COMMUNITY FORUMS, YOUTH PROGRAM, & HEARINGS

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Click to see the May 14 Santa Monica Festival Summary

Click to see the April 21 Youth Planning Forum Summary

Click to see the January 22 Community Workshop Summary

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Shape the Future 2025/Motion by the Ocean Opportunities and Challenges Report Community Open House

On August 16, 2005, more than 60 members of the community attended an Open House Community Meeting at the Ken Edwards Center hosted by the Planning and Community Development Department to informally discuss and answer questions about the Opportunities and Challenges report prior to Planning Commission and City Council hearings on the report.

This event provided an opportunity to interact with staff and other participants to better understand the report, which contains information about current demographics, economic structure, housing capacity, level of development and other data and future projections that are important to consider as the city shapes its future. 

The event included an opportunity to provide written feedback in the form of letters to the Planning Commission and City Council.

The City Council made this Open House possible by extending the public review period for milestone work products in this process, such as the Opportunities and Challenges report.

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Shape the Future 2025 and Motion by the Ocean Attract Attention at the Santa Monica Festival

On May 14, 2005, hundreds of Santa Monica Festival visitors stopped by the Planning & Community Development (PCD) booth and caught up on the Land Use and Circulation Elements project progress.  With colorful displays, fun activities, free water, and a treasure hunt with great prizes, the booth was a festival favorite.

PCD was proud to display the department’s accomplishments and the results of the extensive public outreach since the project was launched at the 2004 Santa Monica Festival with the first Motion by the Ocean booth.

Twelve “themes,” expressing visions for the City’s future, compiled from community input received in the last year, were illustrated. Visitors voted with dot stickers on the themes that were most important to them and in return received the first of four colored wrist bands. 

And nobody was too young to vote.

After collecting three more wrist bands from some of PCD’s partners in this major planning effort – Environmental Programs, Walk Santa Monica, and the Big Blue Bus – folks returned to the booth to claim their rewards.

And here’s what they said:

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Youth Planning Forum celebrates the Visions of Santa Monica’s Next Generation

On Thursday evening, April 21, 2005, the Santa Monica High School cafeteria was filled with visions for the future at the Shape the Future 2025 Youth Planning Forum, sponsored by the Planning & Community Development Department. The Forum gathered together students from Santa Monica elementary, middle and high schools who have been working on projects centering on planning the City’s future for the past three months in their classrooms and after-school programs. 

The array of projects included models, posters, a PowerPoint slide show, and photo albums and workbooks, all documenting a range of viewpoints of the City today and visions for the future. Students proudly explained their projects and ideas to the 100 or so parents, teachers, students and other community members who stopped by.

The Open House was followed by a program in Barnum Hall, with presentations by students ranging from 3rd through 12th grade from SMASH, Franklin, Edison, Lincoln, Police Activities League (PAL) Youth Directors Council, and Santa Monica High School. Mayor O’Connor started off the presentations with inspirational words and acknowledgements to all the students and teachers who put their time and energy into being part of this community-wide project.  

The event was filmed by Santa Monica CityTV, and a news segment will begin airing on Santa Monica Update, Monday, May 9th. It will play daily for two weeks at 9am, 12 noon, 6pm and 10:30pm. Overall, over 500 students participated in the project through a school or organization. 

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January 22, 2005 Community Workshop:
John Adams Middle School

On January 22, 2005, the Planning and Community Development Department held its first community-wide workshop. The objective of the workshop was to initiate dialogue with community members on their vision for the future of the city and the key issues to be addressed in the Land Use and Circulation Elements. The workshop was divided into two primary phases: an open-house style that allowed participants to visit and provide feedback at various land use and circulation-related stations and a group discussion where each individual created a 20-year vision for the City in the form of a mock magazine headline 20 years into the future. These ideas were recorded on flip charts and reported back to the larger group near the end of the meeting.

The workshop was a wonderful success. Participants were engaged in the process, provided great feedback, and helped to begin shaping the future of Santa Monica. See for yourself…