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Councilmember Lana Negrete Newsletter — March 22, 2026
🌟 Santa Monica Weekly with Councilmember Lana Negrete
📅 March 23, 2026
Dear Santa Monica,
Here is what it actually costs a small business owner when someone smashes your window: you call a glazier, you eat the bill, and you move on. Insurance? The deductible makes it pointless. File a claim? Your rates go up. So you absorb it. While I was in DC last week, I got a call that our family's music store had been broken into back home. Nothing major stolen. But the cost still falls on us, just like it falls on every other small business that deals with this quietly, over and over again.
I share that not for sympathy. I share it because it is the reason I was in DC in the first place, meeting with members of Congress about the funding our city needs for public safety, mental health, and addiction treatment. The issues I fight for at every level of government are the same ones my family lives with every single day.
Tomorrow is one of the biggest City Council meetings of the year. Twenty-two actions are on the table. Homelessness response. Business recovery. Fiscal stability. Neighborhood safety. Read on, and then show up, watch, or write in. This is your city too.
🚨 Public Safety
🔹 Pier shooting update: suspect arrested and charged. Following the March 15 shooting on the Santa Monica Pier, SMPD detectives identified the suspected shooter as an 18-year-old from Rialto who had also been grazed and sought treatment at a local hospital. He was taken into custody and booked into the Santa Monica Jail. The Pier reopened the next day. This is a case where our officers' consistent Pier presence allowed a rapid response, and the investigative follow-through delivered accountability.
🔹 Weekly numbers, March 8 through 14. SMPD logged 2,641 calls for service and made 105 arrests. Year-to-date arrests stand at 1,059, up 74.5% from 607 during the same period last year. Year-to-date calls for service total 26,815, a 16.5% increase. Homeless-related calls accounted for 20% of total dispositions.
→ 📊 Incidents worth naming: Officers and a Transit Security Officer revived a non-breathing infant after being flagged down by the baby's family. A successful, life-saving outcome. The Downtown Services Unit recovered a loaded firearm during a traffic stop and arrested multiple individuals on outstanding warrants, including out-of-state fugitives. K-9 units assisted patrol in detaining an armed robbery suspect. A residential burglary suspect was located and detained after being discovered inside a home by the homeowner.
→ ⚡ Traffic enforcement: Multiple distracted driving operations produced dozens of stops and citations. A DUI driver struck a pedestrian delivery driver, resulting in non-life-threatening injuries and an arrest. Officers also recovered a loaded 9mm handgun with an extended magazine during a separate traffic stop.
→ 🎯 My take: That infant is alive because trained officers and a TSO were in the right place at the right moment. Sustained investment in staffing and street-level presence is not a talking point. It is saving lives. We keep going.
🔹 Fire Department: 312 calls last week, 3,651 year-to-date. Recruit Academy Week 10 continued truck company operations with a focus on vehicle extrication: tools, techniques, and the decision-making required to work a crash scene safely.
🔹 In memory of Roger. On Friday, March 20, the Santa Monica Fire Department said goodbye to Roger, the department's first Peer Support K-9, after a battle with aggressive spinal cord cancer. Roger, a six-year-old English Labrador, joined SMFD in April 2025 after previously training as a guide dog. He spent his time visiting stations, sitting with firefighters after difficult calls, attending community events, and simply being present during the kinds of moments that wear on the people who serve our city every day.
→ 💡 Why this program exists: Firefighters face extraordinarily high levels of stress and trauma. Sometimes the most effective support is not a conversation. It is a calm, steady companion who asks for nothing and gives everything. Roger did that for less than a year, but the standard he set will last. His handler, Captain Michael Rivera, described it as one of the greatest honors of his career.
→ 🎯 What carries forward: The department established the Roger Peer Support Memorial Fund to support future K-9 peer support dogs, ensuring the program he helped launch continues.
👉 Contribute to the Roger Peer Support Memorial Fund
✈️ What Washington Delivered
🔹 Federal advocacy on the issues driving our daily reality. I was in DC last week with Councilmember Barry Snell for the National League of Cities Congressional Conference. We sat down directly with Senator Schiff's staff, Senator Padilla's staff, federal appropriations committees, and Congressman Ted Lieu. Besides asking for funding for affordable housing, a new bus stop at PCH and other initiatives our city has been pushing for - I asked the senators a direct question: what are we actually doing to fund real solutions in the cities carrying this crisis?
→ ⚡ Why I went: What we deal with on the ground in Santa Monica is not theoretical. This is addiction. This is untreated mental health. It drives public safety, economic recovery, the strain on our first responders, the pressure on our infrastructure. Cities like ours are managing consequences without enough direct federal support. We need real care, real facilities, real doctors, real detox centers, real mental health treatment. Not a system that waits for people to ask for help when they are not in a position to do so.
→ 💡 What I brought home: One idea from another city can become real policy here. These conversations are happening right now without a finalized federal budget, which makes being present and intentional even more critical. Relationships are everything. I will keep showing up and asking the questions that need to be asked.
🏛️ Tomorrow: City Council, Tuesday March 24 at 5:30 PM
🔹 The Realignment Plan update is the headliner, and it is significant. Twenty-two recommended actions are before Council, designed to move Santa Monica from stabilization into the next phase on public safety, public spaces, fiscal balance, and organizational health. Highlights include:
→ Establishing Entertainment Zones in the Downtown core, along the Pier, and on Main Street and Montana Avenue
→ Launching a no-cost sidewalk dining program that eliminates permit requirements and fees for qualifying outdoor setups (an item I’ve worked on for too long!)
→ Endorsing a Retail to Restaurant Activation Program and waiving the city's wastewater capacity fee for restaurant projects (this item I brought forward a few meetings ago and has CM Zwicks support)
→ Establishing a $3 million Economic Development Fund reserve (another item that’s been in the works and city manager Chi has made a reality!)
→ Authorizing a Metro MOU so SMPD can enforce on Metro train platforms within city limits (in 23 and 24 I spent a lot of time with PD re the train and in 25 helped ask for this MOU as mayor)
→ Accepting $750,000 in Metro grants for Open and Slow Streets programming tied to the FIFA World Cup and Olympic Games
→ Directing staff to conduct housing-first system of care community outreach
→ Approving the appointment of Heidi von Tongeln as City Attorney
→ Accepting the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for FY 2024-25
→ 🎯 Personal note on what I have been pushing for: Among the staff directions are 16 items I have brought forward to expedite the permitting process for our businesses. That includes my most recent push to allow tenant improvement grants, waive certain fees, and make it more feasible for businesses to convert retail space to restaurants, for existing restaurants to keep operating, and for new retail and experiences to be attracted to Santa Monica through coordinated concierge services, easier permitting, and reduced costs.
→ 💡 ARCHISTAR is launching. This is the AI-powered plan review technology for tenant improvement submittals that I have been working to bring to the city. It started at a community event at the Viceroy that Michelle Edgar organizes, where I connected with someone from Rick Caruso's team. That conversation led to a meeting with staff and Councilmember Jesse Zwick. I am glad to see it coming together. That is what civic engagement looks like in practice. If you know someone, if you have ideas, bring them to City Council. Your voice could become part of how we run this city. Do not shy away from that.
The staff report is lengthy. I will break it down for you. But read it, and make your voice heard tomorrow.
👉 View the March 24 City Council agenda
👉 Watch City Council meetings live on YouTube
💼 Economic Development & City Finances
🔹 New City Attorney: one of our own. Council will formally appoint Heidi von Tongeln as Santa Monica's next City Attorney tomorrow night. Heidi is the first internal candidate named to this role in decades. She joined the City Attorney's Office in 2012, became Chief Deputy in 2022, and has been serving in the interim role since last August. She earned this through a nationwide search by being the strongest candidate in a competitive field. Congratulations, Heidi.
🔹 Clean audit, strong fiscal position. The city's independent auditors issued an unmodified opinion on the FY 2024-25 financials: zero material weaknesses, zero significant deficiencies, zero compliance findings, zero misstatements. Net position grew by $25 million. Pension liability dropped by $18.9 million. Long-term debt was reduced by $9.7 million. The Contingency Reserve reached 14% of ongoing expenditures, on track for the full 15% target by FY 2026-27. Both Moody's and Fitch maintained AAA/Aaa credit ratings, the highest available. Forty consecutive years of the GFOA Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. Council accepts the report tomorrow.
→ 🎯 Context: The General Fund did see a modest decline, driven by tourism revenue losses from the Palisades fire, softening sales tax, and the impact of federal tariff and immigration policies on international visitation. But actual operating expenditures came in $11.5 million under budget. That is discipline, even when revenues fall short. Our Realignment Plan was built precisely to address the forward-looking risks.
🔹 The Moo Korean BBQ is now open at 231 Arizona Avenue. I mentioned this business was coming back in early March. It is officially open. Owner Daniel Hwang, a 20-year restaurant industry veteran, told What Now Los Angeles that he watched Santa Monica for a decade before making this move. He called the opening a long-held dream and spoke about wanting to be part of our city's recovery. His words are worth sitting with: he wanted a place where his team could fit in and give love to the local community. All-you-can-eat tabletop BBQ with 45+ menu items, right off the Promenade. - and my daughter approves as someone who loves Korean BBQ!
🔹 Sundays furniture coming to Montana Avenue. The Vancouver-founded modern furniture brand has put up signage for what will be its second California showroom after Pasadena. Another quality tenant choosing Montana.
🔹 Local Canvas: Art Everywhere launches at 4th and Broadway. A new Cultural Affairs program is turning vacant storefronts into public art displays. The debut features work by Tanya Aguiñiga (exhibited at the Smithsonian) and Jody Zellen (public commissions for LAX and Santa Monica bike racks). Artists license original work to the city for reproduction as vinyl clings on glass, with flexibility to extend to utility boxes, street banners, and bus posters. Artists receive a $1,500 licensing fee per work. The scalable model means private building owners across our commercial corridors will eventually access city-curated art for their own frontage.
→ 🎯 My take: Turning empty glass into community identity is creative, cost-effective recovery.
🏠 Housing & Renters
🔹 Below Market Housing: 50+ vacancies referred this year. The BMH online portal has connected applicants to more than 50 affordable housing vacancies so far in 2026. Two major projects now leasing: 700 Broadway (280 units total, 84 affordable, by Related California) and 501 Broadway (89 units, 18 deed-restricted affordable, by Tishman Speyer). These represent some of the most significant new housing deliveries in Downtown Santa Monica in years.
→ 💡 You may qualify. All households earning less than 120% of Area Median Income are eligible. That is up to $181,000 in gross annual income for a family of four. The program connects qualifying households to privately owned apartments with rents set below market rate. Priority goes to Santa Monica residents and people working at least 25 hours per week in the city.
🔹 Rent Control Board 2025 Annual Report highlights. A new regulation adopted in October 2025 limits banked rent increases to no more than 10% in any 12-month period. Median initial rents hit record highs in 2025 but growth has slowed to under 2% annually, suggesting the market may be approaching a ceiling. Current medians: studios at $2,100, one-bedrooms at $2,700, two-bedrooms at $3,675, three-plus bedrooms at $4,895. For all but studios, a six-figure income is now needed for a market-rate rent-controlled unit to qualify as affordable by HUD standards. Santa Monica had 27,589 controlled rental units as of December 31, 2025, a net decrease of 79 during the year.
→ 🎯 My take: As a renter myself, these numbers are personal. Protecting and expanding affordable options is not something we do on the margins. It is core to who we are.
🔹 Bergamot housing milestone. On March 16, the Architectural Review Board approved the design for a 339-unit mixed-use development at 1723 Cloverfield Boulevard in the Bergamot Transit Village. Eight stories, three levels of subterranean parking. One of the larger housing projects in our pipeline . How we keep artists and artist galleries is a focus for me personally.
🔹 Planning Commission, March 18. The Commission approved a Development Review Permit for a personal storage facility at 1713 11th Street. Commissioners also received a study session on the Airport Conversion and provided feedback to staff as the planning process continues. Additional community outreach opportunities are ahead before a future Council discussion.
🛣️ Streets, Transit & Infrastructure
🔹 Three paving projects moving at once across the city.
→ East Pico Boulevard (26th to Centinela): approximately 95% complete with final striping underway. Full completion expected by end of March.
→ Broadway Protected Bikeway, Phase 2 (9th to 26th): preparation began the week of March 17. Roadway resurfacing is active this week, March 23 through 26. Protected bike lane installation follows in early to mid-April, with markings through late May. Residents and businesses along Broadway should expect intermittent lane closures weekdays from 8 AM to 5 PM. Once both phases are complete, Broadway will have a continuous protected bikeway stretching from Ocean Avenue to 26th Street.
→ Downtown sidewalks: Roughly 11,700 of the planned 32,000 square feet of replacement is done (about 37%). Work between Wilshire and Colorado from Ocean to 4th is finished. Construction continues eastward toward Lincoln, with completion anticipated by late May.
👉 Broadway Safety Project details
👉 East Pico Safety Project details
🔹 Big Blue Bus: 10 million rides and a record-setting $53 million grant. The Department of Transportation released its FY 2024-25 Annual Report. Big Blue Bus provided over 10 million rides during the fiscal year. The department also secured the largest grant in Big Blue Bus history: $53 million from the State Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program, funding new zero-emission buses, charging infrastructure, and workforce development as we push toward a fully electric fleet by 2032.
📚 Community, Libraries & Arts
🔹 Library releases Community Mapping Report. After surveys in English and Spanish, focus groups, community conversations at all three branches, and pop-up events, the Santa Monica Public Library published findings from an extensive listening effort. The message was consistent: residents want reliable hours, clean and welcoming spaces, youth and family programming, culturally relevant services, and digital literacy support. The library is already acting: full-service operations restored at Fairview and Ocean Park branches in January 2026, and new wayfinding signage is up at Main Library.
👉 Read the Community Mapping report
🔹 Ambulance Operator Program: watch the new video. A City video highlights the people behind the program launched February 1 as a Realignment Plan initiative. These trained EMTs work alongside firefighter-paramedics to improve response times and build a career pipeline into the fire service. What comes through most is the quality of the people Chief Hallock and his team have recruited.
👉 Watch the Ambulance Operator Program video
🔹 Farmers Markets seeking prepared food vendors. Applications are open for the Saturday Pico Market and Sunday Main Street Market through April 6. Selected vendors begin in July. If you run a food business and want to be part of a market system drawing 900,000 shoppers annually, this is your window.
👉 Learn more about the application process
🔹 Code Enforcement solved an early morning noise problem Downtown. A resident reported disruptive backup alarm honking from delivery trucks at a nearby Target between 5 and 6 AM. Our Code Enforcement team adjusted their own schedules to observe it firsthand, then worked directly with Target. Within weeks, the honking stopped entirely. The resident wrote back to thank them. Responsive, practical city service.
🔹 Human Services Grant monitoring update. The city contracts with Baker Tilly for independent compliance monitoring of the Human Services Grants Program, which provides over $10 million annually to 18 nonprofits serving approximately 27,000 residents. The first round of in-person audits (requested by Council members back in 24 due to concerns about virtual-only reviews) has been completed. Key finding: in-person audits did not produce any additional findings beyond what virtual audits had already identified. Staff is planning to return to virtual audits for the second monitoring cycle, which is both operationally efficient and fiscally responsible while maintaining the same level of rigor. All monitoring reports remain publicly available.
🗣️ Women in Leadership
🔹 A reflection that resonated. I posted about this on Instagram last week: the rooms we sit in matter, but so does who is in them and who still is not. Not every path into leadership is traditional, polished, or curated. Some are built in real time. Those voices belong at the table. I have lived that, and I believe it more than ever.
📅 Dates and What's Coming Up
🔹 Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 24, 5:30 PM. City Council meeting. Realignment Plan update. Heidi von Tongeln appointment. ACFR acceptance. Show up, watch live, or submit written comment by noon.
👉 View the City Council agenda
🔹 This week, March 23 through 26. Broadway Phase 2 roadway resurfacing active between 9th and 26th Streets. Expect intermittent lane closures weekdays 8 AM to 5 PM.
🔹 Saturday, March 28. float.Pleasure performance at Camera Obscura Art Lab.
🔹 Saturday, March 28, 2:00 to 3:30 PM. Making Herstory at City Hall. I will be at the Main Library's Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium alongside Mayor Caroline Torosis and former mayors Gleam Davis, Judy Abdo, and Pam O'Connor for a candid panel conversation about what it really takes to lead as a woman in local government. Personal stories, real talk, open to the community.
🔹 Tuesday, March 31. Power In Partnership, and Collaboration Across Cities. I will also be at the Viceroy alongside Traci Park, Veronica Putin and Michelle Edgar for a Community Collective series in honor of Women’s History month. Join me.
🔹 Through April 6. Farmers Market prepared food vendor applications open for Pico and Main Street markets.
🔹 Book time with me. Virtual, in-person at City Hall, or catch me at the farmers market on weekends.
👉 Book Office Hours with Councilmember Lana Negrete
📱 Stay Connected
Got an issue to report? Want to make sure the city hears you?
If you haven't already, be sure to follow me on Instagram too for behind-the-scenes updates, event highlights, and my thoughts along the way as I continue to go on this journey with you.
🌟 Closing Thought: What Tomorrow Builds
Twenty-two actions on Tuesday's agenda! Entertainment zones. Sidewalk dining with no permit fees. Restaurant conversion incentives. Metro platform enforcement. A housing-first outreach strategy. A $3 million economic development reserve. Each one connects to something residents have asked for, business owners have raised, or the data has made clear we need.
I have been working toward several of these changes for years. Some started with a conversation at a community event. Some started with a 311 request. Some started because a constituent showed up to office hours with a sharper idea than the one on paper.
That is what I mean when I say relationships are everything. The ARCHISTAR program launching this year started at a networking event where I happened to sit next to the right person and followed up. Civic life works that way more often than people realize.
Read the staff report before tomorrow. Write in if you cannot make it. Come if you can. And if you know a neighbor who cares about any of these issues, forward this edition their way.
See you out there, Santa Monica. 💙
Lana Negrete
Councilmember, City of Santa Monica