🌟 Santa Monica Weekly with Councilmember Lana Negrete

📅 February 16, 2026

Hello friends,

Two years ago — February 9, 2024 — I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I've been open about it from the start, and I'll stay open: two years later, I'm still in treatment, still managing the long-term effects of chemo, still holding gratitude and fear in the same breath. Still standing.

I mention that today — on Presidents' Day — because real leadership isn't about titles or talking points. It's about honesty. Transparency. Showing up fully, even when it's hard. Especially then. This week's update is a big one: a groundbreaking veteran recruitment pipeline for SMPD, padel courts arriving in Downtown, an important update on ADA parking, nearly a dozen new businesses opening across the city, and your public safety numbers. Plus, a relaunch of the City's Seascape magazine, a major transit milestone, and some great ways to get involved this week and beyond.

Grab your coffee. Let's go.

🚨 Public Safety

🔹 SMPD arrests are up 68% year-to-date — and calls for service are up 18%. Through the first week of February, SMPD has made 536 arrests compared to 319 during the same period last year. Year-to-date calls for service total 13,829. This isn't a blip — it's what targeted, intelligence-driven deployment looks like when we invest in it and hold the line.

→ 🎯 My take: I've pushed for proactive, data-informed policing for years. Coordinated operations between patrol, CIT (crisis intervention team), the Downtown Services Unit, and K-9 are producing real results — over 100 arrests this week alone. That's the model.

🔹 Crime suppression stayed focused this week. DSU (downtown services unit) recorded 48 arrests and 15 citations within the downtown and beach footprint, including parole violations, narcotics, and weapons offenses along Palisades Park and the beach corridor. K-9 conducted 40 periodic checks citywide.

Key Crime Suppression Incidents:

🔹 Traffic enforcement: 262+ citations issued. Operations focused on school zones, Downtown, and PCH — targeting distracted driving, DUI, and hazardous behaviors. Two distracted driving operations produced 24 citations, with 19 for cell phone use. One DUI arrest came after a driver asleep behind the wheel woke up, accelerated, and struck a patrol car.

Notable Traffic Incidents:

🔹 Homelessness response by the numbers. HLP conducted 66 radio calls and 43 self-initiated activities. The team addressed 6 encampments and made 8 arrests — primarily parole violations, municipal code violations, narcotics, and repeat public camping. Two individuals were referred to SamoBridge. Compassion and accountability go hand in hand. That's not a slogan — it's how we operate.

Key Homeless Response Incidents:

🔹 Community engagement this week. Officers attended meetings with Northeast Neighbors, Wilmont Neighborhood Watch, Friends of Sunset Park, and Pico Improvement Organization — sharing crime updates and addressing quality-of-life concerns. That direct connection between residents and officers is how trust is built.

🔹 A veteran hiring pipeline for SMPD — on Presidents' Day, no less. SMPD has officially partnered with the Department of War through the SkillBridge Program, creating a structured pre-employment training pathway for transitioning service members to prepare for the police academy and, ultimately, serve as Santa Monica officers. Active-duty members in their final 180 days of service can participate in supervised, employment-focused training.

→ ⚡ Why this matters: At a time when police departments across the country are struggling to recruit, this initiative gives us access to disciplined, mission-driven candidates who bring leadership, accountability, and teamwork — values that align directly with the culture we're building at SMPD. The program was developed with support from San Diego PD and is nearing public posting on the official SkillBridge site. There's something fitting about sharing this on a day dedicated to honoring those who serve.

🔥 Fire Department Update

🔹 322 calls for service this week. 2,087 year-to-date. Operational tempo remained steady, with 45 calls in the most recent 24-hour period.

🔹 Recruit Academy: Week 5 complete. The 2026 class wrapped the Engine Operations block — hose deployment, water supply, coordinated fire attack. First block exams are up next. Strong engagement, strong progress toward frontline readiness.

🔹 Community outreach in action. SMFD partnered with the CREST Club at Will Rogers Learning Community on February 5 to teach Hands-Only CPR to students. The team also hosted Career Day at Edison Language Academy on February 11, with kids touring a fire engine and ambulance and learning about career paths in public service. And the department presented at both the Ocean Park and Pico Neighborhood Association meetings on the new Ambulance Operator Program — how it improves response times, patient care, and cost efficiency.

→ 🎯 My take: Firefighters teaching CPR to kids, showing up at neighborhood meetings to explain how our ambulance program works — that's community trust, built face-to-face.

Fire Prevention Weekly Data:

💼 Economic Development

🔹 Padel courts are coming to Downtown Santa Monica. Brand-new courts are under construction at 1318 4th Street, the first public padel courts in the city. And on Thursday, March 5, Fernando Belasteguín — widely considered the greatest padel player of all time, with 16 consecutive years at world No. 1 — is traveling from Spain for the grand opening. Wilson Sporting Goods is sponsoring the kickoff. If you haven't heard of padel, think tennis meets squash in a glass-walled box. It's one of the fastest-growing sports globally, and it's landing right in the heart of Downtown.

→ ⚡ Why this matters: More energy, more activation, more reasons to come downtown. This is exactly the kind of creative investment our commercial core needs.

🔹 New businesses opening across the city. Entrepreneurs and investors are choosing Santa Monica — and that's a strong signal. Here's what's coming:

→ 🎯 My take: As a small business owner myself (the Santa Monica Music Center has been in my family for over 54 years) I know what it takes to bet on a neighborhood. When this many businesses choose to plant roots here, across food, fitness, retail, and services, it means our corridors are heading in the right direction. Support local. Shop local. Welcome these new neighbors. I’ve been bringing businesses into face to face meetings with our city manager and our economic development team! I will continue to do this as I am deeply committed to helping bring back our local economy. I feel these businesses benefit from hearing directly from their elected officials, the new city manager, and the team behind shifting to make things easier and more welcoming to do business in Santa Monica.

🔹 Vote for your Most Loved Santa Monica businesses! The 13th Annual Most Loved Awards are open for voting. Spotlight your favorite coffee shops, restaurants, stores, and services that make this city feel like home.

👉 Vote for Most Loved Santa Monica

🚌 Big Blue Bus: Ridership Keeps Climbing

🔹 796,000 rides in January — up 4.3% over last year. That's the second consecutive month of positive year-over-year growth. Fiscal year-to-date: 5.7 million rides. Let that number sink in. Meanwhile, MODE (our on-demand service for seniors and people with disabilities) provided 4,739 rides in January, with year-to-date ridership up 40%.

→ 💡 What to watch: With Pali High back on campus and SMC's spring semester underway in February, the team is tracking whether this upward trajectory continues. Massive kudos to our DOT and Big Blue Bus teams. This growth doesn't happen without their dedication and professionalism.

🏠 Housing & Community Services

🔹 Housing Retention Program expanded to serve 60 households. One of the most important parts of our homelessness strategy isn't just getting people housed, it's keeping them there. Through our partnership with The People Concern, the City-funded Housing Retention Program delivers intensive support: behavioral health linkages, benefits enrollment, money management coaching, and active landlord coordination. A clinical supervisor role was added mid-year to strengthen mental health triage and intervene before housing destabilization occurs.

→ 💡 Why this matters: Celebrating a move-in and walking away isn't a strategy. Sustained, structured support is what prevents people from cycling back. This program does that work — and it's working. Not every program we’ve seen in this arena has success stories and this is one that does and we need to acknowledge the programs that are working and reassess and get rid of the ones that aren’t.

🏗️ Infrastructure & Parks

🔹 Palisades Park and the Pier area got a visible refresh. Our Parks Maintenance team completed a major cleanup and restoration effort around one of the city's most iconic destinations. They cleared accumulated debris, refreshed planting beds, evaluated tree and plant health, and improved pathways. When our most-visited public spaces are clean and vibrant, residents feel it, businesses benefit, and visitors take notice.

🔹 Baseball fields renovated at Marine Park and Memorial Park. Precise grading, turf management, and irrigation recalibration, just in time for the season. Marine Park Playground also got a new bridge feature, which may seem small but makes a real difference for the kids who use it every day. Park improvements don't always make headlines, but they're where community lives.

🔹 New Curb Ramp Design Policy finalized. Following Council direction, staff published an updated policy establishing dual unidirectional curb ramps as the standard for new construction. When technical constraints arise, deviations must be documented and published online for public accountability. Accessibility and transparency — baked into the standard.

👉 View the Curb Ramp Design Policy

🎨 Arts, Culture & Community

🔹 2026 Individual Artist Grants announced. RAD Cultural Affairs awarded two mid-career fellowships (to Takako Yamaguchi and Luigia Gio Martelloni) and ten project grants to local artists — now in the program's 17th year, with nearly 80 artists supported since inception. A strong city isn't just safe and well-maintained. It's inspired. It's alive with creative energy. These investments matter.

🔹 430 residents turned out for the first recycling event of 2026. On February 7 at City Yards, community members responsibly disposed of mattresses, e-waste, and sensitive documents. In 2025, these events diverted nearly 83,000 pounds of paper and almost 25,000 pounds of e-waste from the landfill. That's real impact.

👉 View upcoming recycling & compost events

🔹 Pali High says thank you — and we're proud. After the devastating LA fires displaced Palisades Charter High School in early 2025, our City moved quickly to set up a temporary home in the former Sears building downtown so students could keep learning with stability and dignity. This past week, Pali's Director of Operations sent a heartfelt note of thanks to the team. Massive credit to our Community Development department for navigating permitting, logistics, and coordination with urgency and heart. When neighbors needed help, we leaned in.

🔹 200+ attended the Miles Playhouse and Reed Park Open House. The event celebrated the newly restored playhouse and community garden, kicking off the 50th Anniversary of Santa Monica's Community Gardens with live music, seed starting, rock painting, and worm composting. Yes, worm composting.

🔹 84 participants joined the Snowy Plover Beach Walk. Annenberg Beach House partnered with Nature Nexus Institute and Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society for the annual guided walk, and attendees even pitched in with spontaneous trash pickup. Next one: Beach Walk & Sketch on Saturday, May 9.

🔹 Read with Roger at Fairview Branch Library. Nine children and their guardians practiced reading alongside Roger, SMFD's Peer Support K-9. This was the first session at Fairview and the first since the branch returned to full-service hours. Love everything about this.

🔹 Friday Night Co-Ed Softball is here. RAD launched a new league — six teams and counting, with names like Pier Pressure, BAT'N BOUGIE, and Down to Fiesta. Adult softball has been a Santa Monica staple since the 1970s, and this co-ed Friday night format adds another fun, accessible way to play. Game on.

🏛️ City Hall Updates

🔹 ADA parking rates in surface lots: here's the full picture. As part of the Parking Rate Adjustment Program adopted last August, ADA parking in surface lots moved from free to 50% of the posted rate as of January 12. On-street meters remain completely free for ADA placard holders — that hasn't changed. The shift was informed by professional analysis from Walker Consultants, peer city comparisons, and a 2012 study showing most placard vehicles in downtown structures stayed parked over four hours, with many at 48–72 hours. The core question was whether free parking in high-demand environments actually improves access — or reduces it by encouraging extended stays and lower turnover of the spaces people with disabilities need most.

→ 💡 Key context: Santa Monica was a regional outlier — one of the only coastal cities offering free ADA parking in surface lots 24/7/365. The 50% discount was designed as a balanced middle ground. This was briefed to the Disabilities Commission before Council consideration and presented publicly during the August 12 meeting. This was never about revenue; it was about making accessible spaces more available to those who genuinely need them.

→ 🎯 Where things stand: Some residents have raised concerns, and I hear them. If there's interest in reconsidering, the recommendation is to re-refer the matter to the Disabilities Commission for review before it comes back to Council. Transparency and a thoughtful process matter here. I support getting this right.

🔹 Seascape magazine is coming back — first print edition since 2022. The City's community newsletter magazine will land in roughly 60,000 Santa Monica mailboxes at the end of March. The Spring 2026 edition focuses on "Realignment in Action" — featuring a visual scorecard of early results, stories on public safety, SaMoBridge, mobility improvements, library reopenings, the Pier Bridge project, housing, and the new Ambulance Operator Program. Available in English and Spanish. A second edition is planned for October.

🔹 New scheduling links to meet with me are on the way. The City is rolling out a formal public booking tool so you can schedule time with your elected officials directly. I'm glad this exists — and I hope everyone takes advantage of it. But let me be real: my accessibility has been consistent from day one. I've met with residents at City Hall, coffee shops, schools, the Pico Farmers Market, and wherever life takes us — long before booking links or formal promotions. This isn't new for me. It's who I've always been. The link should be live this week, but you can always reach me directly.

📩 Email: lana.negrete@santamonica.gov

📅 Dates & Community Events

🔹 Monday, February 16 — Presidents' Day (City offices closed)

🔹 Saturday, February 21 — 🧧 Lunar New Year at Santa Monica Place, 2:00–5:00 PM. Free, family-friendly celebration with lion dances, martial arts performances, calligraphy, kids crafts, and live music. Year of the Horse!

👉 Lunar New Year event details

🔹 Sunday, February 22 — "Under One Roof" Exhibition Opening at Studios 3026, Airport Arts Center, 2:00–5:00 PM. Meet local artists, explore current works, and enjoy light refreshments.

👉 RSVP for Under One Roof

🔹 Tuesday, February 24 — City Council Meeting, 5:30 PM. Public comment on general items not on the agenda starts at 5:30. The full agenda is typically posted the Thursday or Friday before. Please show up, call in, or submit written comment — your voice shapes policy.

👉 View City Council meeting info

👉 How to participate in a City Council meeting

🔹 Thursday, March 5 — Padel Grand Opening at 1318 4th Street with Fernando Belasteguín. Details coming soon!

🔹 Saturday, February 28 — Santa Monica Reads Author Event with Michiko Aoyama (What You Are Looking For Is in the Library), Main Library, 2:00 PM. Free and open to the public — a wonderful afternoon for book lovers.

👉 Santa Monica Public Library events

🔹 March is Women's History Month! I'll be at the Montana Avenue Library branch for Toddler Time, reading a book to little ones from 10 AM to noon. Bring your kids and show the library some love. Hope to see you there!

📱 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 to go on this journey with you.

👉 Follow me on Instagram

🌟 Closing Thought: Transparency Isn't a Buzzword

On Valentine's Day, I wrote a love letter to Santa Monica — the city that raised me, the community that held my family through cancer and loss, the neighbors who've walked into our music store for generations. This city isn't abstract to me. It's Pico and Main Street and the Promenade. It's personal.

And that's exactly why transparency and civility aren't optional for me; they're the standard. I share the data even when it's uncomfortable. I show up at the neighborhood meeting even when it's easier not to. I tell you where I stand even when it's not the popular take. Because you deserve to know what's happening, how it affects you, and what your elected officials are doing about it.

February 24 is our next Council meeting. The agenda will post later this week — check the city website Thursday or Friday. Public comment on general items starts at 5:30 PM. Your voice matters. Policy is shaped by who shows up.

Thank you for reading, for staying engaged, and for loving this city the way I do. And if you're someone walking through your own hard season right now — treatment, loss, uncertainty — please know: you're not alone. Two years later, I'm still here. Still fighting. Still grateful.

See you out there, 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