🌟 Santa Monica Weekly with Mayor Lana Negrete — November 10, 2025

Happy Monday to you friends and neighbors,

If you’re new here, welcome to my Monday newsletter — doing my best to give you to-the-point, useful, and neighbor-to-neighbor info: what changed, why it matters, how you can plug in, what’s next, and a run-down of why you (all Santa Monicans) are the sunshine that makes this city glow and go forward.

As we head into Veterans Day, thank you to our veterans and their families for your service and sacrifice; I hope to see you at the pier ceremony on Tuesday.

One highlight for me last week: on Saturday at the Main Street Community Garden we planted seedlings, collected new socks for neighbors in need, and had thoughtful conversations — including with Briana, a local student studying sustainability, who pressed me on how a city truly feels like home.

My answer, then and now: it starts with people who show up for each other, and with a City that shows up for them. This week I’m focused on the basics you’ve asked me to deliver: safety you can feel, cleaner streets, and a stronger downtown.

🛡️ Public Safety

🔹 On-the-ground care, faster: Our Fire Department’s Advanced Provider Unit (APU) is now responding to 911 calls with on-scene advanced medical care. It’s helping reduce unnecessary ER transports and connecting people directly to the right care. As a mom and neighbor, I want responsive help that meets people where they are — this delivers.
 👉 Learn about the APU program

🔹 Weekly snapshot (Oct 26–Nov 1): SMPD handled 2,621 calls for service (including 592 related to homelessness), addressed 20 encampments, and made 76 arrests. SMFD ran 344 incidents (65% EMS), with 43 homelessness-related calls and 4 encampment fires. Why it matters: data helps us target patrols, prevention, and care — not just activity for activity’s sake.
 👉 View crime statistics

🔹 Visibility & presence: SMPD continues focused work Downtown, in parks and at the beach, and around school traffic zones. You’ll also see more activity as our downtown substation build-out advances.

 👉 Read the substation announcement

💼 Local Economy & Downtown Revival

🔹 Retail momentum + activations: Third Street Promenade is getting more reasons to visit and linger — including the new Museum of Illusions (yes, it’s open on the Promenade). As a small-business owner, I care about foot traffic and family-friendly draws that boost nearby shops and cafés.
 👉 See hours & tickets

🔹 Real conversations with major brands: I met with Gap Inc. leadership alongside our City Manager to keep making the case for Santa Monica. The pitch is simple: we’re cleaning up, activating streets, and supporting balanced growth — come be part of the comeback.

🔹 Shop local = signal confidence: Every meal, every gift, every errand here is a vote for our Main Street corridors and workers.

🏠 Housing & Homelessness

🔹 Virginia Avenue Apartments rehab: The City executed a $35.65M loan with Community Corporation of Santa Monica to rehabilitate 2033–2101 Virginia Ave. Tenants are temporarily relocating during construction; returning tenants keep their rent-controlled rates, and vacant units after rehab will be restricted to households at ≤80% AMI. Accountability and stability — both matter.
 👉 Read the project update

🔹 Leadership transition: We’re welcoming Aileen Reynolds as Director of Housing & Human Services in January; Natalie Verlinich will serve as Interim starting Nov 17 to ensure continuity.

🔹 Food security during the federal shutdown: Donation drives with Westside Food Bank continue; our teams are also issuing one-time supplemental benefits for low-income seniors. If you can, please give — and thank you to everyone already doing so! We have various food drive locations throughout the city.

 👉 Donate Now

🌿 Realignment: Cleaner, Greener, Safer

🔹 Visible progress Downtown: Crews are planting 36” box trees along 2nd–5th Streets (afrocarpus, elm, jacaranda, ginkgo), adding an audible “scramble” at Arizona & 2nd, and power-washing parking structures on a 5-day rotation with ongoing elevator detailing and expanded trash service. Why it matters: clean, well-lit, green streets invite people back — and that’s the flywheel for economic recovery.

 👉 Read the Realignment Plan update

🔹 Service streamlining: Transportation, permitting, and project delivery teams are tightening coordination so businesses and residents get faster, clearer answers.

🎓 Youth, Schools & Libraries

🔹 School visits that fuel hope: I dropped in at Carlthorp, SAMO High, and Edison Elementary (their Día de los Muertos exhibit was incredible). Hearing kids’ ideas keeps me stubbornly optimistic about our future. We’re all doing this for them and the future Santa Monica that they will inherit.

🔹 Read Local, Shop Local: Six more businesses joined this library-powered program — flash your library card for perks and keep your dollars in town.
 👉 Read about the program

🔹 POD Office Hours for seniors: Wednesday Nov 12, 11:00 AM–1:00 PM at Virginia Avenue Park — bilingual staff available for assistance.

🏛️ What I’m Pressing For

🔹 Cleaner business corridors: Downtown structures are now on a 5-day power-wash rotation; I’ve asked staff to expand washing to other business districts and bring back a citywide plan.

🔹 Sidewalk health + access: I’ve requested a discussion on expanding our sit/lie ordinance citywide so storefronts stay accessible and we address chronic sanitation issues with compassion and consistency.

🔹 Tenant dignity during rehab: I’m in direct contact with residents at Virginia Ave. Apartments and sharing concerns with our HHS team for follow-up and accountability.

📅 Dates & Community Events

🔹 Veterans Day Ceremony — Tues, Nov 11 • 11:00 AM • Santa Monica Pier
 Let’s honor service and sacrifice together — hope to see you there! Showing up for them says a simple thank you for how much they’ve shown up and sacrificed for us.
 👉 View ceremony details

🔹 Crafting Change at Patagonia — Thurs, Nov 13 • evening • 3rd St Promenade
 A sustainability-meets-creativity night with community partners.
 👉 View the post (Instagram)

🔹 Move with the Mayor — Pilates for a Cause — Sat, Nov 15 • 9:00 AM • Shore Hotel
 Come move, connect, and support a good cause. Please join me! Let’s get physical for good.

🔹 Main Street Farmers Market — Sun, Nov 16 • 8:30 AM–1:30 PM
 I’ll be out in the morning — come say hi and tell me what’s working (or not) on your block. I’m shopping local, here for you, and listening to you.
 👉 View market info

🔹 Volunteer: St. Monica’s Thanksgiving Dinner (day before Thanksgiving)
 This beautiful annual effort serves ~1,000 neighbors with meals, services, clothing, haircuts, and more. I’ll be there — join me. Let’s show gratitude for all we’ve got by giving to others.
 👉 Volunteer for Thanksgiving Dinner

🏛️ What’s Coming to City Council

🔹 Tue, Nov 18 — Regular Meeting (includes a Structure-of-Merit appeal at 1125 18th St and recognitions for Transgender Awareness Week and World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims).

🔹 Tue, Dec 9 — Meeting (Mayor/Mayor Pro Tem transition)

It’s been an honor serving as your Mayor this past year!

🪴 Morning with the Mayor — Thank You

🔹 Community Garden recap (Nov 8): Big turnout, bigger smiles. We swapped gardening tips, collected socks for neighbors experiencing homelessness, and talked climate stewardship. Briana — keep asking those policy questions! Boy Scouts — your community-build in the garden’s center is a great example of “doers” making space for connection.

📱 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 on Instagram

🌟 Closing Thought

Leadership isn’t about being the loudest voice — it’s about doing the steady, sometimes unglamorous work that moves a city forward.

I’ll keep showing up, listening, and fighting for common-sense progress: clean and welcoming streets, a stronger local economy, and safety with compassion. Hit reply and tell me what you’re seeing and thinking — I read it all, and it shapes what I press for next.

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
Mayor, City of Santa Monica