City of Santa Monica Mayor Bloom talked about the strides Santa Monica has made in the recents years as a city. Mayor Bloom told the audience that in 1940 Santa Monica moved to a managerial style of government . In this system the elected city council had at least one member in the position of the city manager. The person in this position has a background in business management and that leads to a better organized and stream-lined city government.
Mayor Bloom talked about his own background. He told the audience that he started his career in family law and that gave him the perfect set of tools for a place in city government. As a family law attorney, Mayor Bloom had to solve family problems and bring people together. He sees his job as mayor in much the same light. He has to bring the city council together with the people of the city.
Mayor Bloom told the audience that the population of Santa Monica has increased slightly recently due to the increased construction of apartment buildings.
The city of Santa Monica has the 3rd largest budget of all the cities in LA county. Santa Monica needs that budget because unlike some other cities in LA county, Santa Monica has its own police department, its own fire department and even its own bus system and very soon its own light rail system. Santa Monica has the maintenance of its beaches and pier to finance as well. This healthy budget is made possible thanks to a healthy stream of revenue from tourism, auto dealerships, biotech industry amongst many others. Santa Monica has a very diverse economy he told the audience. Thanks to this diversity Santa Monica has only had to cut its budget by 1.5% even during the economic crisis. This is also made possible by the efforts of the city manager.
Santa Monica is a successful city because it has a great location, one that makes it appealing to tourists, business people and residents all alike. Santa Monica has a long standing commitment to social justice. The city has created 1000 units of affordable housing and it has a broad based program for the aged population as well as young people.
Mayor Bloom also addressed the issue of homelessness in Santa Monica. He has made it his focus to fix homelessness in the long term. Rather than providing homeless individuals with temporary relief and temporary housing, the city of Santa Monica is determined to bring in more long term solutions. The focus now is on giving homeless individuals sustainable housing and support. Mayor Bloom proudly told the audience that last year was the first year that homeless population went down in Santa Monica thanks to these sustainable programs.
Mayor Bloom talked about the real estate development in Santa Monica. He pointed out that in Santa Monica the real estate development agencies are required to not only provide a traffic plan but they also have to guarantee that there will be no net increase in car traffic due to their proposed project. This way Santa Monica has brought the needs to the residents of the city together with its investors.
Mayor Bloom then went on to talk about the future of Santa Monica. He said that the city plans to become energy self-sufficient by the year 2025 and it has also instituted a water self-sufficient plan. All of this is made possible he said thanks to the involvement of the Santa Monica residents community. He pointed out that Santa Monica city councils meetings are some of the most colorful but that has helped make Santa Monica the successful city that it is now and a blueprint for success for other cities looking to duplicate that model.