Elected Official? Create newsletters in minutes, not hours.
Transparent, authentic, comprehensive newsletters to maximize constituent representation and civic engagement.
Dan O'Brien Newsletter — May 25, 2026
📬 Councilmember Dan O'Brien | Culver City | May 26, 2026
Hello, Culver City,
Memorial Day asked something quiet of us yesterday. To remember the people who did not come home, and the families who continue to carry that absence the other 364 days of the year. My thanks to every Culver City resident who marked it in their own way, whether at a ceremony, a cemetery, or simply at a table that felt one chair lighter.
And now the civic calendar picks back up. Council convenes tonight at 7 PM with one of the heavier agendas of the spring. A Proposed Budget discussion and three separate public hearings layered on top of one another. Here is the week ahead.
🏛️ City Hall: A Heavier Tuesday Than Most
🔹 Tonight's Council Meeting carries three public hearings and a full budget discussion. Doors open at 7 PM in the Mike Balkman Council Chambers. The agenda layers the Proposed FY 2026-27 Budget Discussion on top of three separate public hearings: updates to the citywide User Fee Schedule, a phased five-year update to Refuse (trash, recycling, organics) Service Rates, and a separate review of Parks, Recreation and Community Services fees. Any one of these would be a full evening on a normal night. Tonight they share a dais.
→ 💡 What this means for residents: Refuse rate changes affect roughly 8,000 households and 1,500 businesses. The proposed schedule phases in increases of about 36 percent over five years to keep up with state composting requirements (SB 1383), longer hauling routes after regional facility closures, and Transfer Station infrastructure work. PRCS fees, reviewed separately as part of the Comprehensive Fee Study, would touch the kinds of programs families use weekly. Translation: if your household pays trash bills or signs kids up for city rec programs, tonight is the night to listen in.
→ 🎯 My take: I will not pretend any rate increase lands easily, and I have asked staff hard questions about phasing, cost drivers, and what residents are actually getting for the additional dollars. The programs are entirely funded by service fees, no General Fund money, and our rates have historically stayed among the lowest in the region. That said, this is exactly the conversation a public hearing is built for. If a piece of the proposal does not sit right with you, tonight is the moment to say so on the record.
👉 View tonight's meeting details
👉 How to attend or watch virtually
💰 Budget & Finance: Your Voice Just Got Its Own Front Door
🔹 The Culver City Budget Priorities Survey is live, and it is short. The City posted it on May 19 as the public-facing complement to the two community conversations earlier this month. A few minutes of clicks lets you tell Council which services matter most to your household, where you would have us prioritize future investments, and how you would have us approach cost savings or shortfalls. The results feed directly into deliberations between tonight and the June 8 Budget Adoption hearing.
→ ⚡ Why this matters: The two weeks between tonight and June 8 are the last high-leverage window before the FY 2026-27 budget is voted into law. The survey is the lowest-effort way to put your priorities into the record. If "I keep meaning to say something at a Council meeting" has been on your list since April, this is the version of that with no microphone required.
👉 Take the Budget Priorities Survey
🔹 And the June 8 vote is the finish line for this cycle. Council will hold the Public Hearing for Budget Adoption that Monday at 7 PM. Between tonight and then, staff will reconcile any direction Council gives this evening and bring the final document back for adoption. Everything community members have put into this cycle, the strategic priorities, the bond proceeds, the safe-streets dollars, the community conversation feedback, the survey responses, converges on that vote.
🚲 Infrastructure & Transportation: MOVE Culver City Just Got Longer
🔹 Friday morning, the MOVE Culver City Eastern Segment opened with a ribbon-cutting on the east side of town. The half-mile project connects new bus and bike improvements along Washington Boulevard between David Avenue and Fairfax, plus a tenth-of-a-mile run of concrete-curb-protected bike lanes on Adams Boulevard. Mayor Freddy Puza and Vice Mayor Bubba Fish led the morning. The new lanes use the high-visibility bright-green pavement marking that is now the national standard, and the Adams segment ties directly into Los Angeles' existing bike network across the city line.
→ 💡 What it adds: The segment is short on paper and significant in practice. It closes a network gap that has frustrated commuters and cyclists for years, and it pushes our protected bike infrastructure into the part of town that borders LA on three sides. Concrete-curb protection is the gold standard for separation. Pairing it with bus-lane improvements means transit riders and bike riders both gain real travel-time savings on the same corridor.
→ 🎯 My take: A connected network matters more than a long one. Stitching the Downtown corridor into the LA grid at our eastern edge is the kind of small-mileage, high-leverage move that keeps Culver City a regional hub rather than a five-and-a-half-square-mile island. The safe-streets bond proceeds Council authorized last month are pointed at exactly this category of project, and I will be watching how the next phase rolls out. Friday was a visible reminder that the funding is doing what the residents who pushed for it asked it to do.
👉 Learn about MOVE Culver City
🏘️ Community Development: CBC Applications Moved Into the Interview Phase
🔹 Council holds a Special Meeting Monday, June 1 at 6 PM to interview CBC applicants. Applications closed two weeks ago for 34 positions across 13 Commissions, Boards, and Committees, and the next public step is the Council interview process. The meeting is in Council Chambers and open to the public.
→ 🎯 Why this is the most underrated meeting on the calendar: A few dozen residents stepped up to apply for seats that shape our parks, our finance work, our public art, our zoning, and our housing policy. The interview night is where Council meets the bench. If you have ever wondered how a city actually staffs the bodies that do most of the policy work between Council votes, this is the most honest answer to that question. And if you applied, my thanks for stepping up. Whatever the outcome, you have already done more for civic life here than most people will ever know to do.
📅 Dates and What's Ahead
🔹 Tonight, Tuesday, May 26 at 7 PM. Regular City Council Meeting. Budget Discussion and three public hearings as noted above.
🔹 Wednesday, May 27, 10 AM to noon. Compost Hub at Syd Kronenthal Park. Fourth-Wednesday session with LA Compost. Bring your food scraps.
🔹 Friday, May 29. Culver Budget Trivia. A community game-night spin on the budget conversation. Details posted on the Culver City Crossroads calendar.
🔹 Saturday and Sunday, May 30 and 31. Fourth Annual Skateside Fest in Downtown Culver.
🔹 Through Sunday, May 31. Thresholds 2026 photography exhibit with LACP at Helms.
🔹 Monday, June 1 at 6 PM. Special City Council Meeting for CBC Applicant Interviews.
🔹 Tuesday, June 2. California Statewide Direct Primary Election. Vote-by-mail ballots have already arrived.
🔹 Monday, June 8 at 7 PM. Regular City Council Meeting. Public Hearing for Budget Adoption.
🔹 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
The civic year does not really pause, even when the calendar tries to give it a long weekend. A council meeting tonight. A budget survey open. A new stretch of bike lane and bus lane officially in service. A CBC interview night and a primary election a week away. A budget vote two weeks out.
If something on tonight's agenda matters to you, the public hearing format is built for your voice. If you want to skip the microphone, the survey link above will get your priorities into the same record. And if something else is on your mind, hit reply. The notes you send really help me serve you best.
