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Dan O'Brien Newsletter — June 15, 2026
📬 Councilmember Dan O'Brien | Culver City | June 15, 2026
Hey Culver City,
It is not every week that the World Cup and the city budget make headlines on the same days. That was this week in Culver City. A few miles from here, the world's biggest soccer tournament kicked off at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. A few blocks from City Hall, the Council adopted a balanced budget, our first in three years. Here is what both mean for you, and where you can jump in.
💰 Budget & Finance: The Books Are Balanced
🔹 The Council adopted the FY 2026-27 budget on Monday, June 8. After a spring of strategic priorities, community conversations, and department-by-department review, the numbers became law for the year that starts July 1. City Manager Odis Jones delivered what he committed to six months ago: a balanced General Fund that protects core services and avoids layoffs.
→ 📊 What's new in the numbers: The budget rebuilds the City's Contingency Reserve from 21 percent to 27 percent of the General Fund, and adds new reserves to weather whatever the next few years bring. It also clears the way for the Public Finance Authority to issue lease revenue bonds, up to $48 million, to fund housing along with capital work on streets, sidewalks, parks, and facilities.
→ 🎯 My take: I have said all spring that a priority-driven budget is only as strong as the priorities residents bring to it. A lot of you brought them, in writing, in person, and through the Budget Input Box. A balanced budget that rebuilds reserves without cutting people or services is not where this City stood a year ago. That turnaround is worth pausing on.
👉 View Council meetings and agendas
🔹 The same night, the Council filled the boards that run a lot of this city. Thirty-four seats across thirteen commissions, boards, and committees were appointed on June 8, the payoff of the application push a lot of you saw in this newsletter through the spring. Residents, students, and business voices now hold seats where zoning, parks, finance, the arts, and housing get shaped long before any of it reaches the dais.
→ 🎯 Why this one matters to me: My own civic road in Culver City started on a committee seat, not a Council one. To everyone who raised a hand and applied, thank you. The work you signed up for is where a lot of the real decisions get made.
⚽ Economic Development: The World Cup
🔹 The FIFA World Cup is here, and it is close. The tournament runs through July 19 across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with eight matches at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, our neighbor right across the 405. The U.S. Men's National Team opened its first home World Cup in over thirty years on Friday with a 4-1 win over Paraguay, and more matches land at SoFi over the next two weeks. For a region that hosts the Olympics in 2028, this summer is the warm-up everyone gets to see.
→ ⚡ Why it matters here: A global event next door is a real opening for Culver City's restaurants, hotels, shops, and studios. It is exactly why we built the Downtown Entertainment Zone, and why this Council keeps connecting the dots between a soccer match, a summer of foot traffic, and the Olympic horizon.
🔹 Kick It With Culver City is our home-field version. The City is running a series of free community watch parties on park lawns and public plazas all tournament long. It launched Friday at Veterans Memorial Park for the USA opener, and it keeps going: watch parties at Ivy Station in late June, a Quarter-Finals viewing and Family Field Day at Veterans Memorial Park on Saturday, July 11, and the Finals screening at Town Plaza in Downtown Culver City on Sunday, July 19. Bring a blanket, bring the kids, bring a neighbor.
→ 🎯 My take: You do not need a ticket to SoFi to be part of this. A high-definition screen on a park lawn, free and open to everyone, is the most Culver City way to host the world's game. I hope a few of these turn into the best nights of the summer.
👉 Explore Kick It With Culver City
🤝 Around Town: Juneteenth and Pride
🔹 Juneteenth comes to Veterans Memorial Park on Saturday, June 20. The City's free, family-friendly celebration runs from noon to 3 PM, with a live performance of the Black National Anthem, music and kids' activities, market vendors, and community resources on hand, plus food for sale. Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, the day word of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached Texas, and it has been a federal holiday since 2021.
→ 🎯 Why it belongs on your calendar: This is a day for reflection and for celebration, held in the same park where so much of this community already gathers. Bring your family and your neighbors and mark it together.
👉 View Juneteenth event details
🔹 Culver City Pride returns to Downtown on Saturday, June 27. Now in its sixth year, the volunteer-led Pride Festival lights up Town Plaza at The Culver Steps from 5 to 10 PM, with the family-friendly Pride Ride rolling in beforehand from Ivy Station. It is free, it is local, and the City is proud to help support it.
→ 🎯 My take: A small city gets to do Pride its own way, rooted in neighbors, local businesses, and a real welcome. That is a Culver City I am glad to be part of.
👉 View Culver City Pride details
📅 Dates and What's Ahead
🔹 Wednesday, June 17, from 5 PM. Downtown Third Wednesdays kicks off the summer series, the first event inside the new Downtown Entertainment Zone. Food, drinks, music, and specials from Downtown's restaurants and shops.
🔹 Saturday, June 20, noon to 3 PM. Juneteenth Celebration at Veterans Memorial Park. See above.
🔹 Sunday, June 21. Happy Father's Day to the dads, granddads, and father figures across Culver City. If you are still making plans, Platform's Father's Day Fest brings live music to Platform Park.
🔹 Monday, June 22, 7 PM. Next Regular City Council Meeting, in the Mike Balkman Council Chambers. Agendas post the Wednesday before.
🔹 Saturday, June 27. Culver City Pride Festival and Pride Ride, Downtown. See above.
🔹 Looking further out. Kick It With Culver City watch parties run all tournament long, building toward the Quarter-Finals and Family Field Day at Veterans Memorial Park on July 11 and the Finals screening at Town Plaza on July 19.
👉 View the city events calendar
🔹 Every Tuesday, 2-7 PM. Downtown Farmers Market. Main Street. Grab produce, support local growers, and say hello to neighbors.
👉 Visit the Farmers Market page
🔹 How to watch and participate in meetings. Agendas post Wednesdays before Monday meetings. You can attend in person or virtually.
🙏 Closing Thought
Budgets get made in spreadsheets. Summers get made on park lawns. The Council spent the spring on the spreadsheet side, and this week that work crossed the finish line as a balanced budget that rebuilds our reserves. What comes next is the part you can see and hear: a Juneteenth celebration at Veterans Memorial Park, a watch party under the stars, a Pride festival lighting up Downtown. The careful work is what pays for the fun.
Whatever finds your calendar over the next few weeks, I hope it pulls you out the door and toward your neighbors. And if something is on your mind before then, hit reply and tell me. Those notes have a way of shaping what I raise at the dais.
