for the unit to mount a private fund-raising effort to save the program.
  
• Set aside $20,000 to help the 18th Street Arts Center come up with a plan for potential development of their site that would help it become more financially self-sufficient. Councilwoman Pam O’Connor dissented, saying she was willing to vote for a “stay of execution” for operational funding for arts groups hit by the budget axe but not anything more.
  
• Restored $4,500 to the Community and Cultural Services budget for tree replacement and reforestation plans and $20,000 for parks maintenance after Councilman Kevin McKeown warned against neglecting these priorities. Councilman Herb Katz agreed, adding, “If you start cutting maintenance, you’ll never get caught up.”
  
• Set aside $2,000 for placing portable toilets in a day laborer location, pending public input. Everyone agreed placement would likely be a contentious issue.
  
• Allocated $8,000 for PERS retirement contributions for council members.
  
• Allocated $15,000 to help fund the annual “Celebrate America” fireworks display on June 28 at Santa Monica College.

The council also considered various budget-related resolutions, including one that established a new $25 filing fee for candidates running for office. After initially approving the fee, the council rescinded the move after some members objected.

“I don’t think we should be charging anything,” Genser said. “If anything, having these fees only helps incumbents and hurts challengers.

“I think it’s hard enough to raise money to run a serious campaign in this community for a newcomer,” he added, “and I think we should not put any impediments in their way.”

Other budget-related resolutions the council adopted included:

• Establishing new job classifications and adopting corresponding salary rate changes ranging from $17.19 per hour for a traffic control officer to $3,167 a month for a Step 5 human resources receptionist and $5,087 for a Step 5 human services administrative analyst.
  
• Increasing penalties for parking violations generating an additional $2.2 million in revenue.
  
• Establishing new fees for various services including fire and planning department building inspections, generating an additional $400,000 for each department.
  
• Revising fees the police department charges for services such as vehicle inspections and auto impound releases as well as fingerprinting and background checks (generating an additional $264,000 in revenue).

The council also approved facility use agreements with the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School district and three community priority/citywide work objectives for the upcoming fiscal year. Those included:

1) Enhancing the quality of life, safety and community involvement of residents of the Pico neighborhood.

2) Developing ways to achieve the Sustainable City Plan goals and incorporating them into daily activities and special projects.

3) Ensuring that the public receives timely and responsive service from all departments and ensuring that the City’s regulatory processes are administered with fairness, efficiency, courtesy and predictably.

The council also approved Planning & Community Development Department priorities and directed staff to work on problems associated with Center Court on the Third Street Promenade, where young transients hang out.