P. Lamont Ewell, City Manager of Santa Monica

P. Lamont Ewell was appointed as City Manager of Santa Monica in January of 2006.  P. Lamont Ewell previously served as City Manager for the City of San Diego. 

Mr. Ewell has experience not only in city management, but in the fire service, having begun his career as a firefighter in Compton and promoting through the ranks there and in Prince George's County, Maryland, to become Fire Chief of Oakland, California, in 1991 - just 13 days before the devastating Oakland Hills fire.  He distinguished himself in managing that fire disaster and rebuilding the area and was later named Assistant City Manager of Oakland.  Thereafter he was appointed as the Deputy City Manager, Assistant City Manager and Acting City Manager.            

In 1997, Ewell was named City Manager of the City of Durham, North Carolina, where he restructured government for improved service delivery to the public and helped jumpstart the Downtown renaissance.  Recruited to San Diego in 2001, he was named Assistant City Manager, responsible for day-to-day operation of all city deptartments.  San Diego has approximately 11,000 employees and a budget of $2.4 billion.

Jennifer Phillips, Assistant City Manager

Assistant City Manager Jennifer Phillips oversees the external services departments of Big Blue Bus, Community & Cultural Services, Housing & Economic Development, Library, Planning & Community Development, and Public Works.
 
Ms. Phillips has over 24 years of public administration experience including serving as Recycling Specialist with the LA County Sanitation District, Principal Financial Analyst with the Orange County Transportation Authority, and Assistant to the City Manager with the City of Fullerton, in which she served in the daily operational capacity of Assistant City Manager.

Ms. Phillips has also served as an Executive Manager with the County of Orange, developing and making policy recommendations to executive management and the County Board of Supervisors. Ms. Phillips is an active member of the International City/County Management Association; the Preparing the Next Generation Working Group and is currently Vice-Chair of Women Leading Government.

Elaine Polachek, Deputy City Manager

Deputy City Manager Elaine Polachek oversees the internal services departments of Finance, Information Systems, Community Maintenance and Human Resources.  Prior to assuming her current position, Ms. Polachek held several key positions with Santa Monica including Open Space Manager and Director of Community Maintenance.

As Director of Community Maintenance, Ms. Polachek was responsible for the maintenance of Santa Monica’s community infrastructure and assets including parks, public landscapes and urban forest, buildings, vehicle fleet, and community venues including the Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica Pier and Santa Monica State Beach.  She also assisted in the redevelopment of the Santa Monica Pier in the early 1990s as Operations Manager for the Pier Restoration Corporation, and previously held management positions with the Province of Ontario and the City of Scottsdale, AZ.  Ms. Polachek graduated from UCLA (BA, Political Science) and University of Southern California (MPA).

What does the City Manager's Office Do?

As the executive officer of the municipal government, the City Manager is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the City of Santa Monica, including implementation of City Council ordinances and policies, oversight of fourteen departments and primary responsibility for budget development. The City Manager's authority is derived from Article 7 of the Santa Monica City Charter. The City Manager's Office is comprised of four divisions:  Administration, Community and Governement Relations (including CityTV), the newly-created Office of Sustainability and the Environment and the Santa Monica Municipal Airport.  City management is guided by the Code of Ethics adopted by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA). 

Our City's Budget: Responding to Community Concerns

In conjunction with all city departments, the City Manager prepares and presents a proposed budget to the City Council each June, in anticipation of adoption by the City Council for the fiscal year which begins July 1. Public hearings are held beginning in January and several times more before final adoption, ensuring that the city's annual budget takes into account community needs, interests and priorities. The City Manager's Budget Message provides a thorough but concise description of the budget process, priorities and purpose of the planned expenditures for the current fiscal year.

Mission Statement

To provide leadership and direction in the implementation of City Council policy objectives and administration of City services and programs, ensuring accountability, community responsiveness and customer service excellence.