Local News Briefs

Elaine Polachek Named Santa Monica's Interim City Manager

Elaine Polachek, Santa Monica's current Assistant City Manager has been named Interim City Manager as Rod Gould's retirement at the end of January nears. Mayor Kevin McKeown announced the unanimous selection of Polachek at the Council Meeting on December 16th. "With great confidence, our Council chose Elaine Polachek because of her long history with our city, her record of successful communication and collaboration with residents and the business community, her admirable performance for years as Assistant City Manager, and what we know are great working relationships Elaine has throughout City Hall and with our partners at the School District and Santa Monica College," shared Mayor Kevin McKeown. "We have no doubt that Elaine will provide gracious leadership, experienced management, and deeply appreciated continuity and stability that will make our search for a new permanent City Manager easier for us."

Ms. Polachek has over 30 years of public administration experience in key positions for the City of Santa Monica including Operations Manager for the Santa Monica Pier, Director of Community Maintenance and Deputy City Manager, prior her current post as Assistant City Manager. "I'm honored to be named Interim City Manager and appreciate the opportunity to serve the City Council and the community in that capacity," states Polachek. "Throughout my service to the city, I've been fortunate to form strong connections to people who care deeply about Santa Monica and I look forward to the months ahead."

Ms. Polachek will assume the position of Interim City Manager on February 1, 2015 and will hold the post until a new city manager is selected.

New Holiday Tree Collection Program

After years of 'Parking Your Tree', the City is moving to a more convenient pickup plan. Holiday Tree Collection is Coming to You! Residents no longer need to cart their holiday tree to a City park. Rather, residents are encouraged to place their tree out for collection in their alley. If regularly scheduled trash and recycling are collected at the curbside and not in the alley, place trees at the curb on your scheduled trash collection day.

The City of Santa Monica's Resource Recovery & Recycling Division will begin collecting live holiday trees and wreaths from the alleys on Monday, December 29th through Friday, January 23rd. All decorations, lights and tree stands must be removed. Do not put trees in plastic bags.

The City would like to remind residents that composting and mulching are the greenest ways to both reduce waste and create useful fertilizer for your yard. It's natural, easy, requires almost no maintenance and can be done in any number of ways.

For questions regarding holiday tree pickup procedures, please call 310.458.2223. You may also visit the City's web page atwww.smgov.net/r3.

Boys Girls Club Announces New CEO

After careful consideration and a thorough selection process, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica would like to announce our new and very experienced Chief Executive Officer, Tim B. Blaylock.

Tim will fill the vacancy created by Aaron Young's departure to join the Pacific Youth Foundation earlier this year, and Michelle Arellano, who has served as the Interim CEO. Tim will start on January 5th, 2015.

Blaylock most recently was the Director of Organizational Development for Major Metro Clubs in the Pacific Region for Boys & Girls Clubs of America, after an award-winning career leading Clubs in Washington State and Oxnard/Port Hueneme. His lifelong focus has been on serving young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.