Politics & Government

Gleam Davis: 'Expo Line Is Not a Panacea' for Traffic Woes

Santa Monica's new mayor pro tempore also talks about saving the middle class, ensuring that companies hire locally, and negotiating with the police and fire unions.

Exactly one week ago, Santa Monica found itself with a new mayor pro tempore. Gleam Davis, who joined the  in February 2009, assumed the two-year position after a few rounds of voting on the part of her colleagues.

While still new to the council, Davis—a Santa Monica resident since 1986—is somewhat ubiquitous. Thanks to her membership and leadership roles in a wide range of groups, including the Community for Excellent Public Schools (CEPS), the Planning Commission and Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights, her name has become associated with many of the city's hot-button issues.

That includes, of course, transportation. As the city's alternate representative to the Exposition Construction Authority, she is intimately familiar with the Expo Line that is due to arrive here in 2015. The Harvard Law alum, who spent a considerable amount of time on the East Coast, firmly believes that "people will use [mass] transit if it's easy and reliable."

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I caught up with Davis not too long ago at the 18th Street Coffee House to talk about how the Expo Line may alleviate Santa Monica's traffic woes. We also chatted about overdevelopment, the budget crisis and what she perceives as 's new image.

Santa Monica Patch: What's the biggest challenge facing Santa Monica right now?

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Gleam Davis: That we have to deal with a dysfunctional state. [This year,] we cut our social-services grant by about 1.5 percent. We're lucky that it was only a percentage.

Patch: I've been told the city is going to negotiate with unions to help manage its budget next year.

Davis: I was very proud of the fact that the police and fire unions came out in favor of Measure Y. I'm hopeful that we can engage in good-faith negotiations.

I would hate to see our [benefits] packages eviscerated, so we can't hire good people. One of the last bastions of the middle class is public employment.

Patch: What else can we expect in 2011?

Davis: We probably [won't be] looking at a lot of brand-new initiatives, because we can't really afford to fund them. We'll be looking at how we can provide better services to our residents, to make it easier to do business here in Santa Monica, and to improve our processes so we operate more efficiently as a city government.

I think development will continue to be an issue. Maybe it will always be an issue.

Patch: What do you say to residents concerned about overdevelopment?

Davis: When we have development agreements in front of the city, we require them to have a hire-locals policy. The Agensys [project, for example] includes a provision for construction jobs in the actual development and a local-hire outreach in terms of their operation. We're also working with them to develop a high-tech jobs program for local students. They've committed to internships for both  and .

Patch: SMC still has its critics too.

Davis: I want to compliment the college. It has not always been a good neighbor in our community. But in the last few years, [President Chui Tsang] and the board of trustees have really made an effort to be a better neighbor. With , now you don't have to drive downtown to see great theater. And the prices are reasonable. It's a resource for the community.

Parking and traffic generated the most complaints. They've built more parking, and with the  deal, students can commute [for free and use] remote parking lots.

Patch: What about complaints about traffic in general?

Davis: My goal is, when the Expo opens, that every resident of Santa Monica will have a very easy transit solution to get to the Expo station. The Expo Line is not a panacea. But as someone who works downtown, I can tell you that being able to get to a light-rail station would be fabulous.

It'll be here before we know it.

It's unfortunate that the current plans for the subway only take it to Westwood. It seemed to make economic sense to bring the subway down to the sea. I hope we find the funding for it.

But I don't want transit to become an impetus for further development.

[This interview has been edited and condensed.]

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Past Santa Monica Patch Q&As:


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