🌟 Santa Monica Weekly with Councilmember Lana Negrete

📅 May 26, 2026

Happy Tuesday, Santa Monica,

A long weekend has a way of bringing a city closer together, and ours did just that. Memorial Day landed inside a week packed with reminders of what service really looks like, from our firefighters who deployed to Ventura County to help with the Sandy Fire, to the families who gathered on the Pier for the 6th Annual Rick Crocker 5K.

There is also something quietly meaningful about today's date. Twenty-one years ago today, on May 26, 2005, Santa Monica Police Officer and Marine Corps Reserve Major Ricardo "Rick" Crocker was killed in Iraq while serving his country. Last Thursday on the Pier, with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Band playing and Sailors and Marines from the USS Essex running alongside PAL youth, our community ran in his memory. Doug Trussler, Ashley Oelsen, and our whole PAL family showed up. So did Sweet Rose Creamery, which opened its newest scoop on the Pier that same evening and of course there was Locals' Night. A sunny afternoon, a brass band, kids running next to officers, and a story bigger than any of us. That is the Santa Monica I love.

🚨 If you read nothing else in this newsletter, please read this: Tonight at 5:30 PM I am bringing Item 16B to Council on the Virginia Avenue Apartments rehabilitation project. If you can, please come speak in support. Scroll down to the Economic Development section for the full breakdown. Your voice in that room matters.

We also have a Downtown Police Substation ribbon cutting on Thursday, a Council meeting tonight on this year's budget, an active primary election with vote centers open across the city, and a wave of new business news from three corridors. Plus the usual: one good coffee tip, one HOA rooftop, one very proud mom moment at SAMO Prom.

Sit down, grab a coffee, and let's get into it.

🚨 Public Safety

🔹 Downtown Police Substation ribbon cutting, Thursday May 28 at 12 PM. The new SMPD Downtown Substation inside Santa Monica Place (395 Santa Monica Place, Suite 122) cuts the ribbon Thursday at noon. Residents, business owners, and community partners are all invited. The 863-square-foot facility anchors a permanent SMPD presence at the heart of Downtown, sitting alongside our Downtown Services Unit, two dedicated Homeless Liaison Program officers permanently assigned to the corridor, and the SMART Center feeding live data into deployment every day.

→ 🎯 My take: I have said for years that public safety is presence plus partnership plus prevention. A substation in the middle of Downtown is the literal version of that. This has been at the forefront of my conversations with the City Managers office and PD leadership for years! Please come Thursday if you can. Thanks to the city abd PD teams for getting it off the ground!

👉 Learn about the Realignment Plan

🔹 Our firefighters deployed to the Sandy Fire in Ventura County last week, and our SMPD Mounted Unit horses were evacuated as a precaution. Battalion Chief Jon Sly led a strike team alongside Fire Engines 3 and 6, with SMFD personnel engaged in direct fire suppression and structure defense in support of regional efforts. For many of us, hearing about another wildfire brings back hard memories from last year. It also reminds us how much our local first responders show up for other communities when those communities need them, just as others have shown up for us.

→ 🙏 What I want you to know: Massive gratitude to every firefighter, emergency medical worker, volunteer, and animal rescue crew member who held the line on that fire last week. They are why we sleep a little easier at night.

🔹 SMPD weekly snapshot, May 10 through 16. Calls dipped slightly while proactive policing kept its pace. Year over year arrests are now up 73.8 percent.

→ 📊 What you are seeing: A fully staffed department running real specialized deployments instead of just chasing the radio. Officer-initiated activity is up 28.6 percent year to date, which is the data signature of officers having the bandwidth to be proactive. The work continues.

🔹 Notable suppression work this past week.

→ 🚨 Loaded firearm and stolen plates at Ocean Front Walk: Officers responded to a vehicle stuck in the sand displaying a license plate registered to another vehicle. During the contact, a loaded revolver was recovered from the suspect's waistband. The firearm had been reported stolen out of Phoenix. Four stolen plates were also recovered.

→ 🚨 Narcotics sales operation at Lower Crescent Bay Park: Officers observed a hand-to-hand transaction, coordinated with patrol and SMART Center resources, and arrested four suspects with narcotics, paraphernalia, currency, and sales evidence recovered.

→ 🚨 Felony warrant arrest near 5th and Colorado: K9 officers contacted a subject and identified him through a mobile fingerprint reader after he provided false identification. He was released to LAPD on a felony assault warrant.

→ 🚨 Domestic violence arrest at Lot 5 South: Officers responded after a victim reported being strangled, struck, dragged, and threatened. The suspect later contacted dispatch and was arrested without incident. If you or someone you know needs help, please reach out.

🔹 Roadway safety projects on tonight's Council agenda. Council will consider awarding design agreements for three traffic safety projects funded by roughly $2.4 million in California Highway Safety Improvement Program grants. The work targets locations our 2022 Local Roadway Safety Plan flagged as priorities: signal improvements on Neilson Way between Ocean Park and Pico (with protected left turns and high-visibility signal heads at all six intersections), a full pedestrian HAWK signal replacing the flashing beacons at Lincoln and Hill, and targeted crosswalk improvements at nine priority locations across the city.

→ 💡 Why this matters: Vision Zero is not a slogan. It is a commitment to put safety investment exactly where the data says people are most at risk. Real credit to our Public Works and Mobility teams for chasing down the grant dollars that make this possible.

💼 Economic Development

🔹 CALL TO ACTION: Please come speak in support of Item 16B at tonight's Council meeting. I want to be very clear about Item 16B, which I am bringing forward tonight regarding the Virginia Avenue Apartments rehabilitation project.

→ 🎯 My stance: I have long supported the work Community Corporation of Santa Monica has done to provide affordable housing in our city. Supporting affordable housing, however, does not mean we cannot ask questions, improve communication, or expect transparency when public funds and longtime resident families are involved. This item is not about attacking an organization. It is about accountability, oversight, and rebuilding trust through better communication and public transparency.

→ 💡 Why I am bringing this forward: Over many conversations, requests, and ongoing dialogue, it became clear to me that residents and the public still lacked important updates, clarity on spending, timelines, and a clear understanding of what is happening with this project. When multiple agencies, nonprofits, and public entities are managing a complicated project involving millions in public funding and vulnerable residents, transparency matters even more. A lack of communication creates confusion and distrust, even when good work is being done.

→ 📋 What I am asking for:

• Better public communication
• Clearer updates and timelines
• Greater transparency on project costs and funding
• Accountability when mistakes happen
• Faster responses and solutions for impacted residents

→ 🎯 A direct word: I have been dismayed that some have encouraged me to pull this item or framed it as an attack. Asking questions and seeking transparency should not be controversial. It should be expected. Politics should never get in the way of people. All of us ultimately want the same thing: safe, dignified housing for residents and successful affordable housing projects that the community can trust. If you can, please come speak in support of Item 16B tonight.

👉 View the May 26 Council agenda

🔹 My Sunday afternoon with the families of Virginia Avenue Park. I spent part of this past Sunday with the residents of Virginia Avenue Park apartments, and I am still thinking about it. These are generational families who have stuck together to protect their homes. They have built a true community, and they want to make sure they will all move back and continue that community. This is what is so often lost in the gentrification of cities. It is one of the downsides of change. These families represent the thread that makes Santa Monica beautiful, generations rooted in a coastal city while everything shifts around them. My fight to keep them here with dignity continues.

🔹 Ocean Park Inn and a tough conversation about minimum wage hikes. This week I met with the owner of the Ocean Park Inn, a family-owned business right in the heart of our community. We talked about their concerns following recent events at their location, and about how rising minimum wage costs threaten the kind of affordable lodging stays this city has always offered. If your family is in town and looking for an affordable place to stay, check out Ocean Park Inn, and then walk a few doors down to One Cedar Coffee for what is, in my book, the best coffee in Santa Monica. A double win for two small businesses doing it right.

→ 🎯 My take: Family-owned businesses are not abstractions for me. I run one. The cost pressures these owners are absorbing right now are real, and the policy conversations about them need to be just as real. We can support workers and protect the small businesses that make this town feel like itself. Both. Not one or the other.

🔹 A One Cedar Coffee plug, because secrets this good should not stay secret. Driving down Lincoln on the west side at the corner of Cedar, you will see a sign that says "Max's Hair Salon." Look past it. Tucked right there is One Cedar Coffee, one of the best-kept coffee house secrets in Santa Monica. Hip-hop, a unique twist, sustainable coffee beans, great pour, and a bag of beans worth bringing home. They also host Wednesday-night open comedy and other pop-up events. Go find them.

🔹 Santino's, back on Lincoln, and Sergio is back at the grill. Sergio, the owner of the old Santino's that left Santa Monica about ten years ago, has reopened with an Argentinian restaurant on Lincoln Boulevard south of Ocean Park. On Sundays they have asado, with Sergio at the grill just like old times. Our family used to love that spot, and seeing it return is one of those quiet, hopeful Santa Monica stories that does not always make the news. Please go check it out.

🔹 Circle Bar reopens on Main Street. One of the oldest bars in Santa Monica is back. Circle Bar at 2926 Main Street reopened Friday May 22 after nearly two years dark, under new operators Mark and Addie Van Gessel (the team behind Hinano Cafe in Venice and Tavern on Main here). They preserved the original 1949 floor plan and the iconic oval bar while upgrading sound, lighting, and the DJ setup. Walking back into a room I spent nights in during my 20s, when my apartment was just up the street on Ashland and 4th felt like the heartbeat of the Westside, was a little nostalgic in the best way. Cheers to old memories, new chapters, and Main Street finding its spark again.

🔹 Three Wilshire affordable housing projects officially moving forward. All three projects in the first phase of the City's Affordable Housing Production Program (AHPP) off-site incentive pilot are now advancing. The building permit for 1902 Wilshire was issued on May 6, clearing the way for construction to begin. The projects at 2025–2037 Wilshire and 2501 Wilshire have both secured construction financing, an important milestone in a tight lending environment. The off-site affordable units will be consolidated at 1415 Wilshire.

→ 💡 The Breakdown: The old rule made off-site affordable units finish first, which developers argued in today's financing climate had projects stalling at the permit stage. The pilot lets developers build market-rate and affordable in parallel, in exchange for stronger affordability protections.

🔹 Most Loved Santa Monica Businesses Celebration, Wednesday June 3, 5 to 7 PM at Santa Monica Brew Works. The 13th Annual Most Loved celebration returns, recognizing roughly 200 local businesses across 70 categories chosen by the people who know them best, our residents, employees, and visitors. There is even a specially brewed "Most Loved" beer for the occasion. Behind the friendly competition is a serious idea: every dollar spent at a local business is a dollar that comes back to fund the police, fire, parks, and libraries this city depends on.

→ ⚡ By the numbers: Local businesses generate roughly $160 million each year for our General Fund. For every $10 spent at a local shop, as much as $7 stays right here in our community.

🔹 New tenants on Montana and Promenade. Pop's Bagels has opened at 912 Montana, moving the beloved Los Angeles brand (founded by Zach Liporace and named for his late grandfather) into the storefront that used to house B&T's Deli. With H&H Bagels and Sam's Bagels both nearby, Montana is quietly becoming a Westside bagel destination. Separately, Intuit is planning to open a TurboTax Store on the Third Street Promenade, offering in-person tax assistance.

🔹 Big Blue Bus now accepts contactless tap-to-pay. Riders can now tap a contactless credit or debit card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay directly on the bus TAP validator. The change rolled out this week as part of a regional soft launch by LA Metro. For visitors and occasional riders, this means you can step onto a bus and pay with the card already in your pocket. A single cardholder can also pay for up to five riders with one card, a real improvement for parents and groups. TAP cards, cash, and mobile tickets all still work. This is one more option, not a replacement.

→ 🎯 My take: Smart timing. The World Cup is bringing visitors from around the world in just a few weeks, and a familiar tap-to-pay option makes our bus system one less thing for them (and us) to figure out. Reduced fares for Seniors, Disabled, and Medicare riders are coming to contactless in the future, and I will be watching that closely so this convenience reaches every rider who depends on it.

🎓 Education

🔹 A direct word on the school parcel tax. I know this proposed measure has sparked frustration, skepticism, and debate, and honestly, I understand why. People are asking hard questions about trust, accountability, city finances, school funding, and whether this measure is truly necessary. Residents deserve honesty, not talking points, so here is mine.

→ 🎯 My stance: I am supporting this measure because I believe it is necessary to maintain the quality of our public schools while also protecting the core city services our community depends on every day. If those funding gaps continue to grow, the money has to come from somewhere, and if they are not funded, we lose teachers, classroom sizes grow, and the kids in our community pay the price. That also means difficult choices around libraries, community programs, staffing, and other quality-of-life investments that make Santa Monica what it is.

→ 💡 What this does not mean: Accountability should not disappear. I absolutely support transparency, oversight, audits, and ongoing review of how public dollars are spent. I am a proud product of Santa Monica public schools. My daughters attend Santa Monica public schools. Strong public schools are one of the most important investments a community can make. Whether you agree with me or not, I welcome real conversation. We should be able to talk about the future of our schools and our city without pretending these decisions are easy.

👉 Read my full statement on Instagram

🔹 Every library branch back to four-plus days a week, starting Monday July 6. This is the finish line on a Realignment Plan commitment Council made in October. From July 6 forward, Main Library and Pico operate five days, with Montana, Fairview, and Ocean Park at four. The rebalanced schedule keeps at least two library facilities open every day Monday through Saturday, meaning residents always have a Library option within the weekly cycle. Montana adds Wednesday service. Ocean Park adds Tuesday. Fairview rebalances to Monday through Thursday.

→ 🎯 My take: Libraries are not just buildings with books. They are how working families find safe afternoon space for kids, how seniors stay connected, how new immigrants find ESL resources, and how anyone without home Wi-Fi gets online. Closing them in 2020 took a real toll on this city. Bringing them back is one of the most concrete Realignment Plan deliveries I can point to.

🏛️ Around Town & Community Highlights

🔹 A community gem turns 10: Shotgun House Preservation Resource Center. Sunday May 17 I attended  the 10th anniversary of the Preservation Resource Center at the historic Shotgun House at 2520 Second Street, with a free block-party-style gathering hosted by the Santa Monica Conservancy. The Shotgun House itself, built in 1897, is the last intact "shotgun house" in Santa Monica. Stopping by reminded me how much careful, patient work goes into preserving a small wooden building that tells a much bigger story about who we are as a city. Massive thanks to the Conservancy for a decade of stewardship.

🔹 Reading the Declaration on the Promenade. Also last Sunday, I had the chance to read a portion of the Declaration of Independence on the Third Street Promenade at an event hosted by Santa Monica College's Public Policy Institute. There is something quietly stirring about standing on the Promenade and reading aloud the words this country was founded on. It is one of those small civic rituals that anchors why we do this work.

🔹 My week, in honest brushstrokes. A few small moments I want to share, because this job is so much more than just the agenda items.

→ 🐶 Catch me at the Joslyn dog park with Lucy. It has become one of the best spots for casual community conversations. I am usually on the little dog park side. Come say hi.

→ 🏠 An HOA meeting on a beautifully remodeled rooftop. Neighbors who have lived here for years sat alongside neighbors who just moved in, and they came together as a community. They invited me to join in and listen and share and I left with a notebook full of ideas for a brighter Santa Monica.

→ 🎓 The best part of my week, by a mile: SAMO Prom. Watching my senior grad and her friends light up at what was a beautiful, joyful night was the most emotional moment of the whole week. Twenty-plus years of PTA, City Hall, council meetings, and small business stress, and a single high school prom can still flatten you in the best way. It took me back to my SAMO prom of 1997 and wow have times changed !

🔹 Book office hours with me. I have been holding bi-weekly office hours and meeting with new residents, business owners, and folks who have been here for decades. We have been getting things done and addressing issues on the spot. If you have a concern, an idea, or just want to be heard, please book a time. This is one of the most important parts of the job.

👉 Book Office Hours with Councilmember Lana Negrete

🔹 A new chapter for Pier transit during the World Cup, and a sunset reminder. Big Blue Bus is set to run dedicated World Cup park-and-ride service from Parking Structure 1 before and after key matches, the smart move for anyone trying to avoid Downtown traffic on match days. And as a friendly note: our beach parking lots now stay open until 9 PM through the summer, so you can actually park to watch the sun go down. Holiday rate adjustments will apply on the Fourth of July at the busiest lots, but non-beach parking and Big Blue Bus remain available at regular prices on every one of those days.

🔹 Architectural Review Board, May 18 recap. Two items. 122 Hart Avenue, a continued design review for a new single-unit dwelling, was approved with conditions. The Board also took its first look at a proposed mixed-use development at 3205 Ocean Park Boulevard that would replace a 1970s office building with 102 homes above ground-floor commercial space, including deed-restricted affordable units. The Board continued the item with comments to guide the next round of design.

🗳️ Election & Voting

🔹 In-person voting is open across Santa Monica for the June 2 California Statewide Primary Election. Every active registered voter in California was mailed a ballot earlier this month. The Civic Center vote center at 330 Olympic Drive (SMI Training Room) opened May 23. Starting Saturday May 30, four neighborhood vote centers join it:

• 📍 Joslyn Hall at Christine Emerson Reed Park
• 📍 Marine Park Community Room
• 📍 Thelma Terry Room at Virginia Avenue Park
• 📍 Washington Preschool multipurpose room

→ 📬 For mail ballots: Official drop boxes are available at Virginia Avenue Park, Montana Avenue Park, Ocean Park, Marine Park, and the Main Library.

→ 💡 One helpful note: California allows eligible residents to register and vote on the same day, in person, at any vote center through Election Day. If you missed the standard registration deadline, you still have options. Huge thanks to the City Clerk's Office and every department that helped get these locations ready.

👉 Find your nearest vote center

📅 Dates & Community Events

🔹🌟 Today, Tuesday May 26, 5:30 PM: Council Meeting. Item 16B (Virginia Avenue Apartments transparency) plus a study session on the FY 2026-28 Capital Improvement Program and FY 2026-27 Proposed Budget. Roadway safety design agreements on the agenda.

🔹 Thursday May 28, 12 PM: Downtown Police Substation Ribbon Cutting at 395 Santa Monica Place, Suite 122. Public invited.

🔹 Saturday May 30: Additional neighborhood vote centers open citywide.

🔹 Tuesday June 2: California Statewide Primary Election. Vote centers open citywide.

🔹 Wednesday June 3, 10AM-12PM: Join me for coffee with your Councilmember (& probably a cop or 2) At my fave spot One Cedar on Lincoln and Cedar.

🔹 Wednesday June 3, 5 to 7 PM: 13th Annual Most Loved Santa Monica Businesses Celebration at Santa Monica Brew Works.

🔹 Saturday June 6, 12 PM: SMPD Animal Shelter Open House.

🔹 Thursday June 11: World Cup activation programming begins citywide and runs through July 19.

🔹 Saturday June 13: Pride on the Promenade (DTSM), Cardboard Yacht Regatta at the Annenberg Community Beach House (9 AM to 1 PM), Night Market and Promenade Music returns.

🔹 Sunday June 21: Make Music Day, with soccer-inspired activations near the Downtown Metro Station.

🔹 Saturday July 4: Fourth of July Parade on Main Street, plus "Pulse in the Park" at Tongva Park.

🔹 Monday July 6: Library Phase 2 expansion takes effect. Every branch back to four-plus days a week.

🔹 Sunday July 19: COAST Open Streets Festival closes the World Cup window.

🔹 Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays: Downtown Farmers Market (Wednesdays), Pico Farmers Market (Saturdays), Main Street Farmers Market (Sundays). Come find me. No appointment needed to start a conversation.

💙 All In For Santa Monica

A quick campaign note.

The re-election work continues, and so does the case for it. Tonight's Item 16B is the version of this job I am asking you to send me back to do. Asking the hard questions, even when it makes some people uncomfortable. Asking them in public, with my name attached, with respect for the work that has been done and honesty about what needs to be better. That is the Santa Monica I want to keep building.

If you can support the campaign financially, the link is below. If you would rather organize a neighborhood gathering and have me come talk to you and your neighbors directly, that is genuinely my favorite part of this whole job. Reach out anytime.

👉 Support 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. You'll get behind-the-scenes updates, event highlights, and my thoughts along the way as I continue to go 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: The Same Table

This job brings me a lot of joy because it keeps me connected to people. Even being born and raised here, I still find myself meeting new residents, families, workers, business owners, and neighbors every single week. That’s the best part of public service for me. It reminds me that Santa Monica is not just headlines or council meetings. It’s people.

And while this work can sometimes be difficult, misunderstood, or shaped by politics and assumptions, I never want that to get in the way of being a real, accessible, and genuine person. I hope we continue asking questions, staying engaged, and giving one another the grace to have conversations before rushing to judgment.

I truly believe our city is strongest when more voices are at the table, not when we point fingers from across the room. Let’s keep showing up, listening, and putting our hands to work together.

See you at Council tonight, Santa Monica. 💙

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