The City of Santa Monica is a beautiful, sustainable community situated on the western side of Los Angeles County bordered by the City of Los Angeles on three sides and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Santa Monica encompasses an area slightly greater than eight square miles and operates most of its own municipal services directly, including police, fire, street maintenance, custodial, building maintenance, graffiti removal, refuse collection, recycling, water resources, sewer utilities, transit services, and a cable television station. The City also operates public libraries, the Civic Auditorium, a municipal airport, a cemetery, and an animal shelter.