The Santa Monica Bay Foundation (also known simply as The Bay Foundation and formerly as the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation) employs many good people and is involved with many important projects. My score of only two stars is related to two concerns: 1) the lack of transparency from an organization that relies so heavily on public funds and 2) the partnership that Bay Foundation staff have entered into with the Annenberg Foundation in its pursuit to construct pet adoption facilities, under the guise of an "urban ecology center" in the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve.
Regarding the first concern, the meetings of The Bay Foundation and the minutes of its meetings should be open to the public. The Bay Foundation receives substantial federal and state dollars and is influential in formulating public policy that affects us all. Regardless of whether different members of the public agree or disagree with those policy outcomes, we ought to have visibility into the process.
The second concern is self explanatory and highlights the importance of the first concern. The public ought to understand why The Bay Foundation entered into such a controversial partnership with the Annenberg Foundation, potentially jeopardizing years of work on a larger restoration process for the Ballona Wetlands.
Hopefully, The Bay Foundation will decide to become a more transparent organization, and make its meetings and meeting minutes open to the public from whom they derive the majority of their operating revenue.
Walter Lamb
Ballona Wetlands Land Trust
Review from Guidestar