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Dan O'Brien Newsletter — June 7, 2026
📬 Councilmember Dan O'Brien | Culver City | June 8, 2026
Dear Culver City,
Some weeks are about what lies ahead. This one is also about something that is ending, and you deserve to hear both from me directly. Last Thursday I shared the hardest decision of my time in this office: I will not seek re-election this year. I will serve out my full term through December, and I intend to spend every week of it the way I have tried to spend all of them, working for this city. That includes tonight, because the budget I have written to you about all spring reaches its final vote at 7 PM. Below you will also find a new leader for our parks, a Juneteenth weekend worth your time, and a note from a stage I shared a few weeks back.
🗳️ A Personal Note: I Will Not Seek Re-Election
🔹 Last Thursday, I announced that I will not run for re-election to the City Council. My path here ran through more than twenty-five years of community work in Culver City, and serving as your councilmember, and for a stretch as your mayor, has been one of the great honors of my life.
→ 💡 Why I made this call: With the entertainment industry changing under all of us, I recently moved into a new chapter professionally, leading the Culver City Chamber of Commerce as president and CEO. There is precedent for holding both roles, but I came to believe I could not do both at the level you deserve. The Chamber is now my full-time work, and it is where I think I can keep serving this community best.
→ 🎯 What it does not change: I have six months left in this seat, and I am not coasting through them. To everyone who supported me, pushed back on me, or simply told me what they thought along the way, thank you.
→ 🤝 Who I hope you will send next: Two seats are on the ballot this November, and I did not want to step away without doing what I can to make sure people I trust are ready to fill them. I am wholeheartedly behind Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin and Kimberley Griffin. I have known Jeannine for more than two decades, through her service on the Cultural Affairs Commission, the Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee, and years of nonprofit and grassroots leadership, and I have always admired the way she brings people together around our parks, arts, schools, and neighborhoods. Kim has spent years rolling up her sleeves for this city, turning out for community events, championing local businesses, and volunteering where it counts, and she understands that strong communities are built on collaboration and responsible leadership. Both are smart, effective leaders who will listen and learn, and I hope you will join me in helping elect them this fall.
👉 Support Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin's campaign
👉 Support Kimberley Griffin's campaign
💰 Budget and Finance: Tonight, the Final Vote
🔹 Tonight at 7 PM, the FY 2026-27 budget reaches its adoption hearing in the Mike Balkman Council Chambers. This is a balanced budget, our first in three years, built around the strategic priorities Council ratified in April: long-term financial sustainability, investment in public spaces and infrastructure, and affordability tied to housing and homelessness.
→ ⚡ Why tonight matters: This is the final chance to weigh in before the budget becomes law for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Months of community conversations, bond proceeds, and resident input all come down to this one meeting.
→ 🎯 My take: A budget is a statement of what a city actually values, not just what it says it values. If a line item touches your block, your kids' field, or your small business, tonight is the night to be in the room or on the record. I will be at the dais for it.
👉 View Council meetings and agendas
🌳 Parks and Recreation: A New Director Takes the Helm
🔹 Culver City has a new Parks, Recreation and Community Services director. Tomás Herrera-Mishler started on June 1. He is a licensed landscape architect with more than twenty-five years leading public park systems, most recently as the parks director for the City of Westminster, Colorado.
→ 🎯 Why this one is personal for me: My own civic life in this city started in our parks, helping found the Culver City Great Parks Association and working with neighbors to renovate the Veterans Park playground. A steward who understands that parks build community, not just landscapes, is exactly what I hoped we would find.
→ 💡 A good moment to plug in: Summer programming is underway, including swim lessons for every level. It is a fine week to get to know the department under its new leadership.
👉 Explore Parks and Rec programs
🎬 Economic Development: Keeping Content Creation Home
🔹 A few weeks back, I shared a stage at AI on the Lot, hosted right here in Culver City. I joined a panel moderated by StageRunner founder Jason Fisher, alongside studio leaders Glenn Gainor and Kevin Reilly, on what it will take for Los Angeles and Culver City to keep media content creation home as the AI creative industry grows.
→ 📊 By the numbers: With Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios opening their lot and sound stages, the conference doubled to more than 2,400 attendees this year. My thanks to Todd Terrazas, Mike Gioia, and the whole team behind it.
→ 🎯 Why I keep showing up for rooms like this: Culver City has always been a place where things get made. Protecting that, and adapting it for what comes next, is one of the clearest ways we keep good jobs and creative energy inside our five and a half square miles.
📅 Dates and What's Ahead
🔹 Wednesday, June 17. Downtown Business Association's Third Wednesday, the first activation inside our new Downtown Entertainment Zone.
🔹 Friday, June 19. Juneteenth. A day to honor freedom and reflect on the work still in front of us as a community.
🔹 Saturday, June 20, 12 to 3 PM. Culver City's Juneteenth Celebration at Veterans Memorial Park, a free, family-friendly afternoon presented with local artists, businesses, and organizations.
🔹 Saturday, June 20, 7:30 PM. Culver City Symphony season finale at Robert Frost Auditorium. "A Tribute to Our Roots in Black America" is a free Juneteenth concert featuring works by Florence Price, William Grant Still, George Walker, and Scott Joplin.
🔹 Fiesta La Ballona turns 75. The city unveiled its anniversary logo this month, and our oldest community tradition returns August 28 to 30.
👉 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
Stepping back from a campaign is not the same as stepping back from the work. I have six months left in this seat, a budget to help land tonight, a full summer of community events ahead, and a city that does not slow down because one name comes off a ballot. I plan to use all of it.
And come December, I am not going far. Leading the Chamber is one more way to keep serving the community I love, and I plan to stay in the work right alongside you. If there is something you want this office to take on before my term ends, this is a good time to tell me. I read what comes in, and I still answer. Thank you for the privilege of serving you. The best of Culver City is still ahead.
