City Council Applicant
Evan Meyer
Application Date: 06/16/21 Reside in Santa Monica: yes If yes, number of years: 15
Registered to vote in Santa Monica: yes Hold an elected position: no
If yes, please specify:
INTERESTS AND EXPERIENCE
Current or prior service on city boards/commissions:
I have served the Ocean Park Association (OPA) for almost 10 years, a board member for most of that time, and most recently serving as president (until 2019).
Community activities:
Actively work with the city of Santa Monica to develop new and innovative approaches to civic engagement, partnership, and activism.
Executed over 130 murals in Santa Monica to date through our mission to eliminate neglected or blighted walls/schools/structures by converting them to artistic facades. Now providing the tools that empower other community organizations to do so as well.
Created the “Civic Love” program here in Santa Monica - a group focused on volunteerism and making change in communities through action. This has brought together hundreds of individuals, from residents to city staff/officials in our community to ideate, guide, and support in the process of getting civically engaged.
Previously hired by the City of Santa Monica to conduct Civic Love / cultural seminar.
Held many community paint days, bringing together thousands of community members to participate and feel the impact of true civic engagement.
Held beach and street clean-up events.
Held community art education events for youth and adults.
Built the new SantaMonicaParade.com site, framework and web-workflow strategy for the recent years of the 4th of July parade. I also participate yearly in the parade as the Segway security lead.
Participated on the Homelessness Steering Committee and with the Homeless count. Los Angeles County, 2020 Volunteer of the Year
Qualifications, experience, education, and technical or professional requirements:
BUSINESS & NON-PROFIT LEADERSHIP:
Founder, and former Chief Operating Officer of RideAmigos, an international Transportation Demand Management (TDM) software platform that helps government agencies understand commuter habits, reduce traffic, and make intelligent transportation-based investments.
Successfully automated and executed traffic-reduction strategies and behavior-change mechanisms for the last 13 years.
As the dominant Transportation Demand Management (TDM) platform in the US, we serve 1000’s of cities, business complexes, Fortune 500 companies, and universities, as well as the majority of regional TDM programs on the west coast.
I have been in this industry since its birth and have seen what has worked, what hasn’t, and for whom, advising on TDM best practices throughout my career.
To serve tens of thousands to millions of constituents, our wide-scale operations require deep research, strategic planning, and project management to meet demanding timelines; I have built the infrastructure that supports this.
My transportation/traffic reduction and mobility expertise will be invaluable to the council and the city. Additionally, my ability to understand motivation and incentives at scale will allow me to make educated decisions on complex items like housing and homelessness.
---Founder and former Executive Director of the 501(c)3, Beautify Earth (BE), which was conceived here in Santa Monica as Beautify Lincoln in 2013, and now transforms communities and schools globally through public art, murals, art education, community engagement, and social responsibility. In 2019, I also formed a for-profit, technology, sister-company, in order to automate, and vastly accelerate urban art activation through tech-platform dynamics/economics and drive the mission of the non-profit. I am currently the CEO.
Received support, endorsement, and/or sponsorship, from a wide array of Santa Monica city
Globally influenced thousands of art projects and numerous art/culture policies, especially here in LA County and City.
Awarded the Cultural Tourism Champion of the Year by the California Travel and Tourism Association, nominated by Santa Monica Travel and Tourism
Launched in hundreds of cities across the globe through my leadership - and growing. Chapters use best practices we’ve developed for program development, community engagement, and fundraising in order to achieve their community revitalization goals.
Worked directly with over 100 of Santa Monica businesses, developing an unparalleled understanding of their needs, values, and concerns. While often delivering a mural as a final product, I also mentored several of them in working through some of our local policies, and helping them drive their revenues into the black.
Worked directly with Main St, Montana, and Pico BID’s to enhance their streets with art.
Created multiple activated “hotspots” along Lincoln Blvd and Pico Blvd, driving increased business revenue (up to 50% in some cases, averaging at around 20%) and foot traffic in these areas, decreasing tagging and littering, and enhancing the city’s walkability. Research also supports that crime in general is reduced in areas well-activated by art.
Spearheaded the utility box art program that has piloted on three streets, and in the final stages of launching across the city.
Worked with SMC Public Policy Institute’s experiential learning program to develop the Beautify Index that the city can use to evaluate and improve “the feel” of an area.
Evoked a cultural reformation for murals in Santa Monica. In just five years, we are now recognized as a “mural city” with over 130 murals, not including those on the interiors of our schools (of which there are now murals on most of them).
Worked directly with our schools to educate on the creative process, teach how the students can make positive change, and implement their visions in/on their own schools (often with the students).
NEIGHBORHOOD LEADERSHIP:
President of OPA
Reset the tone of what it means to be a neighborhood association as it relates to engagement, civility, and respect.
Created the first Code of Conduct for our board
Restructured and rebranded our entire web/email strategy and presence Leveraged social media as a staple of our communication strategy
Drove unprecedented, consistent attendance to our meetings, as well as increased membership and engagement.
Introduced performance-based metrics and measurement to drive continued success.
EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP:
Scaling business operations has given me a wealth of knowledge and experience in strategic and financial planning/forecasting, sales and marketing strategy, business development, operations management, legal, culture building, and teambuilding. I recognize that true leadership comes from leading by example, and that the growth and success of any organization is more about the people within it than anything else. I also embrace the crucial nature of a strong and meaningful culture in organizations and give seminars around the country to help them nurture and grow their own.
ACTION:
I understand what it takes to move the needle forward in a way that can be supported by all
stakeholders. People here know me as a person who “just knows how to get things done,” who takes ideas and drives them to fruition. Working with cities requires patience, process, and action, and I have both the character and knowledge to balance all three to make things happen. My results speak for themselves, and you can literally see them.
ATTENTION TO DETAIL:
In my early career, I was trained as a systems engineer and product manager. Technical writing (e.g. software product requirements) became a natural proficiency for me, allowing me to think through the many end-conditions/use-cases any project implementation would have. This has proven particularly valuable in project management, but also in policy implications. Additionally, I have singlehandedly written and published a patent for ridesharing technology, and have drafted/worked through hundreds of contracts for a multitude of businesses purposes. I have written responses to (and won) around 70 government led RFP’s. In a role with so much reading/contracts, this should prove immensely valuable.
EXCEPTIONALLY WELL-ROUNDED:
organization, and how to get there being resource conscious. More recreationally, I’m also an artist, musician, athlete, and a master of creative projects.
SILICON BEACH / TECHNOLOGY GURU
I have been an integral part of Silicon Beach’s development and growth here. I understand the startup world, the venture capital world, the many ways technology fits into all of our lives, and where the trends will take us in the future. Representing this community on council would give us a balanced set of skills to understand what our future looks like as we continue up the technology curve, and become more deeply networked with the world around us. I would excitingly be committed to helping us become one of the “smartest” of “smart cities,” leveraging this powerhouse and resource that is Silicon Beach.
Goals:
HOMELESSNESS & HOUSING
Like traffic, these have been solved in many ways around the globe, and I’m fortunate enough to have traveled to many of these places. I’ve grouped them together because while all of my goals here are interdependent, these two most pressingly feed off each other. The right mix of incentives and scalable models will create lasting self-perpetuating impacts, while limiting “one-offs.” In working with
Community Corp, I’ve also been privy in learning how affordable housing works specifically in Santa Monica. Accessibility to homeless services and homelessness prevention are obviously important aspects to these issues. Still, how we empower individuals and parents early on, and providing not just the tools and resources but also an injection into the everyday ecosystem with the support to thrive are important considerations. Affordable housing solves a piece of this puzzle, and how we work with, incentivize, and scale with all players (e.g. developer, businesses) to be part of a more utilitarian system is where my expertise of incentive models will be of great value.
CIVILITY
How we communicate, listen, and respect one another regardless of our viewpoints is what gives us understanding and perspective. I would like to put myself in the position to work through even our toughest issues with all parties that may be deeply affected in ways some of us can’t understand. It is my personality to seek to understand others, and help us see eye to eye more often, more peacefully, and with more common ground. I am an expert at bringing people together, and finding fair, viable solutions through dialogue. We can bring a stronger version of what civility means to the city of Santa Monica, as I did with the Ocean Park Association. Moreover, civility helps us move forward with good and important ideas and solutions faster, while saving the unnecessary time of “backtracking” in future. The
TRAFFIC REDUCTION
The transportation industry is in its nascent stage. The next 5-10 years are going to make our heads spin with new modes, new economic models that power these modes, access, parking garage utility, etc. The city has set some strict goals for itself in eliminating new net trips, that will require a detailed
understanding of the needs of our commuters, and the correct formula of motivation/incentivisation models around multimodal travel, parking, travel times, and so on. It’s no easy task (but completely doable with the right considerations) and there will be both internal and external factors that create landmines along the way that will need quick attention. With my expertise, I will help to make sure we both hit our goals, watch for these landmines, and leverage the absolute best/proven mitigation strategies.
SYSTEMS / EFFICIENCY / TECHNOLOGY
The world is changing by the day, and being able to adapt is considered one of the most important qualities for individuals and cities in this new era. My expertise here will help us stay abreast of trends and risks, realize opportunities earlier, and spend taxpayer money more wisely on solutions that will stand the test of time. Legacy systems, outdated policies, and unnecessary process bottlenecking are all areas that government is known for, but we don’t have to be. My attention to these areas will make us future-ready.
Given my experience with the businesses here, making it easy for them to open and thrive is a clear and imminent opportunity for us in this domain. A smart systems approach to homelessness for example, will give us more timely, accurate, and relevant data to make more informed, economically sound, and helpful decisions around this extremely complicated issue.
Vision:
Santa Monica has been, and will continue to be the example of what’s possible for many cities around the country and the planet. This is wonderful, yet also increases our responsibility to lead by example as the global population grows, and our natural resources are continually constrained. Representing our city as one that truly brings residents, businesses, and government together to solve some of our hardest problems, while building the much needed foundation of trust between these groups, is a vision I’m proud to stand behind. I see City Council redefining what it means to be part of government, what it means to serve, and how important it is for people to be involved in their community. I see us leading the next-generation systems that consider diverse communities like ours in ways that inspire our region. I see us building the best practices of balancing holistic needs with that of the many passionate interest groups that make up a community, especially around the complicated issues of homelessness,
development, affordable housing, traffic, and land use. We ARE Santa Monica, and we ARE the example.
Personal Qualities:
my experience in team building, seeking alignment in environments with strong different perspectives, and knowing which prioritization strategy/method will work for which context.
I possess the leadership skills required to drive not only the city’s goals, but aligning with the needs of our residents and business community as well. My background has been filled with devising creative and innovative approaches to solving problems and navigating through complex political terrains to achieve goals.
Will leverage effective internal/external communication, and a goal-oriented style that helps keep teams accountable and on track.
Will bring a positive, creative, joyful, and practical attitude and personality.
Will you be able to commit the necessary time to perform your duties if appointed to the Council?
yes
How did you learn about the vacancy in this board or commission? (select all that apply)
Santa Monica Daily Press Legal Notice
On the City's website (smgov.net or santamonica.gov) Social Media- Facebook, Twitter, NextDoor, Youtube Seascape or SaMoNews (newsletters)
On CityTV (Channel 16)
Word of Mouth- Council or Board/Commission member, City Staff, neighborhood groups, etc. Other
BUSINESS INFORMATION
Occupation: Tech Entrepreneur / Engineer Business name: BeautifyEarth.com Business address:
