SANTA MONICA—During the fourth annual Santa Monica City Council retreat, members partook in workshop activities and heard staff presentations to identify and vote on the top six priorities for the Fiscal Years 2019-2012 biennial budget.

“By prioritizing these areas of work, we can focus our efforts and resources on what matters most to our community,” said City of Santa Monica Mayor, Gleam Davis. “Our new Framework creates a clear and tangible process that uses hard data and measurable outcomes so our sustainable city of wellbeing continues to thrive.”

6 City Framework Priorities:

-Affordability

-Keeping Neighborhoods Safe

-Reduce Homelessness

-Climate Change

-Engaged and Thriving Community

-Mobility and Access

To view City Council’s full discussion and decision on the six framework priorities, watch it on YouTube or on the City’s website.  According to a press release from the city of Santa Monica, the Council identified six values to guide, connect, and inform the work of the Framework going forward:

-Accountability

-Equity

-Inclusion

-Resilience

-Safety

-Stewardship

In the past six weeks, the city deployed an engagement strategy to listen and learn of community priorities. A total of 2,816 community members (residents, those who work in Santa Monica, and business and property owners) shared their top five priorities by contributing in a survey and 557 staff members participated in a staff survey.

Staff established a process to collect and review feedback received through community and staff engagement. In April 2019, staff will present Framework modifications to City Council, in line with values and priorities set at the Santa Monica City Council retreat. A final draft of the Framework will be presented to City Council in early June, and modifications will go into effect as part of the budget which begins on July 1, 2019.

The Framework is Santa Monica’s strategic vision, designed to connect purpose and function and organize work efforts around the achievement of seven key outcome areas of Community, Economic Opportunity, Health, Learning, Place and Planet, Safety, and Governance. Every outcome is further organized into sub-outcomes which provide additional definitions and explanations about the outcomes Santa Monica expects to achieve.

The budget includes metrics for each activity conducted by each department, which are process metrics designed to help Santa Monica accomplish the outcomes included in the Framework. For more details on the Framework and to review the Council Retreat Staff Report visit www.smgov.net.