🌟 Santa Monica Weekly with Councilmember Lana Negrete

📅 June 29, 2026

Hi from afar, Santa Monica,

I'm writing this one from a few time zones away. My daughter Briana just wrapped up high school, so we're off celebrating that milestone together, and it happens to land on my birthday, which also happens to be the exact day, five years ago, that I was appointed to this Council. June 29 is apparently doing a lot of heavy lifting in my life this year.

Five years in, the thing I keep coming back to is simple: this is a privilege, and it does not clock out when I leave town. So even from here, I want to keep you in the loop, because Santa Monica just wrapped one of its busiest weeks of the summer, from a record-setting World Cup crowd to our very first Make Music Day, and you deserve a clear look at all of it whether I'm at City Hall or halfway around the world.

Here's what's moving back home this week.

🚔 Public Safety

🔹 The week in numbers, June 14 through 20. Calls for service eased back from the prior week. The number that really jumps out, though, is year over year: we have made over a thousand more arrests so far in 2026 than we had by this same point in 2025. The throughline this week was technology, with several of those arrests coming together thanks to our SMART Center.

→ 📊 What the cases looked like: A stolen motorcycle recovered after a SMART Center alert. A shoplifting arrest backed by drone observation. A pickpocket case where SMART Center staff spotted the suspect and guided officers right to him. Add in narcotics, weapons, and an arson suspect identified on traffic-camera footage, and you get a week of steady, coordinated work.

🔹 That same SMART Center is becoming a regional draw. Santa Monica recently hosted the Independent Cities Association board for a firsthand look at the SMART Center and our advanced water-treatment facility, a chance to show off some of the work I'm proudest of here.

→ 🎯 My take: Good public safety has always been equal parts people and tools. When officers, outreach workers, and live data all work the same corner, residents feel it, and I'll keep pushing to give our department both.

🔹 Getting ready for a safe summer on the water. Ahead of one of our busiest seasons, our Community Aquatics team, around 80 lifeguards and beach-recreation staff, spent a full day renewing CPR and first-aid certifications and running water-rescue drills across the Swim Center, the Beach House, the SaMoHi pool, and our state beach.

→ ⚡ Why this matters: It's the kind of preparation you never notice but always count on. When your family heads for the pool or the sand this summer, the people watching over them will be ready.

💼 Economic Development

🔹 The World Cup is turning into real economic momentum. Two and a half weeks in, the numbers tell the story: more than 100,000 fans have come through over twenty free and ticketed events, and the Promenade has felt like one long block party. Both the U.S. and Mexico just advanced into the Round of 32, so the energy is not slowing down. Here's how that looked for the city over the tournament's first 13 days, June 11 to 23.

→ 🎯 My take: Numbers like these do not just sit on a spreadsheet. Foot traffic up roughly 40 percent, parking revenue up more than 40 percent, over 5,000 fans bused to SoFi Stadium, that is energy flowing straight to our restaurants, shops, and the small businesses that make this city tick. And there's more to come: our team is working to keep free match screenings going on the Promenade through the knockout rounds.

🔹 New names keep choosing Santa Monica. Jones Road, the clean-beauty brand from makeup artist Bobbi Brown, just opened its very first California store at 1406 Montana Avenue, picking our city for its West Coast debut. A few blocks south, signage is already up for Brot Döner Café and Bakery, coming soon to the 1300 block of the Third Street Promenade.

→ ⚡ Why this matters: When a brand like Jones Road picks Montana Avenue for its first California store, we are not just getting a new shop, we are being chosen as the front door to the whole state. As someone who has run a small business on these streets for decades, watching new makers and big names land here in the same month is the kind of momentum I never get tired of.

🔹 A new way to shine a light on local gems. This week I kicked off a new series I'm calling "Why I Love Santa Monica," and the first stop is One Cedar Coffee, a place that has become as much a neighborhood gathering spot as a coffee shop, from handmade ceramic mugs to open-mic comedy nights. Small businesses like that don't happen by accident. They take vision, perseverance, and a real willingness to bet on our city.

→ 🎯 My take: I want to use this platform to spotlight the people and places that make Santa Monica special, the ones you might walk right past without knowing the story behind them. Have a favorite local business, nonprofit, artist, or hidden gem? Tag it on my latest post and it just might be next.

👉 See the first episode (Instagram)

🎓 Education

🔹 Summer Reading is off to a roaring start, thanks in no small part to our teens. The library's Summer Reading Program kicked off with a packed celebration at the Main Library, about 245 neighbors came through for magic, carnival games, and a few too many treats, while the Pico Branch drew a singalong crowd of around 90. What stood out most to me, though, is who helped pull it off: our teen volunteers, who have already logged more than 200 hours this year. Special hats off to Harper McCallum and Finnegan Forsyth, who have given 100-plus and 150-plus hours.

→ 🎯 My take: There is something special about teenagers choosing to spend their summer helping younger kids fall in love with books, and that kind of community spirit deserves a shout-out. Summer Reading runs all season at any branch or online, and it is one of the simplest ways to keep our kids learning, and our libraries buzzing, between school years.

👉 Register for Summer Reading

🔹 And our first-ever Make Music Day proved a point I care about deeply. On June 21, the summer solstice, Santa Monica joined more than 2,000 cities worldwide for Make Music Day, a global celebration built on one simple idea: music belongs to everyone. No tickets, no roped-off stages, no line between amateur and pro. The city brought it to life Downtown, where the Metro station turned into a pop-up concert, and at Reed Park, where a showcase of local musicians ended in an open jam that anyone in the crowd could join.

→ 🎵 My take: Access to music has been my life's work, from the family music store to the nonprofit I started so that kids who would never otherwise get the chance can learn an instrument. A day that throws the doors open and says everyone is invited to play is about as close to my heart as city programming gets. I hope it becomes a tradition.

🛣️ Setting the Record Straight: The 10 Freeway Study

🔹 You've probably seen the headlines about the 10 Freeway, so let's separate fact from speculation. Here's what actually happened: the City Council accepted grant funding for a feasibility study to look at whether capping, or making other long-term changes to, a portion of the 10 Freeway could even be possible. That is it. No decision was made to remove the freeway. During public comment, one speaker floated the idea of closing it entirely someday, which made for a dramatic headline, but that is not what the Council voted on.

→ 🎯 Why I'm spelling this out: A study is a study, a chance to ask hard questions before anyone commits to anything. And there are big ones worth asking. How would changes affect the nearly 150,000 vehicles that use the freeway every day? What would a project like this actually cost? How would it impact emergency access and evacuations? And what could we gain by reconnecting neighborhoods and creating new public space? My job is to ask those questions out loud, keep speculation and fact in separate piles, and keep you informed at every step. I would genuinely love to hear what you think.

👉 See my full breakdown (Instagram)

📅 Dates & Community Events

🔹 Thursday, July 23, 4 to 7 p.m.: State of the City on Main Street. This year's State of the City is not a speech in an auditorium. It is a free, all-ages open-street celebration on Main Street between Hollister Avenue and Ocean Park Boulevard, with community booths, live music, guided tours of the historic Shotgun House, a reading from our Poet Laureate, and Mayor Caroline Torosis delivering the address around 4:45 p.m. Leave the car at home if you can: Big Blue Bus rides are free to and from the event from 3:30 to 8:30 p.m., just tell your driver "State of the City."

👉 See the full State of the City details and RSVP

🔹 Saturday, July 4: the Farmers Markets are open for the holiday. Hosting a Fourth of July gathering? Both the Downtown and Pico Saturday Farmers Markets will be open on the Fourth, so you can grab peak-season peaches, corn, and tomatoes without missing a beat.

🔹 Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays: Downtown, Pico, and Main Street Farmers Markets. I'm out of town this week, but when I'm back, you will find me at the market on weekends. I'm always happy to start a conversation.

💙 All In Through November

One honest campaign note. Weeks like this one are exactly why my name is on the November ballot: record crowds filling downtown, new shops choosing Montana Avenue for their first California doors, our police closing cases with smarter tools, and local teenagers giving their summer to the library. That is the Santa Monica I want to keep helping build, and there is plenty still on the list. If the way you have seen me work is what you want in your corner, the most useful thing you can do right now is pitch in while I get the campaign moving for the fall. Any amount is a real help.

👉 Pitch in to the campaign

📱 Stay Connected

Got an issue to report? Want to make sure the city hears you?

👉 Report an Issue

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 on this journey with you.

👉 Follow me on Instagram

🔹 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

🌟 Closing Thought: Five Years In

Five years ago this week, I stepped into a Council seat I never expected to hold, and I have spent every week since trying to earn it. The fact that this newsletter still goes out while I'm a world away, full of real numbers, real wins, and the honest stuff too, is exactly the kind of city government I believe in: open, accessible, and steady whether or not any one of us is in the room.

So while I'm off celebrating Briana and stealing a little birthday cake, I hope you'll stay in it. Read up on the 10 Freeway study and tell me what you think. Mark July 23 for the State of the City. And if you spot a local gem worth celebrating, send it my way. I'll be back home soon, grateful as ever to do this work alongside you.

Together, we're building a Santa Monica that works for everyone — a city where families can thrive, businesses can grow, and community comes first.

With gratitude and determination,
Lana Negrete
Councilmember, City of Santa Monica