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Lana Negrete Newsletter — September 7, 2026
🌟 Santa Monica Weekly with Councilmember Lana Negrete
📅 September 7, 2026
Happy Labor Day, Santa Monica,
Hope you spent the day relaxing with loved ones, tell starting January how’s work seven and 10 insane that this keeps scrolling down like but I know many of us had to go to work. Before I dig into your weekly update I want to tell you about a man named Ricky Jones. For 35 years, Ricky has been behind the wheel of a Big Blue Bus: more than 2 million miles without an accident, roughly 3 million passengers delivered safely, and 26 safety awards along the way. On August 28, the Rotary Club honored him at its annual Public Service Recognition Luncheon, and anyone who has ever ridden his route knows the numbers are only half the story. Ricky greets every rider like he has been waiting all day just for them.
That is what Labor Day means to me. I grew up watching my dad and uncle open our family music store morning after morning, and I have spent my adult life doing the same, so I know that cities are not built by press releases. They are built by people who show up. This week's letter is full of that kind of work: a bridge project entering its biggest phase, fuel tanks nobody will ever see again, a festival taking shape on our sand, and one very consequential Council vote tomorrow night. Let's get into it.
🚔 Public Safety
🔹 By the numbers: August 23 to 29. Here is your weekly snapshot. The story inside the stats: officer-initiated activity jumped by 99 while resident-initiated calls dipped, which tells you our officers were out generating work, not waiting for the phone to ring.
Metric | This Week | Last Week | YTD 2026 | YTD 2025 | YoY Change
|
Calls for Service | 2,501 | 2,428 | 85,982 | 80,651 | +6.6% |
Resident-Initiated Calls | 1,439 | 1,465 | 45,531 | 48,177 | -5.5% |
Officer-Initiated Activity | 1,062 | 963 | 40,451 | 32,472 | +24.6% |
Homeless-Related Dispositions | 546 (22%) | 523 | 19,502 | 21,252 | -8.2% |
Total Arrests | 92 | 110 | 3,549 | 2,138 | +66.0% |
🔹 Three loaded ghost guns are off our streets. When a vehicle fled an attempted stop near Ocean Avenue and crashed, officers took all four occupants into custody and recovered three loaded ghost guns from a bag pulled from the car, which had been stolen in an armed carjacking in LA. The same week brought a stolen-vehicle arrest that turned up live ammunition, a coordinated sex-offender registration operation, and a thorough search of Santa Monica College after a reported armed individual, where thankfully no suspect was found. One officer was injured during a foot pursuit and is recovering.
→ 🎯 My take: I have said it before and I will keep saying it: safety is presence plus accountability. Every one of those ghost guns was a tragedy that never got the chance to happen. To the officer recovering from that head injury, this whole city is pulling for you.
🔹 Homelessness response, with both hands. Our Homeless Liaison Program handled 159 radio calls, logged 131 self-initiated contacts, addressed 19 encampments, made 9 arrests, and connected 3 people to SaMoBridge and Samoshel. Officers also assisted a Bluffs cleanup on August 27, and one August 25 contact turned dangerous when an individual drew a switchblade on officers, who took him into custody safely.
→ ⚡ Why this matters: Enforcement and outreach are not opposites. We extend the hand and we enforce the law, every single week, and the year-over-year drop in homeless-related dispositions says the combination is working.
🔹 A crosswalk can change a life in one second. On August 29 at Ocean and San Vicente, a driver pulled forward from a stop sign and struck an older adult in the crosswalk, causing serious injuries. Officers also arrested a fleeing driver after a rollover hit-and-run at 14th and Pico, and traffic teams made 275 stops with 178 citations, with extra eyes on Lincoln Middle School and Samohi during drop-off and pickup. You have heard my school-zone sermon before, so here is the short version: slow down, look twice, leave five minutes early.
🔹 SMFD: serving here, serving everywhere. Our firefighters are currently deployed to the Timber and Plaskett Fires near Big Sur through the state's mutual aid system, fully reimbursable to the City, while back home the department welcomed two new Type III ambulances into frontline service and returns to its full six-ambulance deployment after today. SMFD members were also honored at the Rotary luncheon, and if you know someone who wants in on this work, the as-needed Ambulance Operator recruitment closes Monday, September 14.
🏛️ At City Hall
🔹 SB 79: decision night is TOMORROW. The state housing law returns to Council on Tuesday, September 8 at 5:30 p.m. for the final vote. On the table: a proposal to raise development standards on 89 R1-zoned parcels north of the I-10 and east of Dorchester, which would make the Expo/Bundy area in the Pico Neighborhood eligible for exclusion from SB 79 through 2030.
→ 🎯 My take: My position has not moved. I voted no on the earlier upzoning approach in July because protecting a neighborhood has to mean protecting it in every vote, not just the convenient ones, and I continue to believe there are lower-impact paths than upzoning Pico's R1 blocks. Whatever side you land on, this is the meeting to attend. Come informed, speak plainly, keep it civil. That is how Santa Monica does its best work, and I will be listening.
👉 Find agendas and staff reports
🔹 Planning Commission follow-through. As previewed last week, the Commission met September 2 and voted to recommend updates aligning the Downtown Community Plan and Zoning Ordinance with recent state law changes. It is unglamorous housekeeping, but keeping our local rules clear and legally defensible is how we stay in the driver's seat as Sacramento keeps changing the map. The item comes to Council on October 13, and I will flag it again as we get close.
🔹 A new commission with lived experience built in. The Housing and Human Services Commission held its first meeting on Thursday, September 3. This seven-member body merges the former Housing and Human Services commissions, and here is the part I love: two seats are reserved for residents of our affordable housing programs, including one for someone who has experienced homelessness. The people closest to the problem now have a permanent seat at the table. It meets the first Thursday of each month, next on October 1.
👉 Learn about Housing and Human Services
🔹 City Hall's work schedule is changing in 2027. Starting in January, City staff move to one consistent schedule: in-person Tuesdays through Thursdays, with remote options on Mondays and Fridays. Worth knowing: roughly seven in ten City employees never had a remote option at all, because the work of a service city happens in person. For you, this means more predictability about when the full team is in the building. I will always share these operational shifts with you, because transparency should not stop at the org chart.
🔹 Four aging fuel tanks, gone the right way. At the Airport, crews permanently removed three 12,000-gallon underground aviation fuel tanks and one 500-gallon tank, all dating to the mid-1980s, after state regulators determined they had to be upgraded or closed. Instead of abandoning them in place, the City pulled them out and remediated the soil.
→ ⚡ Why this matters: Every piece of legacy infrastructure we retire properly today is one less expensive surprise as we plan the Airport's future. Nobody throws a parade for tank removal. Consider this paragraph the parade.
🎡 The Pier: Bridge Work, a Traveling Sign, and a Festival
🔹 The Pier Bridge enters its heaviest phase this week. Crews begin demolishing the remaining sections of the 1939 bridge and drilling foundations for its replacement. The closures to know: Appian Way is closed September 8 through 11 from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., Ocean Front Walk beneath the bridge is closed on those weekdays too, and Moomat Ahiko Way closes for roughly two months starting Monday, September 21. Some perspective on why we are doing this: the old bridge scored 8.2 on a 100-point sufficiency scale. That is not a typo. The $35.5 million replacement delivers a seismically sound, wider, more accessible gateway by late 2027, and through it all, the Pier and every business on it stay open. Plan ahead, follow the signs, and give yourself some grace out there.
👉 Check Pier construction schedules and detours
🔹 Yes, the Pier Sign is coming down. No, we are not losing it. In mid-to-late September, restoration crews will carefully dismantle the iconic sign that has welcomed people since 1941: every neon tube labeled and crated, the Crown Sign lifted by crane, everything shipped to a specialty restoration facility. When the new bridge opens in 2027, the sign comes home, mounted higher and shining brighter, in time to greet the world before the LA28 Games. This is a preservation operation, full stop. Treat the empty sky above the bridge as a countdown, not a goodbye.
🔹 Ocean Way Festival is less than three weeks out. On September 26 and 27, our beach between the Pier and Bay Street hosts Santa Monica's first major music festival, with The Killers, Olivia Dean, Jack White, Khruangbin, Sublime, and more, expected to draw 20,000 to 30,000 people per day. What you will see beforehand: setup begins September 14, the main build and a beach bike path detour run September 21 through 30, and sound testing happens September 24 through 27. On show days, Beach Lots 1 through 5 South close to the public while the Pier stays open for dining and fun. The City and Goldenvoice sent info sheets to 3,000 nearby households, and a staffed community hotline is live at community@oceanwayfestival.com or (424) 260-1923.
→ 🎯 My take: You do not spend your life running a music store and sit this one out. Live music is an economic engine, a jobs engine, and a joy engine, and the outreach plus the hotline is exactly the accountability a first-of-its-kind event demands. If something is not working for your block, use that hotline. It exists for you.
👉 Visit the City's festival update page
👉 See tickets and transportation details
🔹 Leave the beach better than we found it. Ahead of the festival, and in the spirit of Sustainable September, the City is joining Heal the Bay, AEG, and Goldenvoice for a beach cleanup on Thursday, September 17, from noon to 2 p.m. Two hours, some sunshine, and a cleaner beach for everyone about to enjoy it.
🔹 The big blue signs are coming back to life. The dynamic message signs at the Civic Center structure and the I-10/Lincoln exit are repaired and live, and the remaining two, at the 4th/5th Street exit and Lincoln near Pico, are diagnosed with parts on order. The goal is all four glowing before festival weekend. Anyone who has circled for beach parking knows these signs are lifesavers when lit and pure frustration when dark, so hats off to the crews doing this decidedly unglamorous fix.
💼 Economic Development
🔹 ✨ Business Spotlight: Beach House CoWork. This week I am highlighting a locally owned boutique coworking space at Main and Strand in Ocean Park, created by business owner Simon at 2219 Main Street. Two floors of desks, private offices, a podcast studio, open-air lounges, and the detail that won my heart: a private pumping and parent room for working parents. As a lifelong Santa Monican who built a business while raising kids, I know how rare that kind of thoughtfulness is. This is a neighborhood answering how people actually live and work now.
👉 See my spotlight post (Instagram)
🔹 The world ranked our sunsets, and we placed second on Earth. A new global ranking picked up by Travel + Leisure names Santa Monica the number two sunset destination in the world, behind only Paphos, Cyprus, and the only U.S. city in the global top ten. The judges weighed visual impact, accessibility, and photographic potential, citing our coastline, the Pier, and 3.5 miles of beach. With 280-plus days of sunshine a year, the show runs nightly. Every visitor that view brings supports a local job, and the price of admission is a walk to the bluffs.
🎓 Education, Arts & Our Youth
🔹 One million, one hundred thirty-five thousand minutes of reading. The Library's Summer Reading Program closed out with 998 young readers logging 1,135,857 minutes, roughly a 70% jump over last year, while 103 kids ages three and under added 62,092 minutes of early literacy time. Add 55 youth events drawing 2,200 attendees and 541 books earned by kids who hit the 20-hour goal. Summer reading is one of the most proven weapons we have against the summer slide, which means our librarians just helped a thousand Santa Monica kids start school stronger. That is a gift that compounds for decades.
🔹 September is Library Card Sign-Up Month, and the card is a work of art. Sign up at any of our five library locations this month and you will get a special-edition card designed by local artist Al Mercado, drawn from the Art Everywhere: Local Canvas initiative. The Read Local, Shop Local discount program is back for year two as well, with your card unlocking deals at spots like Harvelle's, Sweet Lady Jane, and Backyard Bowls. Momentum is real: library staff signed up more than 225 new SMC students at VIP Day. About 30% of our community holds a card today, and I want that number a whole lot higher. Families, swing by the Main Library on September 12 to decorate a card sleeve and lanyard.
👉 See the library discount program
🔹 SMC lands among the nation's best film schools, again. MovieMaker magazine named Santa Monica College to its list of the 30 Best Film Schools in the U.S. and Canada, the college's fourth appearance, alongside AFI, NYU, and UCLA. The magazine highlighted access for students of all backgrounds at $46 per unit and faculty who are working filmmakers. A world-class creative education for community college tuition, right on Pico. That is the arts pipeline I have spent my whole life fighting for.
🔹 Beach House Gallery: last call and next act. Water is a Currency, the exhibition anchoring the gallery since April, closes Sunday, September 27, so you have three weekends left to see sculpture, moving image, and light explore water at the edge of the Pacific. The next exhibition opens with a public reception on Saturday, October 3, from 4 to 6 p.m.
👉 Visit the Annenberg Community Beach House page
🎉 Around Town & Community
🔹 Santa Monica got yacht-y. About 600 neighbors turned out to Tongva Park on Saturday, September 5, for week five of Tongva Twilight, many in full captain's hats and truly heroic wigs, as The Windbreakers had the lawn singing Christopher Cross and Toto before director Garret Price introduced his documentary Yacht Rock: A DOCKumentary. Beach balls, bubbles courtesy of Councilmember Zernitskaya's machine, all of it. This is exactly what our public spaces are for. The finale lands this Saturday, September 12 at 7 p.m., with soul singer Myra Washington leading into Questlove's Oscar-winning Summer of Soul. Pack a picnic and give summer the send-off it earned.
👉 See the Tongva Twilight series details
🔹 One more time for Ricky Jones. Since I opened with him, here is your assignment: Ricky retires later this year, so if you catch his Big Blue Bus route between now and then, give the man a thank-you. Thirty-five years of showing up for this city deserves at least that much from all of us.
🔹 Keep swimming, Santa Monica. Two bits of pool news worth your goggles. Fifty-meter Long Course lap swimming is back at the Swim Center's Fitness Pool on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, 5:30 to 9 a.m., for swimmers craving fewer turns and a tougher workout. And the historic Beach House pool is staying open Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., through the end of September, because some of our best beach weather is happening right now.
🏠 For My Fellow Renters
🔹 Free cooling, heat, and clean air through REACH. Our Office of Sustainability teamed up with Sustainable Works at the Virginia Avenue Park Resource Fair to spread the word about REACH, which gives income-qualified Santa Monica renters their choice of a free portable heat pump, battery backup system, or air purifier, with more lottery drawings still ahead. Renters are roughly 70% of this city, and I am one of them, so I know how brutal a heat wave or smoke day can be in an older building with no AC. If you qualify, or your neighbor does, get an application in.
📅 Dates to Know
🔹 Tuesday, September 8, 5:30 p.m.: City Council meeting, including the final SB 79 vote. The big one.
👉 Find agendas and staff reports
🔹 Tuesday through Friday, September 8 to 11: Appian Way closed 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Ocean Front Walk beneath the Pier Bridge closed on weekdays.
🔹 Saturday, September 12, 7 p.m.: Tongva Twilight finale at Tongva Park with Myra Washington and Summer of Soul.
🔹 Saturday, September 12: Library card sleeve and lanyard decorating at the Main Library for Card Sign-Up Month.
🔹 Sunday, September 13: The sold-out Santa Monica Classic 10K and 5K takes to our streets, so plan for morning detours and bring your cheering voice. Then Americana in the Park runs 1:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Gandara Park, free and all ages.
👉 Read about the Classic sellout
🔹 Monday, September 14: Ocean Way Festival setup begins, and SMFD's Ambulance Operator recruitment closes.
🔹 Wednesday, September 16, 6 to 7:30 p.m.: Monthly mahjong night debuts at the Main Library. Advance registration required.
🔹 Thursday, September 17, 12 to 2 p.m.: Beach cleanup with Heal the Bay ahead of the festival.
🔹 Monday, September 21: Moomat Ahiko Way closes for about two months, and the beach bike path detour runs through September 30.
🔹 Saturday and Sunday, September 26 and 27: Ocean Way Festival on Santa Monica Beach.
👉 Visit the City's festival update page
🔹 Sunday, September 27: Final day of Water is a Currency at the Beach House Gallery.
🔹 Tuesday, September 29: League of Women Voters candidate forums begin, with City Council forums October 4, 9, and 14.
🔹 Thursday, October 1: Housing and Human Services Commission meets.
🔹 Saturday, October 3, 4 to 6 p.m.: New exhibition reception at the Beach House Gallery.
🔹 Every Wednesday and every weekend: The farmers markets are open, and weekends are still where you will find me.
💙 All In Through November
🔹 3 endorsements that speak to who I am. This week I was honored to earn the endorsement of the Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City, which has spent years making sure residents have a real voice in the decisions shaping this community, and I am especially moved by their recognition of my commitment to safety and transparency. I am extremely proud to also receive the endorsement of the North East Neighbors Neighbor organization. This is a neighborhood group comprised of residents from diverse backgrounds and lived experiences all showing up for their community and providing amazing education and engaging opportunities for participants. I am equally proud to have the LA/OC Building & Construction Trades Council behind me, representing thousands of skilled union workers and working families. Residents' voices and workers' hands: that is the coalition I want.
👉 See the SMCLC endorsement (Instagram)
👉 See the Building Trades endorsement (Instagram)
🔹 My campaign HQ is sometimes just my kitchen. On Saturday, Louie and I spent a sunny holiday-weekend afternoon planting lawn signs, and yes, we would rather have been at the beach with the kids. But I do not take a single vote for granted, and some days my whole campaign team is my husband, my daughters, and me. If a door hanger showed up at your place, it means I knocked and missed you, so please reach out. I would genuinely love to hear what matters most on your block.
🔹 Ways to plug in. Want a lawn sign or a window sign for your business? Reply to this email or message me on social and I will drop one off myself. We have a volunteer day coming up on September 13th 12-3 (let me know if you’d like to participate and I’ll send details) and mark your calendar for a fundraiser at Prime Pizza on Wednesday, September 23, where I will share my plans for the road ahead. Every dollar and every door knocked helps me reach more neighbors.
👉 Get involved at LanaNegrete.com
📱 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.
🔹 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 Work Behind the Postcard
The world just ranked our sunsets second on the planet, and I will not argue with the judges. But here is what the postcard never shows: the crew labeling neon tubes so an 85-year-old sign survives its journey, the team pulling forty-year-old fuel tanks out of the ground so the next generation never has to, the electricians reviving parking signs at dawn, and a bus operator greeting his three-millionth passenger like his first.
Paradise is not an accident. It is maintained, daily, by people who mostly go unthanked. So this Labor Day, thank one of them. Then bring that same spirit to the Council Chambers tomorrow night, because showing up is its own kind of work, and it is the kind this city runs on. I will see you there.
With gratitude and determination,
Lana Negrete
Councilmember, City of Santa Monica
Lana Negrete
Councilmember, City of Santa Monica