Archive

By Jorge Casuso

January 15 -- A founder of the Bayside District who helped shape Third Street through the years has taken the helm as the City’s mayor, while a new face has filled a seat on the district’s board as the Downtown enters what is likely a defining year in its history.

Mayor Herb Katz, who helped create the Bayside Board as a council member in the 1980s, then served on it for two terms from 1992 to 2000, was sworn in as Santa Monica’s new mayor during an emotional ceremony in the Council Chambers December 4.

Also last month, Todd Flora, an IBM employee who is a member of the steering committee for Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights (SMRR) was sworn in as a member of the Bayside District Board, which runs the Downtown.

Katz’s swearing in came nearly a quarter century after Katz -- who has dedicated half his life to civic service in Santa Monica -- was first elected to the City Council.

Long a champion of the Downtown, Katz plans to continue having a hand in area he helped shape into a thriving tourist, retail and job center.

“Bayside is precious to me, obviously,” Katz said. “One of the problems with any success is that after ten years you have to revise it. We need to revitalize it.”

Katz is stepping into the City’s top post at a time when the Bayside is in the process of overhauling the way it is managed, restructuring the makeup of its board and expanding its assessment district to bring in much-needed revenues.

The new mayor would like to see more money pumped into keeping the Downtown streets clean and a plan developed to upgrade the area’s aging theaters so they can compete with neighboring state-of-the-art venues. He also wants to see a better mix of stores.

“We’re looking at more restaurants,” Katz said. “We want as much mom and pop as possible.”

Katz also wants to continue working on the homeless problem, although he acknowledges there are no easy solutions.

“You’ve got to stay on top of that,” he said. “We have to get them into housing. Are we going to succeed overnight? No.”

Flora, a longtime Santa Monica resident, was sworn in as a new member of the 11-member Bayside Board.

A community relations manager covering Southern California for IBM, Flora wants to add to the board “a perspective that considers workers, ways to market and attract Santa Monicans, Angelenos and tourists, to our downtown businesses and attractions in a way that makes these venues ‘the first-thought’ stop for these individuals,” he said on his application.

As well, Flora would like to help “strengthen the viability of Santa Monica's core downtown business development and balance its growth with community needs and interests.”