🌟 Santa Monica Weekly with Councilmember Lana Negrete

📅 January 5, 2026

Happy New Year Neighbors & Friends,

If you’re anything like me, then you took a moment to recently reflect and observe. This last weekend—the first of the new year—I caught myself watching cars pull into the Music Center lot: families hauling instruments, kids bouncing through the door, everyone excited about new notes to play, had me  feeling hopeful about continuing to run a small business in Santa Monica.  There's something about January energy that feels different. Not just resolutions, but a real readiness to get things done. That's the vibe I'm bringing into this year.

We've got serious momentum building: new public safety deployments already showing results, our downtown substation opening later this month, and the Real-Time Crime Center launching in early February. But I'm also hearing from you about the day-to-day stuff that matters: parking meters that don't match drop-off schedules, a busted swing at Ozone Park (fixed as of Friday, by the way✅), and questions about what's actually happening with housing policy.

Let's dig in.

🚨 Public Safety & Infrastructure

🔹 License plate readers and surveillance tech are already making a difference. Our new camera network is detecting vehicles tied to crimes originating both inside and outside Santa Monica — meaning we're catching would-be criminals before they even park. The numbers below tell the story, but here's what it means for you: smarter, faster response to real threats.

🔹 Downtown substation opens later this month, Real-Time Crime Center goes live in early February. These aren't just buildings — they're operational hubs that let our officers coordinate faster and respond smarter. The substation puts more eyes on the ground downtown where we need them most.

🔹 Street medicine and in-house ambulance operations are already rolling out. Our new ambulance provider unit is addressing unhoused folks who need immediate care, and separately we are bringing ambulance operations in-house which will generate revenue that goes right back into fixing the core issues our city faces. This is fiscal responsibility meeting human needs.

→ 📊 By the Numbers (Dec 14–20, 2025, new numbers coming next week):

• 88 arrests
• 2,822 calls for service
• 121,230 calls YTD (↓ 3.5% from last year)
• 3,324 arrests YTD (↑ 21.8%)

→ 🚨 What stood out recently: Officers arrested suspects for felony assault (300 block San Vicente), a $100K+ jewelry burglary (2200 block 21st St), arson (Palisades Park palm tree fire), and tracked down an armed carjacking suspect who crossed into our jurisdiction. Ring camera footage helped crack a Marine Street burglary. This is what proactive policing looks like.

→ 🚗 Traffic & homelessness response: DUI saturation patrols resulted in arrests. Distracted driving enforcement issued multiple citations. Homelessness-related calls accounted for 657 (23% of total calls) — officers coordinated 8 service referrals and 7 mental health hospitalizations.

👉 Watch Council meetings live on YouTube

🏘️ Housing Re-Vote: What You Need to Know (January 13th )

On Tuesday, January 13th, the City Council will re-ratifying on five housing production–related actions originally adopted in 2025. This is about process and legal compliance.

🔹 Why are we re-ratifying? State law requires the City to re-ratify these actions due to a conflict-of-interest determination that affected housing matters during that period. When a conflict is identified, we must formally reconsider those decisions so they remain legally valid and transparent.

🔹 What's being re-ratified?

1. SB 9 / SB 450 and SB 1123 – Resolution of Intent (Aug 12, 2025)
2. Affordable Housing Production Program (AHPP) Emergency ordinance (Aug 12, 2025)
3. High-Rise Definition Updates / Single-Stair Provisions (Sep 9, 2025)
4. Housing-Related Building Code Updates (Sep 30, 2025)
5. Direction to Extend and Amend the AHPP Program (Sep 30, 2025)

🔹 Is SB 1123 being rescinded? Yes — separately from the re-ratification items. The Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance (EIZO) was adopted in July 2025 and is being brought back due to pending litigation. Rescinding the EIZO does not repeal state law — it addresses how Santa Monica implemented SB 1123 on an emergency basis.

🔹 What about the Affordable Housing Pilot Program? At the same meeting, Council will also consider final adoption of the AHPP, which gives eligible projects three voluntary options to meet affordable housing obligations: relocating units off-site, rehabilitating existing housing, or using an in-lieu fee.

→ 💡 Why this matters to residents: These decisions permanently shape zoning standards, neighborhood scale, infrastructure, traffic, and livability. They also determine how much flexibility future councils have to respond to real-world outcomes. January 13 gives us a chance to re-examine what we adopted during the affected period and ask: do these policies reflect the outcomes we actually want long-term?

→ 🎯 Where I stand: I frequently find myself on the other side of the voting block when it comes to increased density — not because I oppose housing, but because I live in rent control and I don't see affordability improving for middle- or lower-middle-income residents. What I see is rapid development, rising rents, and a cost of living that outpaces what local teachers, working families, service workers, and long-term renters can afford.

Even if rents dropped 20%, they'd still be out of reach for the people who keep this city functioning. For me, this isn't about gatekeeping Santa Monica — it's about genuinely living up to the idea of a diverse, thriving community across income levels, ages, family types, and stages of life.

Santa Monica's diversity has historically been supported by rent control, mom-and-pop apartment buildings, and housing that wasn't driven solely by investor return requirements. Many large-scale developments today are so tall and expensive that they must generate exorbitant rents just to pay back investors. That model doesn't produce affordability for families putting down roots here.

I also don't believe the classic supply-and-demand argument works the same way in a coastal, high-demand city like Santa Monica. We attract high-income earners who can afford premium rents for short stays without long-term ties to the community. Those dynamics don't automatically translate into affordability, community investment, or stability for residents who live, work, teach, and raise families here.

That's why, when we have discretion, I believe we should use it carefully, intentionally, and with long-term livability in mind. January 13th is about getting the process right, reconsidering permanent code changes, and deciding whether Santa Monica should exceed state housing mandates or implement them narrowly and responsibly. I will always advocate for housing policies that actually serve the people who live and work here — not just the number of units produced.

👉 View the City Council calendar

🛠️ Quality-of-Life Updates

🔹 Parking meters and business impacts. I've received emails from parents dropping kids at preschool who are concerned that parking meters don't accommodate the time needed for drop-off. If you own or frequent a business impacted by inappropriate parking restrictions, please let me know so we can work with these businesses to find solutions.

🔹 Ozone Park swing fixed! Thank you to the constituent who reported the vandalized swing — it was remedied as of Friday. This is exactly how the system should work.

🔹 Download the 311 app if you haven't already. It's a great way to track issues around the city — from fallen trees and power lines to encampments, trash, and bulky item pickup. It's not perfect, but the more we use it, the more we can strengthen the system.

👉 Download the Santa Monica 311 app

🗓️ What's Next

Tuesday, January 13, 5:30 PM — City Council Meeting (housing re-vote and more). I'll be calling in for part of this meeting as I'll be in New York with my youngest daughter attending a musical performance . I'm bummed about missing an in-person meeting, but I'm also trying to prioritize family and balance this job. I haven't missed many meetings since joining Council in July 2021, and this trip is both work and a much-needed reset with my daughter.

💬 Remember: Why Santa Monica Is Different

I want to point everyone to something I've been saying for a while, but someone recently posted about it and it made me think: Santa Monica isn't like Manhattan Beach or other coastal cities. Here's why.

We have a major transit line. The train operated by the county that brings folks into our city ends here at night, leaving roughly 30-40 unhoused individuals on our streets. We have a pier, more tourist attractions, and more ways to access our city than most coastal communities. We aren't a quiet, sleepy town.

We're roughly 90,000 residents, and our daytime population more than doubles on average on any given day (excluding holidays and events). This isn't an excuse. It's a reminder that we are a highly functioning, unique, and diverse city with many access points, freeways, and public transportation feeding into our bustling community.

We have to manage those realities and the issues that come with them, including collaboration with agencies like the county to be successful.

🌟 Get Involved

I hope this year inspires more folks to get involved, whether that's joining a board or commission, showing up to City Council meetings, or even watching them on YouTube from the comfort of your home.

👉 View board and commission openings

Make sure to reach out to all your elected leaders to let them know your biggest concerns and to share your perspective on how things are going. Your voice is what matters. We're here representing each and every one of you, regardless of whether you voted for us or not.

Let's also be part of the solution. That means learning about the system you want to fix before pointing fingers or assessing blame. It takes a village.

📱 Stay Connected

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

👉 Report an issue through 311

If you haven't already, be sure to follow me on Instagram 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

🌟 Closing Thought: Foundations Before Headlines

This year  was about laying foundations (amidst a ton of change and major crises). Much of the hard work happens quietly, over time, behind the scenes. But that groundwork is what delivers results: safer streets, stronger systems, real outcomes.

Thank you to everyone who stayed engaged, asked hard questions, and held us accountable. The work continues, and I'm grateful you're in it with me.

Here’s to another year of new government adventures that benefit our community!

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