Written Comments — Santa Monica City Council, October 28, 2025

1 David Yakobson
From: SM Renters Rights <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2025 1:30 PM
To: Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; councilmtgitems
Cc: [email protected]; Mike Soloff
Subject: From SMRR re Item 11A
Attachments: 251028 SMRR on Item 11A Council Agenda 10-28-25.pdf

EXTERNAL
Please find attached the comments of Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights Executive Committee regarding Agenda Item 11.A on tonight’s City Council Agenda. PLEASE BE SURE TO PRINT THE ATTACHMENT AND INCLUDE IT IN THE PUBLIC COMMENTS. Thank you.

Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
October 28, 2025
Dear Mayor and Councilmembers:

The SMRR Executive Committee has preliminarily reviewed the Staff Report for Item 11-A on tonight’s agenda, which came out late last Thursday afternoon. We applaud the effort to develop a strategic plan, and look forward to hearing more regarding the details behind the various proposals including the rent registry, and to a robust community conversation about the proposed plan and its details.

As a preliminary matter, SMRR agrees with the City’s goal to rebuild its financial reserves, and seeks confirmation that the City includes within this goal the repayment of the more than $40 million the City took or diverted from the Housing Trust Fund (which consisted of new tax money generated by 2016 Measure GS that the voters directed should be spent on affordable housing programs, including rent subsidy programs). SMRR also is open to the idea of generating funds using the public land identified, so long as the City is not backing away from its commitment in the Housing Element to create 331 deed-restricted affordable housing units using 4th & 5th and Arizona (alone or in connection with Parking Structure 1), and any other commitments in the Housing Element regarding affordable housing on these sites.

SMRR further shares the proposed goals of maintaining the Master Facilities Use agreement, stepping up code enforcement, and maintaining the City’s longstanding commitment to channel new development in the Downtown and along the boulevards so as to protect existing neighborhoods (including our rent controlled housing stock).

We look forward to further discussion and community participation.

Sincerely,
Denny Zane Mike Soloff
Co-Chair, Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights Co-Chair, Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
1 David Yakobson
From: Heather Thomason <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2025 12:00 PM
To: councilmtgitems; Oliver Chi; Lana Negrete; Dan Hall; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; Ellis Raskin
Subject: 11A(15)

EXTERNAL
Mayor Negrete and Council members,
I urge you to support and rigorously pursue the point on City Manager Chi’s plan for realignment that reads:
“Authorize staff to focus City housing development efforts in the Downtown core, and concurrently direct that staff initiate studies to identify policy options that do not jeopardize Housing Element certification and also ensures that future development on boulevards achieves compatibility with existing residential neighborhoods;”
I urge you and staff to use influence anyone may have with HCD and the state to grant us the leeway to pull Neighborhood Commercial zoning back down to a height that is truly compatible with the surrounding neighborhoods, as City Manager Chi has alluded to, and which residents in the surrounding neighborhoods approve as being acceptable.

I greatly appreciate City Manager Chi’s attention to this issue that residents have been asking about, and I thank him for this item.

Thank you,
Heather Thomason
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
2 David Yakobson
From: Cynthia Rose <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2025 12:01 PM
To: councilmtgitems; Council Mailbox; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; Dan Hall; Oliver Chi Cc: Anuj Gupta; Jason Kligier; Colleen E. Stoll; [email protected] Subject: Agenda item 11A: Opposition to Pausing TDM Survey Requirements for Businesses Attachments: 2025-10 SM Spoke SaMoSSA Oppose Pause TMO Survey .pdf

EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor Negrete, Mayor Pro Tem Torosis, City Council Members, and City Manager Chi:

On behalf ofSanta Monica Spoke (SM Spoke) and the Santa Monica Safe Streets Alliance (SaMoSSA), members of the GoSaMo TMO, please find our attached letter concerning agenda item 11A --
Cynthia Rose
Director
Santa Monica Spoke
SMSpoke.org
I acknowledge with respect and gratitude the Tongva, Kizh, and Chumash Peoples on whose traditional territory I live and work.

Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
3 David Yakobson
From: Dannie Charney <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2025 12:31 PM
To: councilmtgitems; [email protected]
Subject: Fwd: Agenda Item 11-A OPPOSE CHI'S PLAN

EXTERNAL
Mitchell - I forgot the Council Meeting Item email - lol please if you can grant me this exception - include it in the postings for the public -thank you
Danielle Charney
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Dannie Charney <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, Oct 28, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Subject: Agenda Item 11-A OPPOSE CHI'S PLAN
To: : councilmtgitems <[email protected]>, Lana Negrete <[email protected]>, Jesse Zwick <[email protected]>, Caroline Torosis <[email protected]>, Dan Hall <[email protected]>, Ellis Raskin <[email protected]>, Barry Snell <[email protected]>, Natalya Zernitskaya <[email protected]>, Oliver Chi <[email protected]>, Heidi von Tongeln <[email protected]>
I can't say it better than Tricia and Marc do: I oppose this plan which "sound good" with all the buzz words..but really offers no substance and just a whittling down of our little town whose uniqueness and beauty is already so badly diluted thanks to Gleam Davis, Stephanie Reich and all those who have supported turning us into a massive City.. I have never liked or trusted the vision or lack of it by our previous Council ( except Phil, Oscar and Christina, Lana ) who were never given a chance to do much. Now we have a Council installed by SMF to complete the ruin. Mr.Chi has no vision and just a long polished line of mealy mouthed overly sweetened rah rah". Please send him packing. "Without any opportunity to engage the people of Santa Monica or to allow them to provide input, City Manager Oliver Chi has assembled his “Santa Monica Realignment Plan” and placed it on this Tuesday's City Council Agenda (Item 11-A.)
As Marc Verville, the former chair of the City’s Audit Subcommittee has noted, despite media descriptions to the contrary, this “Plan” is simply a repackaging of existing policies and provides no Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
A community group dedicated
to biking and walking in Santa Monica.

Working to make the
City of Santa Monica a
more sustainable,
bikeable & walkable place to live, work and play.

October 28, 2025

RE: Opposition to Pausing TDM Survey Requirements for Businesses — Agenda Item No. 11A, City Council Regular Meeting 10/28/2025

Dear Mayor Negrete, Mayor Pro Tem Torosis, City Council Members, and City Manager Chi:

On behalf ofSanta Monica Spoke (SM Spoke) and the Santa Monica Safe Streets Alliance (SaMoSSA), members of the GoSaMo TMO, we write to acknowledge the City’s Realignment Plan as a significant effort in setting forth policies and programs that can move the City in a direction of rebuilding its fiscal resources. We must, however, question a proposed pause of the Transportation Demand Management (TDM) survey requirements for businesses under the Santa Monica Realignment Plan’s Recommendation No. 16.

Strategic choices are essential and due care and diligence must be taken not to undercut the very policies and programs that have systematically advanced our promoting sustainable transportation, reducing traffic congestion, and supporting climate action goals. Santa Monica’s TDM ordinance plays a vital role in facilitating business employers’ responsible commuting practices that align with the business community’s long-term success. The survey also promotes education about potential transportation possibilities.

Our City’s effort, with Council’s expectations, to use evidence-based best practices relies on good data.

What the City measures has immense value. As Santa Monica works toward being a less car-dependent city, the TDM survey requirement is a key tool for collecting data on commuting patterns, measuring Average Vehicle Ridership (AVR), and identifying opportunities to reduce single-occupancy vehicle trips.

Even throughout the pandemic the survey, although we altered it slightly, still provided essential measurement for good, continual data. Pausing these requirements now would undermine the City’s ability to monitor and enforce its TDM goals, especially as businesses stabilize post-pandemic. Keeping the clear, uninterrupted, regular TDM survey as the baseline is necessary for businesses to know the parameters and rules to carry out good work. The survey process ensures accountability and provides the data needed to evaluate the effectiveness of TDM strategies. Without it, the City would be sliding backward, losing momentum on improvements and achievements and would risk losing relationships with employers that are contributing to the reduction of transportation-related emissions and congestion. Shifting the TDM legal obligations is unwarranted and, frankly, dangerous at a time when global warming has hit new highs.

As The The Global Tipping Points Report 2025 declares, “The world has entered a new reality.

Global warming will soon exceed 1.5°C. This puts humanity in the danger zone where multiple climate tipping points pose catastrophic risks to billions of people.” Santa Monica’s Climate Action and Adaptation goals are serious obligations requiring an overarching alignment that our City has sought diligently to heed. The TDM survey helps us track the means of transportation that can reduce our GHG emissions and lead us toward a less car-dependent future. In fact, Santa Monica’s TDM survey contributes to a positive tipping point that is profoundly needed. With the City and the GoSaMo TMO, Spoke and SaMoSSA have created many ways for residents, students Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
and neighbors to reduce car-use as a primary means of travel, and the TDM survey helps assure that businesses also have the tools to do their part.

Moreover, the City has made efforts to streamline compliance and support businesses through resources like the GoSaMo TMO. These tools make it easier for employers to meet their obligations and participate meaningfully in the City’s mobility initiatives.

We urge the Council to maintain the TDM survey requirements and continue leading by example in sustainable transportation. A pause would have us moving backward at a time when data-driven decision-making is more important than ever for us to advance our climate leadership and goals and the role that businesses are taking in accomplishing those. Thank you for making sure that our local Alignment Plan is in sync with climate realities and resilience and the walkable, bikeable city we aspire to be.

Sincerely,
Cynthia Rose
Director, Santa Monica Spoke Cris Gutierrez
Co-Chair, Santa Monica Safe Street Alliance Co-Chair, Santa Monica Safe Streets Alliance SMSpoke.org
SaMoSafeStreets.org
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
4 new initiatives that will actually turn the city’s visitor-based economy around. He points out that the major revenue initiative in the “Plan” is the one-time sale of City assets. There are no proposals to increase ongoing City revenues. Initiatives to revitalize the declining heart of the city’s economic activity, downtown, seem to focus on landscaping. The only new ongoing revenue, Verville points out, is a proposed parcel tax which, critically, does not rely on creating improved economic activity.

Oddly, the “Plan” mentions monthly music activation on the Promenade and the development of a large-scale Santa Monica Music Festival while being entirely silent on the ideal destination venue for this revenue-generating entertainment genre, the Civic Auditorium. Mr. Chi’s “Plan” is much more specific on the increases in City costs, including more hiring, than it is on jump-starting the visitor economy, Verville observes.

We are concerned that the Plan was posted in the Council Agenda on Thursday, Oct. 23, without first holding a Study Session to allow the people of Santa Monica to comment on its implications. Was City Manager Chi rushing to advance his Plan because he feared it would not withstand public scrutiny?
We would like to know what the Plan is if the people of our city don’t support another parcel tax? There are sweeteners in the Chi Plan, including more access to our libraries and increased Code Enforcement, but neither moves the needle in either direction.

The City Manager was quoted in an article in The Planning Report on October 17 as saying, “What gives me optimism is that our City Council understands the urgency and is united around this direction. Yes, the full Realignment Plan will go before the Council and community on October 28, and I’m confident we’re ready to move from diagnosis to execution.” Danielle Charney
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
5 David Yakobson
From: SM Renters Rights <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2025 1:49 PM
To: Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; councilmtgitems
Cc: [email protected]; Mike Soloff
Subject: CORRECTION Re: From SMRR re Item 11A
Attachments: 251028 SMRR on Item 11A Council Agenda 10-28-25 FINAL.pdf

EXTERNAL
CORRECTION: Please use this attached version from SMRR, labeled Final, in the record. Not the previous version. Please see attached. Thank you!
On Oct 28, 2025, at 1:30 PM, SM Renters Rights <[email protected]> wrote:

Please find attached the comments of Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights Executive Committee regarding Agenda Item 11.A on tonight’s City Council Agenda. PLEASE BE SURE TO PRINT THE ATTACHMENT AND INCLUDE IT IN THE PUBLIC COMMENTS. Thank you.

Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
6 David Yakobson
From: Council Mailbox
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2025 5:13 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: FW: Strong Support for the City Manager’s Realignment Plan – A Needed Step Toward Revitalization
From: Peter Trinh <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2025 1:36 PM
To: Lana Negrete <[email protected]>; Jesse Zwick <[email protected]>; Caroline Torosis <[email protected]>; Ellis Raskin <[email protected]>; Barry Snell <[email protected]>; Natalya Zernitskaya <[email protected]>; Dan Hall <[email protected]>
Cc: Oliver Chi <[email protected]>; Peter James <[email protected]>; Council Mailbox <[email protected]>
Subject: Strong Support for the City Manager’s Realignment Plan – A Needed Step Toward Revitalization

EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor Negrete and Councilmembers:

I want to express my strong support for City Manager Oliver Chi’s Realignment Plan. What he’s outlined isn’t just another report — it’s a necessary reset for Santa Monica. Our city has been through some tough years, and it’s clear we’re at a crossroads. This plan moves us in the right direction: toward safety, cleanliness, revitalization, and a renewed sense of pride in our community.

As someone deeply involved in Santa Monica’s hospitality and entertainment economy — from the Pier and Promenade to pop-up festivals and local collaborations — I see firsthand both the challenges and the potential. We need this kind of bold, coordinated effort to restore public confidence, attract visitors, and support local businesses that make Santa Monica vibrant.

I especially support the focus on:
 Strengthening public safety and restoring a clean, welcoming environment;  Expanding and supporting entertainment zones and cultural activations that bring energy back to our streets;
 Cutting unnecessary red tape so small businesses can open, grow, and hire faster;  Leveraging city-owned properties and public spaces to create a more dynamic, sustainable local economy.

Santa Monica works best when public and private sectors pull in the same direction — and this plan creates a foundation for exactly that. The business and creative community are ready to do our part.

Let’s move forward with this vision and show that revitalization is possible when leadership, accountability, and creativity align.

Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
7 Thank you for your leadership and for taking this plan seriously. I urge you to adopt it and move swiftly to implement it.

Best regards,
Peter TRINH
Santa Monica Local & Local Business Owner
Hospitality • Entertainment • Community Development
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
8 David Yakobson
From: Ryland Bacorn <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2025 5:19 PM
To: Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya
Cc: councilmtgitems
Subject: Vote Yes to revive our local economy!

EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor Negrete and City Councilmembers,
I hope tonight you vote to enact a stronger police presence in our city. It has finally come to vote whether or not better equipped and incentivized law enforcement personnel will support the economic prosperity of this great city. I hope you do the right thing.

I am also writing to express my profound frustration regarding the recurring pattern of the Santa Monica City Council to only consider decisive action on law enforcement when faced with a financial emergency, and when this action is presented by the City Manager. It is deeply disappointing that an emergency is often required for the Council to understand and enact policies that support public safety.

It appears that a significant amount of time and effort is often spent on appearing helpful rather than on practical solutions to pressing city issues. Many of the challenges our city faces, particularly in terms of safety and order, could be significantly mitigated if we had a more robust and enabled police force. This includes ensuring police officers are empowered to enforce laws effectively and that there are clear incentives for them to do so. Simply defining law enforcement as their job clearly appears to be insufficient in motivating the consistent and proactive enforcement that our community needs.

I urge the members of our city leadership to recognize the fundamental principle that incentives drive action. Implementing policies that properly incentivize our police officers to enforce laws will undoubtedly lead to a safer and more orderly Santa Monica for all residents.

Sincerely,
Ryland
Sunset Park
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
1 David Yakobson
From: Daniel Galamba <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2025 10:53 AM
To: councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Jesse Zwick; Caroline Torosis; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; Oliver Chi
Subject: October 28, 2025 City Council Agenda Item 11-A

EXTERNAL
Dear City Council,
I agree with the letter below from Northeast Neighbors. Especially the part:

While the report acknowledges “disorder, homelessness, and economic contraction” there is no plan to seriously tackle the homeless problem, which is a key driver of the wholesale visitor and retailer abandonment of the city. As it stands today, the homeless demographic constitutes 70% of all SMPD arrests, totaling approximately 2,000 per year, a rate that has remained consistent since at least 2019.

Given the severity and the consequences of the homeless problem, that should be front and center and yet all that we see in the Plan are general comments with no commitments. There is mention of moving Samoshel homeless facility out of downtown, but no mention where it will be relocated. There is mention of coordinating with the County some change to the current Expo Line end of the line problem where homeless people are required to exit the train nightly into downtown Santa Monica. There is no mention of the urgent need to end this practice.

Unless the problems of homelessness and crime are resolved first then there will not be any recovery to our City.

People do not want to visit or shop in a place where homelessness and crime are a problem. Homelessness and crime are not problems in Manhattan Beach, Newport Beach and Beverly Hills and we must make sure they aren't problems here in Santa Monica. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Dr Daniel Galamba
________________________________________
From: Tricia Crane <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2025 11:25 AM
To: Tricia Crane
Subject: City Manager Oliver Chi’s “Realignment Plan" for Santa Monica - Sell City land? Tax the residents? Council Agenda Item 11-A (11/28/2025)
Subject: Council Agenda Item 11-A (11/28/2025) City Manager Oliver Chi’s “Realignment Plan" for Santa Monica - Sell City land? Tax the residents?
To: councilmtgitems <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>, Lana Negrete <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>, Jesse Zwick <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>, Caroline Torosis <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>, Dan Hall <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>, Ellis Raskin <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>, Barry Snell <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>, Natalya Zernitskaya <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>, Oliver Chi Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
2 <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>, Heidi von Tongeln <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> To: Mayor Negrete and members of the Santa Monica City Council From: The Board of Northeast Neighbors
Re: City Council Agenda Item 11-A, Council meeting of Oct. 28, 2025 Without any opportunity to engage the people of Santa Monica or to allow them to provide input, City Manager Oliver Chi has assembled his “Santa Monica Realignment Plan” and placed it on this Tuesday's City Council Agenda (Item 11-A.)
As Marc Verville, the former chair of the City’s Audit Subcommittee has noted, despite media descriptions to the contrary, this “Plan” is simply a repackaging of existing policies and provides no new initiatives that will actually turn the city’s visitor-based economy around. He points out that the major revenue initiative in the “Plan” is the one-time sale of City assets. There are no proposals to increase ongoing City revenues. Initiatives to revitalize the declining heart of the city’s economic activity, downtown, seem to focus on landscaping. The only new ongoing revenue, Verville points out, is a proposed parcel tax which, critically, does not rely on creating improved economic activity.

We are concerned that the Plan was posted in the Council Agenda on Thursday, Oct. 23, without first holding a Study Session to allow the people of Santa Monica to comment on its implications. Was City Manager Chi rushing to advance his Plan because he feared it would not withstand public scrutiny? We would like to know what the Plan is if the people of our city don’t support another parcel tax? There are sweeteners in the Chi Plan, including more access to our libraries and increased Code Enforcement, but neither moves the needle in either direction.

The City Manager was quoted in an article in The Planning Report on October 17 as saying, “What gives me optimism is that our City Council understands the urgency and is united around this direction. Yes, the full Realignment Plan will go before the Council and community on October 28, and I’m confident we’re ready to move from diagnosis to execution.”
While the report acknowledges “disorder, homelessness, and economic contraction” there is no plan to seriously tackle the homeless problem, which is a key driver of the wholesale visitor and retailer abandonment of the city. As it stands today, the homeless demographic constitutes 70% of all SMPD arrests, totaling approximately 2,000 per year, a rate that has remained consistent since at least 2019.

In the section titled “Land-Asset Strategy to Replenish Cash Reserves” Chi reports that the Plan calls for the sale of City owned land downtown, including:
• 4th/5th/Arizona: 2.57 acres
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
3 • Kiss-and-Ride Lot: 1.09 acres
• Parking Structure 1: 0.75 acres
• Old Fire Station 1: 0.34 acres
Chi states “If we advance the correct strategy in developing the four above identified properties, the City could reasonably expect to create $100 - $200 million in value, which would facilitate rebuilding the City’s cash reserve levels back towards the $200–$300 million range by 2028” Advancing the sale of these valuable City assets could be an indicator that the City’s financial situation is even worse than the public understands.

The proposals to sell Parking Structure 1 and rely on a parcel tax indicate that the City appears to be walking away from any intention of revitalizing the commercial economy. Given the growing structural deficit, this is not sustainable on a long-term basis. Where is the Plan to revitalize ongoing commercially-driven income streams to revitalize City finances and keep pace with inflation-driven City costs? If Chi wanted to be transparent, he would have included a table in the staff report that showed the proposed ongoing revenue and cost increases. Instead, we all are left to guess. Given our increasingly dire financial situation, the people of Santa Monica deserve a real accounting from Chi.

Below is the link to the Agenda item. Read it and weep. https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://santamonicacityca.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=1455__;!!Of uUnHCITYtmmjM!vYuKUfjYkVjyg8bmEIXZW0kAFJsccHF74IWWYG6EHA7T4Ca8PGrUmExCeRZ-_6RnN4- XH2JtHSZH9IVZAMyTXKfl9HCEVts$
The Board of Northeast Neighbors
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
4 David Yakobson
From: Jon Katz <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2025 10:51 AM
To: councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; Oliver Chi
Subject: ITEM 11A - SUPPORT

EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor Negrete, Mayor Pro Tempore Torosis, City Manager Chi, and Councilmembers:

Writing here as an individual and not in my capacity with any local organization, I want to express my strong support for the Santa Monica Realignment Plan AKA the “Renaissance Plan” for our city. While neither the Santa Monica Democratic Club nor its Executive Board have had the chance to review this proposal in a formal capacity, I have had the chance to read the plan myself and believe it is exactly in line with the organization's long-standing priorities.

Over the past several years, Santa Monica has faced extraordinary challenges including economic instability, rising homelessness, and declining civic confidence. This plan represents a comprehensive, progressive roadmap for renewal that delivers on the promises many of you ran and won on: rebuilding a fairer, more livable, and economically sustainable Santa Monica rooted in compassion, equity, and community well-being.

I see this plan as a clear enactment of progressive Democratic values in practice. It couples fiscal discipline with social investment, revitalizing our city while expanding fairness, housing opportunity, and shared prosperity. These are our Santa Monica Values.

Key progressive achievements in this plan include:
 The new rental housing registry, which brings transparency and accountability to thousands of nonrent-controlled units in Santa Monica. This is a major step toward housing justice: ensuring tenants’ rights are protected, rents are tracked, and policy is informed by real data. It aligns Santa Monica with Democratic Party priorities for responsible housing oversight and tenant protection.  The vacant property registration program, which discourages speculation and blight while encouraging the productive use of existing housing stock, a cornerstone of sustainable, equitable urban policy.
 Reduced parklet and sidewalk dining fees for local restaurants, which will sustain small businesses and neighborhood vitality by making it easier for our restaurants to thrive. Outdoor dining may have started as a Covid-era adjustment, but it has become a reflection of our city’s culture of openness, sustainability, and street life. Lowering these barriers to participation helps protect local jobs and preserves Santa Monica’s creative, small-business spirit.  The “healing center” model for homeless services, which moves us away from temporary warehousing toward a compassionate and practical integrated approach grounded in mental health, addiction treatment, and long-term stability.
 The plan’s labor equity provisions, such as closing benefit gaps for non-sworn staff and prioritizing workforce wellness. These are strong pro-labor reforms that embody Democratic Party principles of fairness, dignity, and respect for public workers.

Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
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5  A continued commitment to green infrastructure, Vision Zero safety upgrades, and urban forest restoration, all consistent with Santa Monica’s national leadership in climate action and environmental stewardship.

Together, these policies form a blueprint for progressive governance that does not pit fiscal responsibility against social progress, but treats them as mutually reinforcing. By investing in our people, our neighborhoods, and our small businesses, this plan builds a stronger and more equitable foundation for the city’s next generation. This is exactly why we worked so hard over the last two election cycles so that you could enact this kind of agenda.

I want to commend the Council and City Manager Chi for advancing this ambitious and balanced framework. It reflects the spirit of shared purpose that defines Santa Monica at its best. I urge its full adoption and rapid implementation, so that we can truly achieve the renaissance our community deserves.

With gratitude for your leadership and service,
--
Jon Katz | Santa Monica resident, 15 years
[email protected]
cell: (215) 962-4357
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
1 David Yakobson
From: Jon Farzam <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2025 6:39 PM
To: Council Mailbox; councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya
Subject: Please Support Mayor Negrete and the Realignment Plan

EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor and Councilmembers,
As a Santa Monica business owner and manager, I want to express my strong support for the Realignment Plan and for City Manager Oliver Chi’s leadership in working collaboratively with Mayor Lana Negrete to advance these efforts.

Many in the business community remember that in 2022, then Councilmember Negrete worked closely with local restaurant owners and managers to address issues critical to our survival. This included streamlining outdoor dining permits, reducing unnecessary fees, and challenging burdensome wastewater charges. She organized meetings, listened to our concerns about the parklet program, and ensured we were heard by City leadership.

We appreciate that the City Manager’s Office is building on the work Mayor Negrete started. Her experience as a longtime local business owner gives her an informed and valuable understanding of what our business community needs.

We see her dedication to supporting small businesses, improving public safety, keeping our streets clean, and strengthening our local economy. I encourage the full Council to support this partnership and the Realignment Plan that aligns City leadership with the needs of our community.

With appreciation,
Jon Farzam
Chief Executive Officer
Shore Hotel | Santa Monica Hotel | Ocean View Hotel
D 310.656.4530
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
2 E [email protected]
A 1515 Ocean Ave. Santa Monica, CA 90401
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Shore Hotel Logo
To help protect your privacy, Microsoft Office prevented automatic download of this picture from the Internet.

Santa Monica Hotel Logo
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October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
3 David Yakobson
From: Ted Winterer <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2025 6:44 PM
To: Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Natalya Zernitskaya; Barry Snell; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin
Cc: Oliver Chi; Susan Cline; councilmtgitems
Subject: 10/28/25 Council agenda item 11 Realignment Plan

EXTERNAL
Councilmembers,
I am writing on behalf of the Executive Committee of Community for Excellent Public Schools (CEPS).

While we have not had sufficient time to ponder all of the details of what will be before you tomorrow evening, we support the five strategic priorities identified in your report.

Of course we very much endorse extending beyond 2028 the sharing with SMMUSD of the revenue generated by the two sales tax measures, approved in the past by voters with advisory measures indicating citizen support for the split between the City and the school district of those funds.

We also support efforts to generate a dedicated revenue stream for the current allotment of approximately $12M per year to our schools through the original Master Facilities Use Agreement
All these dollars directed to SMMUSD for its operational expenses are critical to the continued excellence of our public schools. And, as I have reminded you in the past, the quality of our public education is reflected in our real estate values. Property taxes are the only City revenue source which has increased rather than declined in recent Item 11-A
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4 years, so these funds are a sound investment in the future of both our children and our city.

Finally, I should note that we heard a presentation from staff on the proposed parking fee update last summer and, while we did not take a vote of our Steering Committee on the matter, there was little if any dissent about this particular proposal to enhance City revenues.

We wish you the best in your ongoing efforts to restore the City of Santa Monica's reputation and fiscal health.

Regards,
Ted Winterer
Chair, Community for Excellent Public Schools
--
Ted Winterer
Realtor @Compass, 2115 Main Street Santa Monica
"Most Loved Real Estate Agent 2025," Santa Monica Daily Press DRE #02047989
To help protect your privacy, Microsoft Office prevented automatic download of this picture from the Internet.

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5 David Yakobson
From: Ann Hoover <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2025 7:06 PM
To: Oliver Chi; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Dan Hall; Jesse Zwick; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; Ellis Raskin; councilmtgitems
Subject: October 28, 2025 - Item 11A - Realignment Plan - City Parcel Tax / Joint Use Agreement(s)

EXTERNAL
The parcel tax is a terrible idea & extending the JUA(s) without substantial review first is irresponsible.

The school district needs to stop eating up green grass, trees & open spaces on its campuses with large new buildings & artificial turf. School campus fields, playgrounds, blacktops & open spaces are part of the City’s parks system during non-school hours, weekends, holidays, & breaks.

This was a customary use for decades that later was formalized & memorialized in the JUAs.

But the school district has been systematically shrinking and/or destroying these public park assets with the community paying the price & losing out. If SMMUSD keeps doing this the City should pay less under the Joint Use Agreement(s). The City probably should be paying less already under that agreement(s).

JUAs should be reviewed in detail before any extension. District likely is not delivering the same benefit of the bargain as before.

Please undertake the work necessary to review & understand these before rubber-stamping an extension. And no parcel tax, please.

Sent from my iPhone
> On Oct 27, 2025, at 9:28 PM, Ann Hoover <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Dear Mr. Chi -
>
> Why is this a Staff Administrative item?
>
> This should be a Study Session Item with opportunity for lots of public input after the big reveal. >
> You’ve completely skipped a step in the public process! >
> Sincerely,
> Ann Bowman
> Resident, 29 years
>
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
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6 David Yakobson
From: Jeff Snyder <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2025 7:48 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: Opposition to Pausing TDM Survey Requirements for Businesses

EXTERNAL
Jeffrey R Snyder
Current Private Sector Employee in Santa Monica
Former Santa Monica Transportation Specialist
[email protected], cell: 213-300-8107
October 28, 2025
To:

Santa Monica City Council
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Subject: Opposition to Pausing TDM Survey Requirements for Businesses — Agenda Item No. 11A, City Council Regular Meeting 10/28/2025
Dear Councilmembers,
I am writing to express my opposition to the proposed pause of Transportation Demand Management (TDM) survey requirements for businesses under the Santa Monica Realignment Plan (Recommendation No. 16), as outlined in Staff Report #7381.

Santa Monica’s TDM ordinance plays a vital role in promoting sustainable transportation, reducing traffic congestion, and supporting climate action goals. The survey requirement is a key tool for collecting data on commuting patterns, measuring Average Vehicle Ridership (AVR), and identifying opportunities to reduce singleoccupancy vehicle trips.

Pausing these requirements would undermine the City’s ability to monitor and enforce its TDM goals, especially as businesses stabilize post-pandemic. The survey process ensures accountability and provides the data needed to evaluate the effectiveness of TDM strategies. Without it, the City risks losing visibility into how employers are contributing to the reduction of transportation-related emissions and congestion.

I urge the Council to maintain the TDM survey requirements and continue leading by example in sustainable transportation. A pause would be a step backward at a time when data-driven decision-making is more important than ever.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Jeffrey R Snyder
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From: Nikki Kolhoff
To: councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Natalya Zernitskaya; Barry Snell; Ellis Raskin; Oliver Chi
Subject: 10/28/25 agenda item 11-A -- Santa Monica Realignment Plan - OPPOSE Date: Tuesday, October 28, 2025 10:19:01 AM

EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor Negrete and City Council -
This item is an insult to the people of Santa Monica. Neither Oliver Chi nor the Council majority know best. And they shouldn't attempt to realign our entire city government and approach without the people. But this is par for the course coming from our authoritarian council who doesn't value public input and has only worked to limit public engagement since they took office - all to push through market rate housing density.

Stop this nonsense and create a public process to gather input of the residents and real data on what works and what doesn't. Hatching a plan behind closed doors is unacceptable.

On the other hand, you continue to validate my No Kings signs.

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Regards,
Nikki Kolhoff
Santa Monica Resident and Voter
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8 David Yakobson
From: Council Mailbox
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2025 8:29 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: FW: Support for Realignment Plan of City Manager From: Tudor, Lucian <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, October 27, 2025 2:24 PM
To: Council Mailbox <[email protected]>; Lana Negrete <[email protected]>; Lana Negrete <[email protected]>; Jesse Zwick <[email protected]>; Natalya Zernitskaya <[email protected]>; Barry Snell <[email protected]>; Caroline Torosis <[email protected]>; Dan Hall <[email protected]>; Ellis Raskin <[email protected]>; Santa Monica City Manager's Office <[email protected]>; Toru Toyokawa <[email protected]>
Subject: Support for Realignment Plan of City Manager

EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor and Councilmembers,
As a proud Santa Monica business owner and operator, I want to enthusiastically voice my full support for the Realignment Plan and express my deep appreciation for the visionary leadership of City Manager Oliver Chi and Mayor Lana Negrete.

It’s incredibly exciting to see our city embracing innovation, collaboration, and real community engagement. The forward-thinking leadership of City Manager Chi, working hand in hand with Mayor Negrete, is exactly what Santa Monica needs to build a future where businesses and residents thrive together.

Many of us still remember 2022, when then Councilmember Negrete rolled up her sleeves and worked directly with local businesses during a truly difficult time. She didn’t just listen, she acted. From simplifying the outdoor dining permit process, eliminating burdensome fees, and fighting against unfair wastewater charges, to personally bringing our concerns into the City Manager’s Office, she made sure we were heard. That kind of leadership left a lasting impact.

Now, seeing that same energy and commitment being elevated by the City Manager’s Office is incredibly reassuring. Mayor Negrete brings a grounded, real-world understanding as a longtime small business owner, and that shows in every decision and initiative she leads. From advocating for safer, cleaner streets to ensuring Santa Monica stays economically vibrant and welcoming, her efforts have been nothing short of inspiring.

We are truly lucky to have leadership that not only listens but takes bold steps to realign our city with the needs of the people and businesses who live and invest here. I sincerely hope the entire Council will Item 11-A
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9 support this direction, the Realignment Plan, and the continued leadership of those working to make Santa Monica stronger, more resilient, and more future-ready.

With appreciation and optimism,
Lucian Tudor
CEO
Global-Dining, Inc. of California
The linked image cannot be displayed. The file may have been moved, renamed, or deleted. Verify that the link points to the correct file and location. 1212 3rd Street Promenade
Santa Monica, CA, 90401
Phone: (310) 576-9996 FAX:1-310-576-9933
E-mail:[email protected] / URL: http://www.globaldiningca.com/ Item 11-A
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10 David Yakobson
From: Elizabeth Van Denburgh <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2025 12:15 AM
To: Lana Negrete; Barry Snell; Ellis Raskin; Natalya Zernitskaya; Dan Hall; Jesse Zwick; Caroline Torosis; councilmtgitems
Cc: Oliver Chi
Subject: City Council Mtg. - 10/28/25 agenda item 11A -- Santa Monica Realignment Plan

EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor Negrete and Council Members,
I am writing on behalf of the Wilmont Board to express our concerns regarding the recently presented “Realignment Plan.” The plan, which proposes significant changes to the future of our city, was introduced on Thursday afternoon with a Council vote scheduled for the following Tuesday—without adequate community outreach. This approach undermines the democratic process. Such a consequential proposal should have been presented during a Study Session, allowing for thorough public review and a later Council vote. While a study session was scheduled for neighborhood groups, the same consideration was not extended for a citywide review. We, the residents, are the city and its future.

If, as stated by the City Manager, the city is “confident we’re ready to move from diagnosis to execution,” then it would be prudent to focus on developing a robust implementation framework while continuing to discuss policy, program, and practice issues. For example, the Audit Subcommittee’s May 11, 2021 Permitting Efficiency report by Moss Adams LLP could serve as a template to assess improvements in permitting over the past four years and identify outstanding needs. Furthermore, limiting public comment to one minute on a 20- page plan is unacceptable and further diminishes public participation in the decision-making process.

The Wilmont Board supports the following sections of the plan:
 Re-opening Fairview and Ocean Park branch libraries for three days per week (currently “self-serve” only two days per week).
 Expanding Code Enforcement to 7 day coverage including nights.

The Wilmont Board opposes the following sections:

Item 11-A
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11  The proposed parcel tax of approximately $500 per year. Large parcels, such as the Fairmont Miramar, would pay the same amount as individual condominium owners, which is inherently unfair and a regressive tax. It is also unclear whether there would be exemptions for property owners over 65.  Relocating Samoshel from downtown without specifying the new location.  Maximizing revenues from city-owned land, including Parking Structure #1, 4th/5th & Arizona, and the Civic Auditorium. We are concerned that “maximizing revenue” may mean selling city land. Residents have demonstrated strong support for preserving the Civic Auditorium, as shown by 330 emails and 30 speakers advocating for the extension of the RPG Exclusive Negotiating Agreement. We strongly support the development of rational long-term revenue projects from this city-owned land and not the short-sighted sale of land. There is little clarity as to what the city views as revenue projects in the Realignment Plan vs. the detailed plan of estimated new costs. We could change our view with some actual details around revenue projects and what they will provide vs. detailing out additional costs for city improvements without outlining specifically where the revenue will come from. Otherwise, this is just piling on additional costs, including housing which is a financial net loss for the city, with no additional revenue except for the proposed parcel tax which is a regressive tax.  Strategic development of four downtown parcels. Does this include the Civic Auditorium, Belmar Park, and/or the multipurpose sports field? Residents wish to preserve and redevelop these assets as previously agreed.
 Allocating disproportionate SMPD resources to downtown at the expense of other neighborhoods.  Expanding Entertainment Zones to other BIDs (e.g., open-carry alcohol on Montana Avenue, Pico Blvd., and Main Street). Has data shown that revenue exceeds associated costs? Have merchants and residents been consulted about the impact on their neighborhoods? The Wilmont Board requests additional information and clarification on:
 The proposed citywide winter closure for non-sworn personnel, which would extend by two weeks. This closure reduces productivity and access to services. Why two weeks instead of one? What are the current vacation and holiday policies for non-sworn staff, including every other Friday off? What percentage of staff work from home, and for how many days? What is the calculated productivity of non-sworn staff, considering vacation, sick leave, closures, meetings, holidays, and other non-productive time? Labor is the largest expense in the city and the decision to reduce productive time is concerning.  The development of a vehicle habitation ordinance: What are the anticipated costs for safety staff, food, bathrooms, and other expenses, as seen in the San Diego example?  The rationale for amending the SMMC regarding registration of rental housing units not subject to local rent control. The referenced Attachment I pertains to amending the DCP and Gateway Plan, which does not clarify this issue.
 The Council’s continued focus on housing, despite the development and acceptance of the Housing Element. Why is additional market-rate housing being considered during a declared financial emergency, when housing does not generate sufficient revenue to cover associated costs and represents a financial net loss in land use?
 The lack of clear prioritization in Attachments I and M, which appear to disregard previous dialogue and effort regarding the DCP and city-owned land. What is the purpose of these resolutions in the context of the city’s financial crisis?
 The capital improvement program, which is outlined only for Downtown. Are there no capital improvements planned for other areas of the city in this budget cycle? If not, why? We urge the Council to address these concerns with a clear focus on revenue and costs and not politics. The survival of the city depends on such an approach, as outlined in the City Manager’s Executive Summary. Please work to ensure that residents have a meaningful opportunity to participate in shaping the future of our city and our lives.

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12 Sincerely,
Wilshire Montana Neighborhood Coalition
Board of Directors
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13 David Yakobson
From: Andrea Harmon <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2025 9:47 AM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: Letter - Agenda Item 11
Attachments: Letter of Opposition.docx

EXTERNAL
Hello,
AƩached is the leƩer re Agenda Item 11, Council MeeƟng 102825.

Thank you,
~Andrea
Andrea Harmon
Administrative Services Manager

[email protected]
D 310.557.7626 | M 310.430.5690
1301 Colorado Avenue
Santa Monica, CA 90404

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To:

Santa Monica City Council
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Re: Subject: Opposition to Pausing TDM Survey Requirements for Businesses — Agenda Item No. 11A, City Council Regular Meeting 10/28/2025
Dear Councilmembers:

I am writing to express my opposition to the proposed pause of Transportation Demand Management (TDM) survey requirements for businesses under the Santa Monica Realignment Plan (Recommendation No. 16), as outlined in Staff Report #7381.

While the TDM process is time-consuming, the new VMT requirement is an added burden, and completing the plan requires help from the city to figure out how to complete the process, Santa Monica’s TDM ordinance plays a vital role in promoting sustainable transportation, reducing traffic congestion, and supporting climate action goals. The survey requirement is a key tool for collecting data on commuting patterns, measuring Average Vehicle Ridership (AVR), and identifying opportunities to reduce singleoccupancy vehicle trips.

The City has made efforts to streamline compliance and support businesses through resources like the GoSaMo TMO. These tools make it easier for employers to meet their obligations and participate meaningfully in the City’s mobility initiatives.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Andrea Harmon
Administrative Services Manager
310.557.7626
document1
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20 David Yakobson
From: Dannie Charney <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2025 10:22 AM
To: councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Jesse Zwick; Caroline Torosis; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; Oliver Chi; Heidi von Tongeln Subject: Agenda Item 11-A OPPOSE CHI'S PLAN

EXTERNAL
I can't say it better than Tricia and Marc do: I oppose this plan which "sound good" with all the buzz words..but really offers no substance and just a whittling down of our little town whose uniqueness and beauty is already so badly diluted thanks to Gleam Davis, Stephanie Reich and all those who have supported turning us into a massive City.. I have never liked or trusted the vision or lack of it by our previous Council ( except Phil, Oscar and Christina, Lana ) who were never given a chance to do much. Now we have a Council installed by SMF to complete the ruin. Mr.Chi has no vision and just a long polished line of mealy mouthed overly sweetened rah rah". Please send him packing. "Without any opportunity to engage the people of Santa Monica or to allow them to provide input, City Manager Oliver Chi has assembled his “Santa Monica Realignment Plan” and placed it on this Tuesday's City Council Agenda (Item 11-A.)
As Marc Verville, the former chair of the City’s Audit Subcommittee has noted, despite media descriptions to the contrary, this “Plan” is simply a repackaging of existing policies and provides no new initiatives that will actually turn the city’s visitor-based economy around. He points out that the major revenue initiative in the “Plan” is the one-time sale of City assets. There are no proposals to increase ongoing City revenues. Initiatives to revitalize the declining heart of the city’s economic activity, downtown, seem to focus on landscaping. The only new ongoing revenue, Verville points out, is a proposed parcel tax which, critically, does not rely on creating improved economic activity.

We are concerned that the Plan was posted in the Council Agenda on Thursday, Oct. 23, without first holding a Study Session to allow the people of Santa Monica to comment on its implications. Was Item 11-A
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21 City Manager Chi rushing to advance his Plan because he feared it would not withstand public scrutiny?
We would like to know what the Plan is if the people of our city don’t support another parcel tax? There are sweeteners in the Chi Plan, including more access to our libraries and increased Code Enforcement, but neither moves the needle in either direction.

The City Manager was quoted in an article in The Planning Report on October 17 as saying, “What gives me optimism is that our City Council understands the urgency and is united around this direction. Yes, the full Realignment Plan will go before the Council and community on October 28, and I’m confident we’re ready to move from diagnosis to execution.” Danielle Charney
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22 David Yakobson
From: Ashley Oelsen <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2025 10:42 AM
To: Council Mailbox; councilmtgitems; Oliver Chi; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya Cc: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: Protecting Neighborhoods and Schools: Request for City Policy on Safe Siting Standards forBehavioral Health Housing

EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor Negrete, Members of the City Council, and City Manager Chi, On behalf of residents, business owners, and community advocates across Santa Monica, we want to express our gratitude to Mayor Lana Negrete for her leadership in seeking answers regarding the proposed bridge housing facilities at 413 and 825 Ocean Avenue. The County’s subsequent decision to terminate those projects reflects the importance of transparency, accountability, and partnership with our
local community.

That decision, however, also revealed a critical policy gap. Santa Monica currently has no local safeguards or zoning standards to prevent high-acuity behavioral health or interim housing facilities from being sited near schools, homes, or parks. This absence leaves every neighborhood vulnerable to future proposals that may bypass community awareness or oversight.

We strongly urge the City Council to take the lead in adopting a formal policy framework establishing clear siting and suitability standards for any County- or State-funded behavioral health or bridge housing programs within city limits. These standards should include:

1. Minimum distance requirements between such facilities and sensitive sites, including schools, childcare centers, and parks;

2. Mandatory community notification and engagement, with a minimum 60-day public comment period prior to approval;

3. City oversight of operator qualifications and security protocols to ensure neighborhood safety and program success; and

4. Collaboration with neighboring jurisdictions to develop consistent Westside regional guidelines for appropriate placements.

We support the City’s commitment to compassion and care for those experiencing homelessness and behavioral health crises. But compassion must go hand-in-hand with responsibility. Santa Monica can and should lead by example; setting policy that ensures these facilities are placed in clinically appropriate, well-supported, and safe environments, not adjacent to homes or schools.

By establishing clear guardrails now, Santa Monica can help restore public confidence, safeguard neighborhoods, and shape a countywide model rooted in both empathy and accountability.

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23 Respectfully,
Ashley Oelsen
Cc:

California State Senator Ben Allen
California Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur
Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health
Lindsey P. Horvath
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1 David Yakobson
From: Rebecca Davis <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2025 11:59 PM
To: Council Mailbox; councilmtgitems; Oliver Chi; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya Cc: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: Request for Transparent, Compassionate, and Measurable Implementation of the 2025–2030 Homelessness Strategic Plan

EXTERNAL

HOMELESS STRATEGIC PLAN
October 27, 2025
The Honorable Members of the Santa Monica City Council
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Dear Mayor Negrete, Honorable Councilmembers, and City Manager Chi, I am writing as a Santa Monica resident who cares deeply about our city’s wellbeing and the dignity and safety of every person who calls it home, housed or unhoused. I appreciate the City’s ongoing commitment to addressing homelessness with compassion and urgency.

However, as the City Council
prepares to discuss and adopt the 2025–2030 Homelessness Strategic Plan on October 28, I urge you to strengthen the plan so that it not only expands services but ensures accountability, measurable outcomes, and long-term success for those it intends to help.

Residents want to be constructive partners, not critics. We ask that the City commit to genuine public participation before major funding and implementation decisions are finalized. Santa Monica’s residents, businesses, and service providers all share the same goal, to see individuals stably housed, healthy, and supported. Transparent decision-making builds the trust needed to achieve that goal.

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2 * Housing retention rates at 6, 12, and 24 months
* Access to mental-health treatment and continuity of care * Employment and income benchmarks for program participants * Client feedback mechanisms to assess service quality and dignity of care A safe, healthy community benefits everyone, including our unhoused neighbors. The plan should include transparent public-safety and quality-of-life metrics, such as:
* Reductions in emergency service calls and repeat crises * Safe public-space access for all residents
* Supportive neighborhood engagement and response teams trained in de-escalation and care Given the scale of public investment, taxpayers deserve clarity on how funds are used and whether interventions produce sustainable results. We ask for comprehensive cost-benefit analyses, transparent budgeting, and quarterly public reporting on outcomes.

Homelessness is not unique to Santa Monica. We encourage the City to continue collaborating with the County and neighboring cities to ensure equitable service distribution and shared responsibility across the region.

Santa Monica has always been a city rooted in compassion and civic engagement. By improving transparency, accountability, and data-driven decision-making, we can strengthen public confidence and deliver meaningful progress for those most in need, while maintaining the wellbeing of our entire community.

Thank you for your service and for your continued commitment to solutions that are humane, transparent, and effective.

Respectfully,
Rebecca Davis
950 4th St. #210
Santa Monica, CA 90403
310-903-9162
[email protected]
cc:
·Mayor Lana Negrete and Santa Monica City Council
·Oliver Chi, Santa Monica City Manager
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3 ·California State Senator Ben Allen
·California Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur
·Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health
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4 David Yakobson
From: Dennis Ruben <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2025 6:49 AM
To: [email protected]
Cc: Council Mailbox; councilmtgitems; Oliver Chi; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: Next Steps for Safe and Suitable Behavioral Health Housing: Community Standards and Siting Criteria

EXTERNAL
October 28, 2025
The Honorable Lindsey P. Horvath
Chair, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
500 W. Temple Street, Room 383
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Re: Next Steps for Safe and Suitable Behavioral Health Housing: Community Standards and
Siting Criteria
Dear Supervisor Horvath,
On behalf of residents, business owners, and community advocates across Santa Monica and the Westside, we want to thank you for your decisive action in halting the proposed bridge housing facilities at 413 and 825 Ocean Avenue. Your leadership in recognizing that the process had eroded public trust was both necessary and appreciated.

This outcome, however, highlights a much larger issue that extends far beyond Ocean Avenue. The absence of consistent site-selection standards and community engagement protocols has created confusion, frustration, and fear in neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles County. We strongly urge the County to establish clear, evidence-based criteria to ensure that no future facility intended for individuals with serious mental illness or cooccurring substance use disorders is placed near schools, residential neighborhoods, or public recreation spaces.

We fully support the County’s commitment to compassionate care and recovery. But compassion must be paired with responsibility. The placement of high-acuity behavioral Item 11-A
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5 health facilities requires clinical oversight, security, and specialized infrastructure that typical neighborhood environments cannot
provide. Future projects must therefore meet measurable safety, operational, and community-impact standards before approval or funding.

We respectfully request that your office:

1.Develop and publish countywide siting criteria for all behavioral-health bridge or interim-housing programs, with minimum distance requirements from schools, parks, and dense residential areas.

2.Require comprehensive community notification and engagement at least 60 days prior to
site approval, including public meetings and disclosure of operator credentials, program scope, and funding source.

3.Ensure cross-departmental review and accountability, so that the Department of Mental
Health, Department of Public Health, and County Homeless Initiatives operate under a unified standard of transparency and oversight.

4.Engage a regional advisory coalition of residents, service providers, and local officials from affected Westside communities to shape long-term policy reforms.

Santa Monica stands ready to partner in building a framework that truly embodies both compassion and safety. We hope the County will seize this opportunity to set a new precedent; one that balances the urgent need for treatment and housing with the equally vital need to preserve public trust and community well-being.

Thank you again for your attention, responsiveness, and willingness to lead with integrity and
transparency.

Respectfully,
Dennis Ruben,
Ocean Ave
cc:

Mayor Lana Negrete and Santa Monica City Council
Oliver Chi, Santa Monica City Manager
California State Senator Ben Allen
California Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur
Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health
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1 David Yakobson
From: Aleese Orr <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2025 3:10 PM
To: Council Mailbox; councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; Oliver Chi Cc: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: Proposed 2025-2030 Homelessness Strategic Plan

EXTERNAL
The Honorable Members of the Santa Monica City Council
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Dear Mayor Negrete and Honorable Council Members,
I am writing to express serious concerns about the proposed 2025-2030 Homelessness Strategic Plan scheduled for discussion on October 28. While the plan outlines noble intentions, it fails to address several critical factors:

1. Tourism and Economic Impact: The plan contains no analysis of impacts on our tourism economy. We need metrics tracking visitor perception, hotel occupancy trends, and beach usage statistics.

2. Neighborhood Quality of Life: Housed residents deserve measurable commitments including specific targets for reducing encampments, park safety standards, and sidewalk clearance requirements.

3. Public Safety and Crime Data: Beyond vague "calls for service," we need comprehensive crime statistics, specific reduction targets, and clear enforcement protocols.

4. Complete Cost-Benefit Analysis: Taxpayers deserve transparency on total projected costs, cost per person served with success rates, and impacts on city services.

5. Measurable Outcomes for Homeless Individuals: The plan must include housing retention benchmarks, job placement targets, health outcome metrics, and long-term tracking.

Specific Requests:

1. Postpone adoption pending incorporation of these assessments

2. Establish a working group including businesses, residents, and tourism stakeholders

3. Implement pilot programs with success metrics before full rollout Respectfully,
Aleese Orr
308 Alta Ave, Santa Monica 90402
[email protected]
cc:
· Mayor Lana Negrete and Santa Monica City Council
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2 · Oliver Chi, Santa Monica City Manager
· California State Senator Ben Allen
· California Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur
· Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health
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3 David Yakobson
From: Patricia Gonzalez <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2025 3:32 PM
To: Council Mailbox; councilmtgitems; Oliver Chi; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya Cc: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: Request for Transparent, Compassionate, and Measurable Implementation of the 2025-2030 Homelessness Strategic Plan

EXTERNAL
Dear Mayro Negrete, Honorable Councilmembers, and City Manager Chi, I am writing as a Santa Monic resident who cares deeply about our city’s wellbeing and the dignity and safety of every person who call it home, housed or unhoused. I appreciate the City’s ongoing commitment to addressing homelessness with compassion and urgency. However, as the City Council prepares to discuss and adopt the 2025-2030 Homelessness Strategic Plan on October 28, I urge you to strengthen the plan so that it not only expands services but ensures accountability, measurable outcomes, and long-term success for those it intends to help.

We fully support a compassionate approach to homelessness, but compassion must be coupled with clear data-driven metrics to evaluate what’s working. The current plan would benefit from measurable standards such as”
 Housing retention rates at 6, 12, and 24 months
 Access to mental-health treatment and continuity of care  Employment and income benchmarks for program participants  Client feedback mechanisms to assess service quality and dignity of car A safe healthy community benefits everyone, including out unhoused neighbors. The plan should include transparent public-safety and quality-of-life metrics, such as:
 Reductions in emergency service calls and repeat crises  Safe public-space access for all residents
 Supportive neighborhood engagement and response teams trained to de-escalation and care Given the scale of public investment, taxpayers deserve clarity on how funds are used and whether intervention produce sustainable results. We ask for comprehensive cost-benefit analyses, transparent budgeting, and quarterly public reporting on outcomes.

Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
4 Homelessness is not unique to Santa Monica. We encourage the City to continue collaborating with the County and neighboring cities to ensure equitable service distribution and shared responsibility across the region.

Thank you for your service and for your continued commitment to solutions that are humane, transparent and effective.

Respectfully,
Brian Weitman
210 23rd Street, Santa Monica, CA 90402
[email protected]

PATRICIA GONZALEZ
HR & Executive Support Manager
1457 E Washington Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90021
Email: [email protected]

Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
1 David Yakobson
From: Laura S M <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2025 10:39 AM
To: Council Mailbox; councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: Critical Gaps in Homelessness Strategic Plan - October 28 Council Meeting Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed

EXTERNAL
The Honorable Members of the Santa Monica City Council
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Subject: Critical Gaps in Homelessness Strategic Plan - October 28 Council Meeting Dear Mayor Negrete and Honorable Council Members,
I am writing to express serious concerns about the proposed 2025-2030 Homelessness Strategic Plan scheduled for discussion on October 28. While the plan outlines noble intentions, it fails to address several critical factors:

1. Tourism and Economic Impact: The plan contains no analysis of impacts on our tourism economy. We need metrics tracking visitor perception, hotel occupancy trends, and beach usage statistics.

2. Neighborhood Quality of Life: Housed residents deserve measurable commitments including specific targets for reducing encampments, park safety standards, and sidewalk clearance requirements.

3. Public Safety and Crime Data: Beyond vague "calls for service," we need comprehensive crime statistics, specific reduction targets, and clear enforcement protocols.

4. Complete Cost-Benefit Analysis: Taxpayers deserve transparency on total projected costs, cost per person served with success rates, and impacts on city services.

5. Measurable Outcomes for Homeless Individuals: The plan must include housing retention benchmarks, job placement targets, health outcome metrics, and long-term tracking.

Specific Requests:

1. Postpone adoption pending incorporation of these assessments

2. Establish a working group including businesses, residents, and tourism stakeholders

3. Implement pilot programs with success metrics before full rollout Respectfully,
Laura Miller
1441 Alta Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90402
Tel. 310-498 0931
[email protected]
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
2 David Yakobson
From: G. William Birrell <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2025 5:10 PM
To: Council Mailbox
Cc: councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: Re: Critical Gaps in Homelessness Strategic Plan - October 28 Council Meeting Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed

1. Tourism and Economic Impact: The plan contains no analysis of impacts on our tourism economy. We need metrics tracking visitor perception, hotel occupancy trends, and beach usage statistics.

2. Neighborhood Quality of Life: Housed residents deserve measurable commitments including specific targets for reducing encampments, park safety standards, and sidewalk clearance requirements.

3. Public Safety and Crime Data: Beyond vague "calls for service," we need comprehensive crime statistics, specific reduction targets, and clear enforcement protocols.

4. Complete Cost-Benefit Analysis: Taxpayers deserve transparency on total projected costs, cost per person served with success rates, and impacts on city services.

5. Measurable Outcomes for Homeless Individuals: The plan must include housing retention benchmarks, job placement targets, health outcome metrics, and long-term tracking.

Specific Requests:

1. Postpone adoption pending incorporation of these assessments Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
3 2. Establish a working group including businesses, residents, and tourism stakeholders

3. Implement pilot programs with success metrics before full rollout Respectfully,
G. William Birrell
1441 Alta Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90402
Tel. 310-993-1000
[email protected]
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
4 David Yakobson
From: Kristen Fujieki <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2025 12:18 PM
To: Council Mailbox; councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; Oliver Chi Cc: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: Critical Gaps in Homelessness Strategic Plan - October 28 Council Meeting Importance: High

EXTERNAL
October 27, 2025
The Honorable Members of the Santa Monica City Council
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Subject: Critical Gaps in Homelessness Strategic Plan - October 28 Council Meeting Dear Mayor Negrete and Honorable Council Members,
I am writing to express serious concerns about the proposed 2025-2030 Homelessness Strategic Plan scheduled for discussion on October 28. While the plan outlines noble intentions, it fails to address several critical factors:

1. Tourism and Economic Impact: The plan contains no analysis of impacts on our tourism economy. We need metrics tracking visitor perception, hotel occupancy trends, and beach usage statistics.

2. Neighborhood Quality of Life: Housed residents deserve measurable commitments including specific targets for reducing encampments, park safety standards, and sidewalk clearance requirements.

3. Public Safety and Crime Data: Beyond vague "calls for service," we need comprehensive crime statistics, specific reduction targets, and clear enforcement protocols.

4. Complete Cost-Benefit Analysis: Taxpayers deserve transparency on total projected costs, cost per person served with success rates, and impacts on city services.

5. Measurable Outcomes for Homeless Individuals: The plan must include housing retention benchmarks, job placement targets, health outcome metrics, and long-term tracking.

Specific Requests:

1. Postpone adoption pending incorporation of these assessments

2. Establish a working group including businesses, residents, and tourism stakeholders

3. Implement pilot programs with success metrics before full rollout Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
5 Respectfully,
Kristen Handel
Concerned Carlthorp parent and North of Montana Resident Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
1 David Yakobson
From: Laura S M <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2025 10:47 AM
To: Council Mailbox; councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: Request for Transparent, Compassionate, and Measurable Implementation of the 2025–2030 Homelessness Strategic Plan
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed

EXTERNAL
The Honorable Members of the Santa Monica City Council
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Subject: Request for Transparent, Compassionate, and Measurable Implementation of the 2025–2030 Homelessness Strategic Plan
Dear Mayor Negrete, Honorable Councilmembers, and City Manager Chi, I am writing as a Santa Monica resident who cares deeply about our city’s wellbeing and the dignity and safety of every person who calls it home, housed or unhoused. I appreciate the City’s ongoing commitment to addressing homelessness with compassion and urgency. However, as the City Council prepares to discuss and adopt the 2025–2030 Homelessness Strategic Plan on October 28, I urge you to strengthen the plan so that it not only expands services but ensures accountability, measurable outcomes, and long-term success for those it intends to help.

Residents want to be constructive partners, not critics. We ask that the City commit to genuinepublic participation before major funding and implementation decisions are finalized.

Santa Monica’s residents, businesses, and service providers all share the same goal, to see individuals stably housed, healthy, and supported. Transparent decision-making builds the trust needed to
achieve that goal.

We fully support a compassionate approach to homelessness, but compassion must be coupled with clear, data-driven metrics to evaluate what’s working. The current plan would benefit from measurable standards such as:
- Housing retention rates at 6, 12, and 24 months
- Access to mental-health treatment and continuity of care - Employment and income benchmarks for program participants - Client feedback mechanisms to assess service quality and dignity of care Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
2 A safe, healthy community benefits everyone, including our unhoused neighbors. The plan should include transparent public-safety and quality-of-life metrics, such as:
- Reductions in emergency service calls and repeat crises - Safe public-space access for all residents
- Supportive neighborhood engagement and response teams trained in de-escalation and care Given the scale of public investment, taxpayers deserve clarity on how funds are used and whether interventions produce sustainable results. We ask for comprehensive cost-benefit analyses, transparent budgeting, and quarterly public reporting on outcomes.

Thank you for your service and for your continued commitment to solutions that are humane, transparent, and effective.

Respectfully,
Laura Miller
144 Alta Ave
Santa Monica CA 90402
Tel. 310- 498 0931
[email protected]
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
3 David Yakobson
From: Jo Baxter <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2025 7:25 AM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: Request for Transparent compassionate and measurable implementation of the 2025-2030 homeless strategic plan
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed

Residents want to be constructive partners, not critics. We ask that the City commit to genuinepublic participation before major funding and implementation decisions are finalized.

Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
4 - Reductions in emergency service calls and repeat crises - Safe public-space access for all residents
- Supportive neighborhood engagement and response teams trained in de-escalation and care Given the scale of public investment, taxpayers deserve clarity on how funds are used and whether interventions produce sustainable results. We ask for comprehensive cost-benefit analyses, transparent budgeting, and quarterly public reporting on outcomes.

Thank you for your service and for your continued commitment to solutions that are humane, transparent, and effective.

Respectfully,
Jo Baxter
Marguerita Avenue
Santa Monica, California
90402
Sent from my iPad
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
5 David Yakobson
From: Dennis Ruben <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2025 12:52 PM
To: Council Mailbox; councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya
Cc: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Request for Transparent, Compassionate, and Measurable Implementation of the 2025–2030 Homelessness Strategic Plan
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed

EXTERNAL
October 26, 2025
The Honorable Members of the Santa Monica City Council
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Sent via email:
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected], [email protected] cc: [email protected], [email protected] Dear Mayor Negrete, Honorable Councilmembers, and City Manager Chi, I am writing as a Santa Monica resident who cares deeply about our city’s wellbeing and the dignity and safety of every person who calls it home, housed or unhoused. I appreciate the City’s
ongoing commitment to addressing homelessness with compassion and urgency. However, as the
City Council prepares to discuss and adopt the 2025–2030 Homelessness Strategic Plan on October 28, I urge you to strengthen the plan so that it not only expands services but ensures Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
6 accountability, measurable outcomes, and long-term success for those it intends to help.

Residents want to be constructive partners, not critics. We ask that the City commit to genuine
public participation before major funding and implementation decisions are finalized. Santa Monica’s residents, businesses, and service providers all share the same goal, to see individuals
stably housed, healthy, and supported. Transparent decision-making builds the trust needed to
achieve that goal.

We fully support a compassionate approach to homelessness, but compassion must be coupled
with clear, data-driven metrics to evaluate what’s working. The current plan would benefit from
measurable standards such as:
-Housing retention rates at 6, 12, and 24 months
Access to mental-health treatment and continuity of care -Employment and income benchmarks for program participants -Client feedback mechanisms to assess service quality and dignity of care -A safe, healthy community benefits everyone, including our unhoused neighbors. The plan should include transparent public-safety and quality-of-life metrics, such as:
-Reductions in emergency service calls and repeat crises -Safe public-space access for all residents
-Supportive neighborhood engagement and response teams trained in de-escalation Given the scale of public investment, taxpayers deserve clarity on how funds are used and whether interventions produce sustainable results. We ask for comprehensive cost-benefit analyses, transparent budgeting, and quarterly public reporting on outcomes.

Homelessness is not unique to Santa Monica. We encourage the City to continue collaborating
with the County and neighboring cities to ensure equitable service distribution and shared responsibility across the region.

Santa Monica has always been a city rooted in compassion and civic engagement. By improving
transparency, accountability, and data-driven decision-making, we can strengthen public confidence and deliver meaningful progress for those most in need, while maintaining the wellbeing of our entire community.

Thank you for your service and for your continued commitment to solutions that are humane,
transparent, and effective,
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
7 Respectfully,
Dennis Ruben
701 Ocean Ave
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
8 David Yakobson
From: morris chen <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2025 12:58 PM
To: Council Mailbox; councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya
Cc: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Request for Transparent, Compassionate, and Measurable Implementation of the 2025–2030 Homelessness Strategic Plan
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed

EXTERNAL
October 26, 2025
The Honorable Members of the Santa Monica City Council
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Dear Mayor Negrete, Honorable Councilmembers, and City Manager Chi, I am writing as a Santa Monica resident who cares deeply about our city’s wellbeing and the dignity and safety of every person who calls it home, housed or unhoused. I appreciate the City’s ongoing commitment to addressing homelessness with compassion and urgency. However, as the City Council prepares to discuss and adopt the 2025–2030 Homelessness Strategic Plan on October 28, I urge you to strengthen the plan so that it not only expands services but ensures accountability, measurable outcomes, and long-term success for those it intends to help.

Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
9 ● Reductions in emergency service calls and repeat crises ● Safe public-space access for all residents
● Supportive neighborhood engagement and response teams trained in de-escalation and care Given the scale of public investment, taxpayers deserve clarity on how funds are used and whether interventions produce sustainable results. We ask for comprehensive cost-benefit analyses, transparent budgeting, and quarterly public reporting on outcomes.

Thank you for your service and for your continued commitment to solutions that are humane, transparent, and effective.

Respectfully,
Morris Chen
215 22nd Street
Santa Monica, CA 90402
10/26/25
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
10 David Yakobson
From: Mimi Lee Chen <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2025 1:04 PM
To: Council Mailbox; councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya
Cc: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Request for Transparent, Compassionate, and Measurable Implementation of the 2025–2030 Homelessness Strategic Plan
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed

Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
11 ● Reductions in emergency service calls and repeat crises ● Safe public-space access for all residents
● Supportive neighborhood engagement and response teams trained in de-escalation and care Given the scale of public investment, taxpayers deserve clarity on how funds are used and whether interventions produce sustainable results. We ask for comprehensive cost-benefit analyses, transparent budgeting, and quarterly public reporting on outcomes.

Thank you for your service and for your continued commitment to solutions that are humane, transparent, and effective.

Respectfully,
Mimi Chen
215 22nd Street
Santa Monica, CA 90402
10/26/25
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
12 David Yakobson
From: G. William Birrell <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2025 5:12 PM
To: Council Mailbox
Cc: councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: Re: Request for Transparent, Compassionate, and Measurable Implementation of the 2025–2030 Homelessness Strategic Plan
Importance: High
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed

However, as the City Council prepares to discuss and adopt the 2025–2030 Homelessness Strategic Plan on October 28, I urge you to strengthen the plan so that it not only expands services but ensures accountability, measurable outcomes, and long-term success for those it intends to help.

Residents want to be constructive partners, not critics. We ask that the City commit to genuinepublic participation before major funding and implementation decisions are finalized. Santa Monica’s residents, businesses, and service providers all share the same goal, to see individuals stably housed, healthy, and supported. Transparent decision-making builds the trust needed to achieve that goal.

Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
13 We fully support a compassionate approach to homelessness, but compassion must be coupled with clear, data-driven metrics to evaluate what’s working. The current plan would benefit from measurable standards such as:
- Housing retention rates at 6, 12, and 24 months
- Access to mental-health treatment and continuity of care - Employment and income benchmarks for program participants - Client feedback mechanisms to assess service quality and dignity of care A safe, healthy community benefits everyone, including our unhoused neighbors. The plan should include transparent public-safety and quality-of-life metrics, such as:
- Reductions in emergency service calls and repeat crises - Safe public-space access for all residents
- Supportive neighborhood engagement and response teams trained in de-escalation and care
Given the scale of public investment, taxpayers deserve clarity on how funds are used and whether interventions produce sustainable results. We ask for comprehensive cost-benefit analyses, transparent budgeting, and quarterly public reporting on outcomes.

Thank you for your service and for your continued commitment to solutions that are humane, transparent, and effective.

Respectfully,
G. William Birrell
144 Alta Ave
Santa Monica CA 90402
Tel. 310-993-1000
[email protected]
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
14 David Yakobson
From: Kristen Fujieki <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2025 12:16 PM
To: Council Mailbox; councilmtgitems; Oliver Chi; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya Cc: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: Request for Transparent, Compassionate, and Measurable Implementation of the 2025–2030 Homelessness Strategic Plan
Importance: High

EXTERNAL
OCTOBER 27, 2025
The Honorable Members of the Santa Monica City Council
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Subject: Request for Transparent, Compassionate, and Measurable Implementation of the 2025–2030 Homelessness Strategic Plan
Dear Mayor Negrete, Honorable Councilmembers, and City Manager Chi, I am writing as a Santa Monica resident who cares deeply about our city’s wellbeing and the dignity and safety of every person who calls it home, housed or unhoused. I appreciate the City’s ongoing commitment to addressing homelessness with compassion and urgency. However, as the City Council prepares to discuss and adopt the 2025–2030 Homelessness Strategic Plan on October 28, I urge you to strengthen the plan so that it not only expands services but ensures accountability, measurable outcomes, and long-term success for those it intends to help.

We fully support a compassionate approach to homelessness, but compassion must be coupled with clear, datadriven metrics to evaluate what’s working. The current plan would benefit from measurable standards such as:
 Housing retention rates at 6, 12, and 24 months
 Access to mental-health treatment and continuity of care  Employment and income benchmarks for program participants  Client feedback mechanisms to assess service quality and dignity of care A safe, healthy community benefits everyone, including our unhoused neighbors. The plan should include transparent public-safety and quality-of-life metrics, such as:

Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
15  Reductions in emergency service calls and repeat crises  Safe public-space access for all residents
 Supportive neighborhood engagement and response teams trained in de-escalation and care Given the scale of public investment, taxpayers deserve clarity on how funds are used and whether interventions produce sustainable results. We ask for comprehensive cost-benefit analyses, transparent budgeting, and quarterly public reporting on outcomes.

Thank you for your service and for your continued commitment to solutions that are humane, transparent, and effective.

Respectfully,
Kristen Handel
Concerned Carlthorp Parent and North of Montana Resident Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
5 David Yakobson
From: Patricia Gonzalez <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2025 3:48 PM
To: Council Mailbox; councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; Oliver Chi Cc: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: Critical Gaps in Homelessness Strategic Plan- October 28 Council Meeting

EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor Negrete and Honorable Council Members,
I am writing to express serious concerns about the proposed 2025-2030 Homelessness Strategic Plan scheduled for discussion on October 28. While the plan outlines noble intentions, it fails to address several critical factors:

1. Tourism and Economic Impact: the plan contains no analysis of impacts on our tourism economy. We need metrics tracking visitor perception, hotel occupancy trends, and beach usage statistics.

2. Neighborhood Safety and Crime Data: Housed residents deserve measurable commitments including specific targets for reducing encampments, park safety standards, and sidewalk clearance.

3. Public Safety and Crime Data: Beyond vague “calls for service” we need comprehensive crime statistics, specific reduction targets, and clean enforcement protocols.

4. Complete Cost-Benefit Analysis: Taxpayers deserve transparency on total projected costs, cost per person served with success rates, and impacts on city services.

5. Measurable Outcomes for Homeless Individuals: The plan must include housing retention benchmarks, job placement targets, health outcome metrics, and long-term tracking.

Specific Requests

1. Postpone adoption pending incorporation of these assessments

2. Establish a working group including businesses, residents, and tourism stakeholders

3. Implement pilot programs with success metrics before full rollout Respectfully,
Brian Weitman
210 23rd Street, Santa Monica, CA 90402
[email protected]

PATRICIA GONZALEZ
HR & Executive Support Manager
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
6 1457 E Washington Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90021
Email: [email protected]

Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
1 David Yakobson
From: Eddie Navarrette <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, October 27, 2025 3:35 PM
To: councilmtgitems; [email protected]; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Natalya Zernitskaya; Barry Snell; Jesse Zwick; Lana Negrete
Subject: IHC Support on Realignment Plan
Attachments: IHC Support on Realignment Plan .pdf

EXTERNAL
See attached Letter of Support.

Eddie Navarrette
Executive Director, Independent Hospitality Coalition
777 S Figueroa St, Suite 4050
Los Angeles, CA 90017
To:

Mayor Lana Negrete and Members of the Santa Monica City Council City of Santa Monica
Subject: Support for City Manager Oliver Chi and the Santa Monica Realignment Plan Dear Mayor and Councilmembers,
On behalf of the Independent Hospitality Coalition (IHC), representing more than 1,200 independent restaurants, bars, and hospitality businesses throughout Los Angeles County, we express our strong support for City Manager Oliver Chi and the Santa Monica Realignment Plan.

Santa Monica has long been a destination city defined by its walkability, culture, and coastal vitality — yet its small businesses continue to face extraordinary pressures. Rising costs of goods, labor, and insurance, coupled with post-pandemic shifts in tourism and consumer behavior, have created an unstable operating environment. Independent operators who form the backbone of Santa Monica’s hospitality economy are struggling to stay open amid these overlapping challenges.

Streamlined permitting, faster response times, and improved interdepartmental coordination will give small businesses the stability they need to reinvest, hire, and thrive locally.

Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
2 We also applaud the City’s continued alignment with statewide progress, including the recent passage of Assembly Bill 592 (Gabriel) — legislation that makes California’s outdoor dining opportunities permanent. Santa Monica was among the first to embrace this model during the pandemic, and it remains one of the state’s most successful examples of how outdoor dining can activate streets, drive tourism, and support small business resilience. The Realignment Plan complements these statewide efforts by ensuring City departments have the structure and leadership necessary to sustain and expand such initiatives.

Now more than ever, cities must adapt to meet the needs of their small business communities. The Realignment Plan reflects that understanding and positions Santa Monica to lead by example across California.

We urge the Council to support City Manager Chi and adopt the Realignment Plan to strengthen the economic future of Santa Monica’s residents, workforce, and independent business community.

Respectfully,
Eddie Navarrette
Executive Director
Independent Hospitality Coalition (IHC)
www.IHCLA.org
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___________________________

E D D I E N A V A R R E T T E

CHIEF CONSULTANT
327 E. 2nd St #222
Los Angeles CA 90012
fedesignandconsulting.com
T E L 213.545.2620
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Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Eddie Navarrette
Executive Director, Independent Hospitality Coalition
777 S Figueroa St, Suite 4050
Los Angeles, CA 90017
To:

Santa Monica has long been a destination city defined by its walkability, culture, and coastal vitality — yet its small businesses continue to face extraordinary pressures.

Rising costs of goods, labor, and insurance, coupled with post-pandemic shifts in tourism and consumer behavior, have created an unstable operating environment.

Independent operators who form the backbone of Santa Monica’s hospitality economy are struggling to stay open amid these overlapping challenges.

The Realignment Plan represents a pragmatic step forward. By reorganizing City operations for greater efficiency and accountability, the plan prioritizes public safety, clean streets, and customer-focused service — all fundamental to a healthy business climate and sustained tourism recovery. Streamlined permitting, faster response times, and improved interdepartmental coordination will give small businesses the stability they need to reinvest, hire, and thrive locally.

We also applaud the City’s continued alignment with statewide progress, including the recent passage of Assembly Bill 592 (Gabriel) — legislation that makes California’s outdoor dining opportunities permanent. Santa Monica was among the first to embrace Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
this model during the pandemic, and it remains one of the state’s most successful examples of how outdoor dining can activate streets, drive tourism, and support small business resilience. The Realignment Plan complements these statewide efforts by ensuring City departments have the structure and leadership necessary to sustain and expand such initiatives.

We urge the Council to support City Manager Chi and adopt the Realignment Plan to strengthen the economic future of Santa Monica’s residents, workforce, and independent business community.

Respectfully,
Eddie Navarrette
Executive Director
Independent Hospitality Coalition (IHC)
www.IHCLA.org
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
3 David Yakobson
From: Andrew Thomas <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2025 3:49 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Cc: Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; Oliver Chi; Peter James; Jennifer Taylor
Subject: October 28, 2025 Agenda Item 11, Santa Monica Realignment Plan, DTSM, Inc. Support Letter
Attachments: DTSM Inc Santa Monica Realignment Plan Support Letter 10.27.25.pdf

EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor Negrete, Mayor Pro Tem Torosis, and Honorable Council Members, On behalf of the Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. (DTSM, Inc.) Board of Directors, I am writing to express our strong support for the Santa Monica Realignment Plan, a comprehensive initiative to reinvest in our city’s civic core and public realm. This plan represents a vital commitment to improving the infrastructure, safety, and vibrancy of Downtown Santa Monica.

The DTSM, Inc. Board enthusiastically supports the Plan’s targeted investments in streetscape improvements, landscaping, and public amenities. These efforts will address deferred maintenance, enhance pedestrian safety, and reinforce the City’s civic identity. We are particularly encouraged by the inclusion of new funding for ongoing maintenance, ensuring that these improvements are not only achieved but sustained.

As part of this broader reinvestment strategy, the Board also supports City staff’s recommendations to update outdoor dining, parklet, and wastewater fee structures. The proposed revisions simplify and reduce costs for businesses operating in the public right-of-way, promote consistency across the city, and further encourage outdoor activation that contributes to a lively and welcoming downtown.

Together, the Santa Monica Realignment Plan and the updated fee structure represent a thoughtful and forward-looking approach to strengthening Santa Monica’s economic vitality, supporting local businesses, and enhancing the visitor experience. DTSM, Inc. appreciates the City’s partnership and commends staff and the Council for their leadership in advancing this important work.

Respectfully,
Andrew Thomas, LPM
Chief Executive Officer
Downtown Santa Monica, Inc.
1351 Third Street Promenade, Ste. 201
Santa Monica, CA 90401
310.393.8355 (Office)
www.DowntownSM.com
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
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Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
October 28, 2025
Santa Monica City Council
City of Santa Monica
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
RE: October 28, 2025 Council Agenda Item 11: Santa Monica Realignment Plan Dear Mayor Negrete, Mayor Pro Tem Torosis, and Honorable Council Members, On behalf of the Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. (DTSM, Inc.) Board of Directors, I am writing to express our strong support for the Santa Monica Realignment Plan, a comprehensive initiative to reinvest in our city’s civic core and public realm. This plan represents a vital commitment to improving the infrastructure, safety, and vibrancy of Downtown Santa Monica.

Respectfully,
Andrew Thomas
Chief Executive Officer
Downtown Santa Monica, Inc.

CC: DTSM, Inc. Board of Directors
City Manager Oliver Chi
Deputy City Manager Peter James
Economic Development Manager Jennifer Taylor
1351 Third Street Promenade, Suite 201, Santa Monica, CA I 310.393.8355 I [email protected] Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
1 David Yakobson
From: Margaret Bach <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2025 3:03 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: Item 11A -- City Library funding -- support

EXTERNAL
Dear City Council,
I am writing in support of the recommendation to reopen all City branch libraries for service 3-days per week starting January 2026, and expanding to 4-days a week in July 2026. The libraries serve as important resources for our community -- and in fact, help build a sense of community and shared purpose for our neighborhoods.

Thank you for your support of Santa Monica's branch libraries.

Margaret Bach
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
1 David Yakobson
From: Mary Donovan <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, October 24, 2025 8:33 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed

EXTERNAL
Please let us keep our
Librarys open we need
To improve our education.... thanks
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
1 David Yakobson
From: Roberta Brown <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, October 24, 2025 12:49 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: Reopening libraries - Item 11A
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed

EXTERNAL
Council members,
I understand that next week's city council meeting includes an item that will at last address reopening all of Santa Monica's libraries, which have puzzlingly still not returned to pre-pandemic service levels.

When I moved to Santa Monica in 1997, the libraries and schools were the envy of the LA area. These two public services, which fostered a strong, educated, connected community, were an enormous part of what kept me in Santa Monica all these years and inspired me to raise my family here. In my son's preschool -> high school years the libraries were an important center to our lives, and we used ALL of them. The Montana branch was where we could walk to; Fairfax had unparalleled bilingual programming and books that we used weekly; Ocean Park had delightful story times; the main library was a destination to meet friends, attend events, and do more serious research. And the new library in Virginia Park opened while my son was at Edison and became a popular after-school activity and meeting ground for homework collaboration. We truly used them ALL. And when they closed in 2020 we missed them all.

Although my son is in college now and using other libraries in another state, I want the children on my street to have access to the same great resources my son did. It makes for a better community for all of us. Please restore the libraries to their previous glory and continue to support community and educational growth the way Santa Monica always has.

Please support reopening the libraries.

Thank you,
Roberta Brown
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
2 David Yakobson
From: Paula Mazur <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, October 24, 2025 1:51 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: ITEM 11A - Reopening All Library Branches
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed

EXTERNAL
Dear City Council,
I am writing in fervent support of Item 11A on the Oct 28 agenda, opening all Santa Monica libraries. .

I’ve been a library member since I was 4 years old and the access to books that libraries provided for me changed my life. In fact, I now have a Santa Monica based film and TV production company that is book based: all of our projects are from books. I found my Jodie Foster starring film at the Fairview Library! Thank you in advance for voting to make the funds available to serve our entire community and make accessible the wonderful libraries we already have. I absolutely know they will be well used, and that they will change people’s lives.

All the best,
Paula Mazur
3204 Pearl Street
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
3 David Yakobson
From: Elizabeth Stearns <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, October 24, 2025 2:21 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: SM Libraries
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed

EXTERNAL
Please keep them open!
Elizabeth Gelfand Stearns
[email protected]
310.849.8101
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
4 David Yakobson
From: Susan Justin <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2025 8:59 AM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: Item 11A
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed

EXTERNAL
Dear City Council,
I’m so happy to hear there is a plan to restore more services at our libraries. Libraries are an important part of our community and offer so many resources and opportunities for engagement. Please continue to find the funds to serve more neighbors of all ages for more hours.

THANK YOU. . . Susan Justin
Sent from my iPhone
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
5 David Yakobson
From: Kathryn Jacobi <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2025 1:35 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: library funding
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed

EXTERNAL
Dear Councilman,
How wonderful to restore more time to keep the libraries open longer! Please vote in favor of this plan. We need it, especially for youngsters, but old ladies like me also will be thrilled! Best regards,
Kathryn Jacobi Dysart
Kathryn Jacobi Dysart
[email protected]
www.kathrynjacobistudio.com
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
6 David Yakobson
From: Karen Melick <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2025 12:51 PM
To: councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Ellis Raskin; Caroline Torosis; Dan Hall; Barry Snell; Jesse Zwick; Natalya Zernitskaya; Oliver Chi; Heidi von Tongeln Subject: Item 11.A Winter Closure Resolution - Financial and Service Level Impact Evaluation Needed Before Approval
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed

EXTERNAL
Please delay the vote to approve the Resolution to adopt an annual two-week winter closure for the weeks of Christmas Day and New Year’s Day and request that a financial analysis and service level analysis be done to determine the effects of this closure with the gift of 7 additional time off days to non-essential employees. If it is done, it should be done like most other places, from Christmas Day to New Year’s Day, with the employees required to use existing vacation time which would not have the financial and service level impacts.

Financial Analysis
The resolution says that employees shall receive two weeks pay for the Winter Closure. I interpret this as additional vacation time pay. If so, it can have a significant financial impact to the City Budget that is in a fiscal emergency. By getting additional vacation time, employees are more likely to not use other vacation time that they then can cashout. This additional time off is about 3% of the overall work days in a year. With City Manager Oliver Chi’s $410,604 salary, if he cashed out the 7 days of extra vacation time, it would be an additional payment of almost $13,000. Given the $437 million dollars in the 2025-2026 budget for salaries and wages, these cash payouts could cost the City additional millions of dollars to the budget. This needs to be analyzed before this resolution is passed as is.

Service Level and Organizational Capacity Impact
Despite the goal in the re-alignment plan to Build Organizational Capacity, this time off reduces the organizational capacity by up to 3% (less the amount of cash-out time). The plan talks about “bolstering internal Support Services”. In addition to providing fewer hours for internal Support Services, this reduces the hours providing services to Santa Monica businesses and community. Given the current slowness by some City departments in providing support to the Community (the request to create a Sunset Park/Ocean Park Blvd Business District has been stalled now by over two months with City Staff not responding), this decrease in service hours to the community is not acceptable.

Other Winter Closures
The Resolution mentions examples of other winter closures. Most of these are not a full two weeks. I worked at UCLA and Cal State LA when they implemented winter closures. At both places, the closure was from Christmas Day to New Year’s Day. Employees were required to use existing vacation time to cover the non-holiday days.

This type of implementation does not have the financial or service level impacts described above. Therefore, if the City decides to go with a Winter Closure it should be implemented from Christmas Day to New Year’s Day with employees using existing vacation to for the additional time off.

I would have liked to speak at the City Council meeting on this but I am currently on the East coast and cannot make it.

Thank you for your consideration.

Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
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From: Kevin McKeown
To: councilmtgitems
Cc: Oliver Chi; Jenny Rogers; Lana Negrete; [email protected]; [email protected]; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya Subject: Item 11-A -- Santa Monica Realignment Plan
Date: Sunday, October 26, 2025 4:45:48 PM

EXTERNAL
I’m particularly heartened to see on the Santa Monica Realignment Plan/Renaissance Agenda your call for > • Facilitating the development of a large-scale Santa Monica Music Festival in 2026.

As we return to the hopes originally expressed in our adopted plan “Creative Capital”… https://www.smgov.net/uploadedFiles/Portals/Culture/Resources/SM%20Creative%20Capital%20Plan.pdf let’s not miss the opportunity afforded us by the 2028 Olympics! Santa Monica’s decision not to host an Olympic sporting event on our beach is looking better and better. What we CAN do instead is host the Olympic Arts Festival here, and encourage the Festival's use as a venue for free speech that might be harder to create in those cities dangling from Olympic pursestrings controlled by Trump.

I know resources are scarce. But we already have our staff infrastructure set up from when the City was pursuing beach volleyball:

Could the work already done by these committees be recycled into pursuing hosting the Olympic Arts Festival, where if we take a primary role in organizing we will enjoy greater local control?
Thanks,
Kevin
————————————
K e v i n M c K e o w n
https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.mckeown.net__;!!OfuUnHCITYtmmjM!tBub16kY9mgem03xdCImWCT4i6YLUy0Jf8pmDRe95AMpGEliFGIiu9_Z1JCpql5LM4YRitoMLVzuHuKzQ7TVU5vSwI$ Choose to be conscious
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Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
10 David Yakobson
From: Santa Monica Forward <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2025 7:42 PM
To: Dan Hall; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; councilmtgitems; Ellis Raskin; Jesse Zwick; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis
Cc: Bradley Ewing; Carl Hansen; [email protected] Subject: Iteam 11A: Santa Monica Forward Support for the Santa Monica Realignment Plan Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed

EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor Negrete and City Councilmembers, Santa Monica Forward supports adoption of the Santa Monica Realignment Plan and the associated budget, personnel, fee, and policy actions that enable its implementation. The plan advances core goals we share with the community: safe, clean, and welcoming public spaces, a vibrant and inclusive local economy, abundant housing near jobs and transit, and a fiscally stable city government.

Why we support this plan

1. Safety with clear accountability
We support the Downtown substation, the restructured Downtown Services Unit, added Public Safety Officers, and expanded traffic enforcement, along with stronger misdemeanor prosecution capacity.

The targeted capital program to refresh streetscapes, fix sidewalks, restore tree canopy, and modernize maintenance will make an immediate difference for residents, workers, and visitors.

Improved beachside maintenance, including cleaner sand and facilities near the Pier, should be a top priority for visitor experience and community pride.

2. Vision Zero and safe streets
We support adding engineering staff capacity, a dedicated annual fund for quick builds, and integrating safety into the CIP. More broadly, the build-out of Santa Monica's protected bike lane network has been far too slow. Safe, connected, and comfortable bike infrastructure citywide is critical to reducing injuries, improving access to jobs and schools, and meeting climate and mobility goals.

We urge the City to adopt an accelerated construction schedule, report monthly on progress corridor Item 11-A
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11 by corridor, and treat bicycle safety as a core component of public safety, on par with policing and street maintenance.

3. Economic recovery
We support outdoor dining fee reductions, streamlined sidewalk dining rules, and expansion of parklets beyond Downtown to corridors like Wilshire, where new outdoor dining and activity can help struggling businesses. We strongly support the proposed funding for Business Improvement Districts, which will provide critical resources for corridor revitalization and local business support. Regular Promenade activations and 2026 music festivals will draw visitors and strengthen small businesses.

Reopening branch libraries and improving beach and park facilities will lift quality of life for residents and the visitor experience that drives hotel tax revenue and sales tax.

4. Housing
We strongly support focusing City-led housing development in the Downtown core, where new residents can reinforce a clean, active, and safe center city. New housing will help reduce vacancies and support small businesses by bringing more customers within walking distance of jobs, schools, and transit.

We support the vacant-property registration and rent-registry ordinances as useful tools for transparency.

5. Faster permitting
We support the Clariti portal, service-level commitments for review times, and the Archistar pilot for ADUs and single-unit projects. Faster, transparent permitting will unlock reinvestment in long-vacant storefronts and underused parcels.

6. Organizational capacity and fiscal stability
We support restoring maintenance crews, fully deploying the City-run ambulance program, and aligning benefits for non-sworn staff. The plan's mix of operational savings and diversified revenues will help close the structural gap while rebuilding reserves. For any exploration of digital signage, ferry, or gondola concepts, we ask for clear design standards, strong public benefits, climate alignment, and mobility equity. Any Vehicle Habitation Ordinance update should integrate Safe Parking programs that provide humane, managed options for those living in vehicles.

7. Downtown and Gateway flexibility to unlock investment We support added flexibility in the Downtown and Gateway areas to invite new housing, hospitality, and creative redevelopment. Gateway improvements should include the intersection of Moomat Ahiko Way and Ocean Avenue, a critical arrival point for both residents and visitors. Transparent reporting should demonstrate how streamlined standards deliver more homes, active ground floors, and longterm fiscal strength for the city.

Santa Monica has been a regional destination because it is safe, lively, and easy to enjoy on foot, on bike, and by transit. The Realignment Plan helps restore that promise. We urge you to adopt the plan and all accompanying resolutions and ordinances, and to deliver the early wins in public safety, cleanliness, housing, and active transportation that will rebuild public confidence and catalyze private investment.

Thank you for your leadership.

Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
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12 Brad Ewing and Carl Hansen
Co-Chairs, Santa Monica Forward
--
We are working for a diverse, progressive, sustainable and equitable Santa Monica.

SantaMonicaForward.org
Item 11-A
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Item 11-A
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13 David Yakobson
From: Zina Josephs <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2025 10:59 PM
To: councilmtgitems; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Natalya Zernitskaya; Jesse Zwick; [email protected] Subject: FOSP: City Council 10/28/25 agenda item 11-A
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed

EXTERNAL
October 26, 2025
To: Mayor Negrete and City Council members
From: Board of Directors, Friends of Sunset Park
RE: 10/28/25 agenda item 11-A -- Santa Monica Realignment Plan 1) Presenting a comprehensive document such as the Realignment Plan on the Thursday afternoon before a Tuesday meeting, without community outreach, seems like an insult to the democratic process. The plan should have at least been presented during a Study Session, with a Council vote scheduled at a later time. 2) The City Manager was quoted in an article in The Planning Report on October 17 as saying, “What gives me optimism is that our City Council understands the urgency and is united around this direction. Yes, the full Realignment Plan will go before the Council and community on October 28, and I’m confident we’re ready to move from diagnosis to execution.”
If he knew before October 17 that the City Council was “united around this direction,” what was the rationale for waiting until October 23 to reveal the details of the plan to the public? 3) The public will probably be limited to 1 minute during Public Comment to talk about a 16-page plan. Again, this seems like an insult to the democratic process.
4) Given all that, the FOSP Board supports these sections of the plan:
a) Re-opening Fairview and Ocean Park branch libraries for 3 days per week (they are currently "selfserve" only 2 days per week) b) Expanding Code Enforcement to 24/7
5) The FOSP Board opposes these sections of the plan:
a) The proposed parcel tax of ca. $500 per year -- Large parcels such as the Fairmont Miramar would pay the same amount as individual homeowners, which is inherently unfair. Plus, it's not clear if there would be an exemption for property owners over 65, like SMMUSD allows with Measure R. b) Relocating Samoshel from downtown, without revealing where it will relocated.

Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
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14 c) Maximizing revenues from City-owned land -- Parking Structure #1 (Where will Promenade shoppers park?), 4th/5th & Arizona (We already had a battle over a proposed 12-story hotel on that site.), and possibly the Civic Auditorium?
Residents of Santa Monica want to preserve the Civic Auditorium, as evidenced by 330 emails and 30 speakers supporting extension of the Exclusive Negotiating Agreement with RPG when that topic was discussed and voted upon on October 14. Plus the following three newspaper columns:

Opinion: “The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium – A Living Monument to Global Culture Innovation” -- Jack Hillbrand, AIA, Architect
(Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow)
10/23/25 – Santa Monica Mirror
https://smmirror.com/2025/10/sm-a-r-t-column-the-santa-monica-civic-auditorium-a-livingmonument-to-global-cultural-innovation/ Opinion: “City Council Cans the Civic Auditorium” – Mario Fonda-Bonardi AIA for Sma.r.t. (Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow)
10/17/25 – Santa Monica Mirror
https://smmirror.com/2025/10/sm-a-r-t-column-council-cans-the-civic/ Opinion: “Marsalis, Zaro, Civic” – Charles Andrews
10/21/25 – Santa Monica Mirror
https://smmirror.com/2025/10/noteworthy-10-22-29-marsalis-zaro-civic/ d) Strategic development of 4 downtown parcels -- Again, does this include the Civic Auditorium, Belmar Park, and/or the multipurpose sports field, none of which residents want to lose? e) Devoting so much of the SMPD resources to downtown -- What about the rest of the city? f) Expanding the Entertainment Zones to other BIDS (i.e., open-carry-alcohol on Montana Avenue, Pico Blvd., and Main Street) – Have any of the nearby residential neighborhoods been asked whether they want this?
Item 11-A
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15 David Yakobson
From: Ellen Mark <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2025 1:18 AM
To: councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Dan Hall; Caroline Torosis; Natalya Zernitskaya; Jesse Zwick
Subject: Item 11A
Importance: High
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed

EXTERNAL
Dear Councilmembers,
I am writing to express my enthusiastic support for reopening City Branch Libraries for service 3 days per week starting January 2026 and expanding to 4 days per week beginning July 2026.

Reopening neighborhood Branches Montana, Fairview and Ocean Park for full service will provide greater access for the public to pursue economic opportunities.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

Sincerely,
Ellen Mark
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
16 David Yakobson
From: Zennon Ulyate-Crow <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2025 8:51 AM
To: councilmtgitems
Cc: Ellis Raskin; [email protected]; Caroline Torosis; Dan Hall; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; Lana Negrete; Oliver Chi
Subject: Abundance Network Santa Monica - Comment Letter on Item 11.A 10/28/2025 Attachments: ANSM 25.10.28 - Renaissance Agenda Letter.pdf

EXTERNAL
City Council,
Please find attached below Abundance Network Santa Monica’s letter in strong support of item 11.A for tomorrow’s meeting. The letter includes implementation suggestions for staff and some feedback on proposed elements of the plan. Thank you so much for all your hard work in developing this proposal; we’re extremely excited for what’s to come.

All the Best,
Zennon Ulyate-Crow
Abundance Network - Santa Monica Director
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Santa Monica City Council
October 28, 2025
When Santa Monicans overwhelmingly elected all new council members in 2024, it was because they wanted to make the city vibrant, thriving, and safe. People wanted to see their city emerge from an era of stagnation and support people with ideas for growth and change. Clearly, the status quo was not working. The Santa Monica Realignment Plan is delivering on this voter mandate. This plan provides a strong framework for tackling the core issues of safety and affordability that have harmed the livability of our city. We write in extremely strong support of this collection of actions, and applaud staff and the city council members we helped elect for delivering results for Santa Monicans.

Key among issues is the city’s housing shortage, which has excluded the next generation from all that Santa Monica has to offer and deprived city services of the resources they need to function. The Realignment Plan takes the right step of reevaluating our downtown zoning restrictions and directing staff to put flexibility first, making sure our city can be resilient as demands and opportunities change. As part of the downtown revision process, we highly encourage staff and council to switch our zoning code from a euclidean to form-based model.

The code should outline objective standards for building form, but few restrictions on what uses the buildings can contain. Allowing for creative adaptive reuse and openness to unique businesses is exactly what will give Downtown Santa Monica the competitive and innovative edge it needs. However, while we agree increasing housing density Downtown is crucial for recovery, the plan should still prioritize building homes citywide. Both the scale of our crisis and the need for varied home types demand that we develop our commercial corridors and residential neighborhoods, so families and young residents alike can access the areas best suited for them. The commitment to reducing permit processing for new structures through both process elimination and technology modernization is exactly what the city needs more of across every department. We also highly support the creation of a housing registry, which will encourage property owners to fill vacancies and provide important data into the city’s housing stock.

We also elected the new majority to make people feel safe in public spaces, especially in downtown. Under the Realignment Plan, police and homeless services will be strengthened where the problems are most severe. We’re especially encouraged by the creation of a Downtown Services Unit, deployment of walking patrols, increased traffic enforcement, and Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
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hiring of additional Public Safety Officers, which provide a much needed supplement to the work of sworn police. In street safety, we’re highly encouraged by the inclusion of a $500k/yr allocation for traffic calming and other improvements, in addition to adding staff capacity for planning and engineering. These funds should be accompanied by process reforms that will speed up implementation and reduce bureaucratic delay. Finding opportunities to take advantage of bills such as SB 720 and AB 645 to implement red light cameras and speed cameras citywide will also significantly improve public safety. What’s more, the plan will create meaningful quality of life improvements through public infrastructure, such as sidewalks, fountains, signage, and street trees. This is how we make a safer Santa Monica.

With the anti-change politics of yesteryear, Santa Monica lost a generation of the exciting and innovative ideas that make Santa Monica a unique and appealing place to be. We’re extremely supportive of the gondola and ferry concepts that bring fun back to our city, and showcase how we can embrace new infrastructure for future generations to benefit from.

But most of all, we elected this council to bring Santa Monica out of decline. Office vacancies are at an all time high, and hotel revenues at an all time low. Now, though, we have a feasible plan to jumpstart economic growth in Santa Monica. Bringing live music and festivals to the promenade will help provide the spark downtown needs to come back to life, and tackle the public perception problem that is driving away tourists and locals alike. We need to be thinking about how we can make the permitting process for hosting these events extremely easy, such as engaging in a long-term lease agreement of the Promenade with DTSM. Our goal should be to aim for activations at the Pier and Promenade every weekend. Easing permitting restrictions on outdoor dining will make the city more fun and lively, and help increase economic activity.

These are just a few of the measures in the Santa Monica Realignment Plan.

This is a masterpiece of public administration. We have been eagerly awaiting this necessary shakeup in city government and strongly support these changes. Thank you City Manager Oliver Chi and council for crafting this bold new plan for our city focused on outcomes, economic growth, and organizational capacity.

Zennon Ulyate-Crow
Santa Monica Director - Abundance Network
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
17 David Yakobson
From: Bea Nemlaha <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2025 10:28 AM
To: councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; Jesse Zwick
Cc: Oliver Chi
Subject: 10/28/25 Council Agenda 11A

EXTERNAL
You are the stewards of our City. Yet you have given the people who live here and their representative neighborhood associations a mere 3 working days to consider and comment on a major Santa Monica Realignment Plan which has surely been in the works for much longer.

Why does an “economic crisis” justify excluding your constituents from participating in plans to re-constitute Santa Monica from a once exciting cultural and arts destination to a bland Los Angeles suburb with a beach?
Bea Nemlaha
Ocean Park
Item 11-A
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Item 11-A
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18 David Yakobson
From: Tricia Crane <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2025 11:03 AM
To: councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Jesse Zwick; Caroline Torosis; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; Oliver Chi; Heidi von Tongeln Subject: Council Agenda Item 11-A (11/28/2025) City Manager Oliver Chi’s “Realignment Plan" for Santa Monica - Sell City land? Tax the residents?

EXTERNAL
To: Mayor Negrete and members of the Santa Monica City Council From: The Board of Northeast Neighbors
Re: City Council Agenda Item 11-A, Council meeting of Oct. 28, 2025 Without any opportunity to engage the people of Santa Monica or to allow them to provide input, City Manager Oliver Chi has assembled his “Santa Monica Realignment Plan” and placed it on this Tuesday's City Council Agenda (Item 11-A.)
As Marc Verville, the former chair of the City’s Audit Subcommittee has noted, despite media descriptions to the contrary, this “Plan” is simply a repackaging of existing policies and provides no new initiatives that will actually turn the city’s visitor-based economy around. He points out that the major revenue initiative in the “Plan” is the one-time sale of City assets. There are no proposals to increase ongoing City revenues. Initiatives to revitalize the declining heart of the city’s economic activity, downtown, seem to focus on landscaping. The only new ongoing revenue, Verville points out, is a proposed parcel tax which, critically, does not rely on creating improved economic activity.

We are concerned that the Plan was posted in the Council Agenda on Thursday, Oct. 23, without first holding a Study Session to allow the people of Santa Monica to comment on its implications. Was Item 11-A
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19 City Manager Chi rushing to advance his Plan because he feared it would not withstand public scrutiny?
We would like to know what the Plan is if the people of our city don’t support another parcel tax? There are sweeteners in the Chi Plan, including more access to our libraries and increased Code Enforcement, but neither moves the needle in either direction.

The City Manager was quoted in an article in The Planning Report on October 17 as saying, “What gives me optimism is that our City Council understands the urgency and is united around this direction. Yes, the full Realignment Plan will go before the Council and community on October 28, and I’m confident we’re ready to move from diagnosis to execution.” While the report acknowledges “disorder, homelessness, and economic contraction” there is no plan to seriously tackle the homeless problem, which is a key driver of the wholesale visitor and retailer abandonment of the city. As it stands today, the homeless demographic constitutes 70% of all SMPD arrests, totaling approximately 2,000 per year, a rate that has remained consistent since at least 2019.

There is no mention of the urgent need to end this practice.

In the section titled “Land-Asset Strategy to Replenish Cash Reserves” Chi reports that the Plan calls for the sale of City owned land downtown, including:
 4th/5th/Arizona: 2.57 acres
 Kiss-and-Ride Lot: 1.09 acres
 Parking Structure 1: 0.75 acres
 Old Fire Station 1: 0.34 acres
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
20 Chi states “If we advance the correct strategy in developing the four above identified properties, the City could reasonably expect to create $100 - $200 million in value, which would facilitate rebuilding the City’s cash reserve levels back towards the $200–$300 million range by 2028” Advancing the sale of these valuable City assets could be an indicator that the City’s financial situation is even worse than the public understands.

The proposals to sell Parking Structure 1 and rely on a parcel tax indicate that the City appears to be walking away from any intention of revitalizing the commercial economy. Given the growing structural deficit, this is not sustainable on a long-term basis. Where is the Plan to revitalize ongoing commercially-driven income streams to revitalize City finances and keep pace with inflation-driven City costs?
If Chi wanted to be transparent, he would have included a table in the staff report that showed the proposed ongoing revenue and cost increases. Instead, we all are left to guess. Given our increasingly dire financial situation, the people of Santa Monica deserve a real accounting from Chi.

Below is the link to the Agenda item. Read it and weep. https://santamonicacityca.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=1455 The Board of Northeast Neighbors
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
21 David Yakobson
From: Hunter Hall <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2025 11:40 AM
To: Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya
Cc: Oliver Chi; councilmtgitems
Subject: Support for Oliver Chi + Realignment Plan!
Attachments: Realignment Plan-SUPPORT 10.28.25.pdf

EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor Negrete & Councilmembers,
We are writing to express our strong support for City Manager Oliver Chi and the proposed Santa Monica Realignment Plan. As someone invested in Main Street and the restaurant community, I believe this plan is exactly what Santa Monica needs to restore safety, cleanliness, and civic pride.

The Realignment Plan pairs public safety and cleanliness with smart economic revitalization — a combination that will directly benefit our small businesses and local dining scene. The focus on increased police presence, homeless outreach, and reinvestment in public spaces will make our corridors more welcoming and secure for residents and visitors alike.

These spaces became symbols of resilience and community during difficult years, and supporting them now is essential to sustaining Main Street’s recovery.

The plan’s broader efforts — streamlined permitting, faster plan checks, cultural events, and fiscal stability — will restore energy and confidence across the city. City Manager Chi’s leadership offers a clear roadmap to a stronger, safer, and more vibrant Santa Monica.

We urge you to adopt the Realignment Plan and carry its spirit of renewal through fair, practical support for the local businesses that define our community.

Sincerely,
Hunter G. Hall
Executive Director
Main Street Business Improvement Association
314.323.4663
[email protected]
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
To: Santa Monica City Council
From: Main Street BID
Date: October 27th, 2025
Subject: Support for City Manager Oliver Chi and the Realignment Plan! Dear Mayor Negrete & Councilmembers,
We are writing to express our strong support for City Manager Oliver Chi and the proposed Santa Monica Realignment Plan. As someone invested in Main Street and the restaurant community, I believe this plan is exactly what Santa Monica needs to restore safety, cleanliness, and civic pride.

Just as important, the reduction of outdoor dining fees and elimination of wastewater fees is a vital step. We urge the Council to make this provision retroactive and to waive outstanding parklet payment plans with respect to any wastewater fees. These spaces became symbols of resilience and community during difficult years, and supporting them now is essential to sustaining Main Street’s recovery.

We urge you to adopt the Realignment Plan and carry its spirit of renewal through fair, practical support for the local businesses that define our community.

Sincerely,
Executive Director
Main Street Business Improvement Association
314.323.4663
[email protected]
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025
Item 11-A
October 28, 2025

Santa Monica City CouncilOctober 28, 2025

Santa Monica City Council
October 28, 2025