1 David Yakobson
From: Daklass1 <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 8, 2026 9:43 AM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: 9-8-26 Council Agenda Item 11.A
EXTERNAL
Don't approve resolution to join Westside Cities Affordable Housing Trust. Don't further dilute Santa Monica control over its housing policy and density.
David Klass
Wellesley Dr. 90405
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1 David Yakobson
From: Cecilia Haggerstrom <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, September 8, 2026 10:17 AM
To: councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Ellis Raskin; Caroline Torosis; Barry Snell; Dan Hall; [email protected]; Jesse Zwick
Subject: 11. A.- Adoption of a resolution to appoint membership into Westside affordable housing Trust
EXTERNAL
Good evening, Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council. My name is Cecilia Haggerstrom and I am a lifelong resident of Santa Monica.
I am here to urge this council to look beyond the slick marketing of the Westside Cities Affordable Housing Trust and deeply consider the severe burdens and structural transparency issues this agreement forces upon our community.
While the concept of regional cooperation sounds noble, the reality of this Joint Powers Agreement is a direct attack on local oversight. By joining this trust, we are handing over critical financing and land-use decisions to an unelected, unaccountable board. Our local tax dollars—funds that Santa Monica residents specifically voted for through local measures to fix our schools and build our own community—will be tossed into a pooled regional pot. This means our tax dollars could easily be diverted to bankroll luxury-adjacent "affordable" projects in Beverly Hills, Culver City, or West Hollywood, while Santa Monica’s own Housing trust fund remains severely stretched thin.
Even more alarming is the exposure to financial liability. We have already watched locally funded projects, like the Virginia Avenue Apartments rehab, run millions over budget. If this regional trust encounters multi-million dollar cost overruns, Santa Monica taxpayers will be the ones forced to foot the bill for projects we didn't even vote for or approve.
But we cannot talk about this trust without addressing the massive elephant in the room: the glaring lack of transparency and systemic conflicts of interest plaguing this council. We are being asked to trust leadership on housing policy when state regulators at the California Fair Political Practices Commission recently had to step in and [rule that our own Mayor Pro Tem had a disqualifying conflict of interest] due to his employment with a powerful pro-development lobbying group.
Furthermore, residents have repeatedly raised alarms and formal complaints regarding other council members' relationships with developers, specifically concerning massive taxpayer expenditures and ground leases passed with minimal transparency. When council members are deeply entangled with pro-developer agendas, pushing for policies like the Off-site Affordable Housing Program, that lets market-rate builders buy their way out of inclusionary requirements, the public loses all faith.
This regional trust is a developer's dream. It creates a centralized, unelected clearinghouse to bypass local zoning, crowd neighborhoods with high-density complexes, and strip residents of their voice.
Before you hand over our local authority and tax dollars to an independent board, you must first clean up Item 11-A
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2 the ethical cloud hanging over our city's housing decisions. I ask that you do not just postpone this vote to tweak the edges—you need to reject this structural overreach entirely until absolute transparency and local accountability can be guaranteed to the residents who actually live here.
Thank you.
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1 David Yakobson
From: Nikki Kolhoff <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 8, 2026 11:59 AM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: July 8 City Council Agenda Item 11A - OPPOSE Westside Community Land Trust Attachments: 2026-04 Pico_Corridors_of_Opportunity_Final.pptx; Pico_Corridors_of_Opportunity_Project_Context_and_Status.pdf
EXTERNAL
Dear City Council -
I am asking you to oppose joining a Westside Cities Affordable Housing Trust when Mayor Caroline Torosis and Staff have not been forthcoming about what the ultimate goal is all the components of this plan. The full plan needs to be presented for community feedback, especially in the impacted neighborhoods.
Mayor Torosis has been methodically pushing each piece of her plan without disclosing the plan. Attached is her "Pico Corridors of Opportunity" presentation to Harvard in April. This is for a program she applied for months before that, and brought Oliver Chi with her to present.
Most galling is that she presents this as something the Pico residents have been asking for, but she didn't work at all with the Pico Neighborhood Association! And nowhere in any City Council Agenda item has she used the project name "Pico Corridors of Opportunity". Instead she had pushed the components of her plan deceptively independently, including:
- Rand deal
- Restorative Justice Commission
- Funding of Restorative Justice Commission to be used to buy property for the CLT - Exploring CLTs
- Freeway cap
It's worth noting that Caroline's presentation includes data re rent v own statistics and displacement data that staff claimed not to have for the SB79 item and that Caroline did not produce.
Caroline's pitch statement calims this is merely her plan being offered as a suggestion to the Restorative Justice Commission to consider, but she is the Mayor and the City Manager traveled with her to the presentation, giving the impression it's a city program. How much did this duplicity cost the residents?
It should be noted that Caroline Torosis proudly posted images of her making this presentation on social media but then refused to provide the materials upon the request of a resident. These attachments had to be obtained via PRA.
Please vote NO and require Mayor Torosis to be transparent with the Santa Monica residents, especially the Pico community that is the subject of her pet project, before moving forward on any piece of Caroline's personal plan.
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2 Regards,
Nikki Kolhoff
Sunset Park Resident
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SANTA MONICA PROJECT
Pico Corridors
of Opportunity
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Proposed Project: Pico Corridors of Opportunity
Program Overview
Pico Corridors of Opportunity is Santa Monica's Restorative Justice & Wealth-Building Program — one of the nation's most ambitious locallyfunded efforts to address historical racial harm through direct economic action.
Rooted in a $3.5M Restorative Justice Fund seeded by funding from the Ebony Beach Club settlement, the program targets residents of Pico, Santa Monica's most diverse and historically displaced community.
Key strategies: stabilizing legacy businesses, investing in Pico Blvd, and piloting a Community Land Trust to create permanently affordable housing and commercial space.
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PART 1:
STATE OF THE CITY
5-6 MINUTES
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Population: City & Pico Neighborhood
Source: U.S. Census Bureau Decennial Census (2000, 2010, 2020); ACS 2023 5-Year Estimates 91,535
Santa Monica
Population (2023)
11,019
Pico Neighborhood
Population (2023)
+3.7%
SM Citywide Growth
2010–2020
Pico Growth 2010
–1.5%–2020
vs. +3.7% citywide
0 20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
2000 2010 2020 2023
Santa Monica Pico Neighborhood
KEY FINDING
Pico's population dipped 2010–2020 even as
the city grew - an early signal of
displacement. At 18,000 people/sq mi, it is
already one of the densest neighborhoods in
Santa Monica.
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Racial & Ethnic Composition and Change
Source: U.S. Census Bureau Decennial Census (2000–2020); ACS 2023 5-Year Estimates 35%
35%
12%
11%
7%
Pico Neighborhood (2023)
White (Non-Hispanic) Hispanic/Latino Black/African American Asian Other/Two+
62% 16%
9%
5%
8%
Santa Monica Citywide (2023)
White (Non-Hispanic) Hispanic/Latino Asian
Black/African American Other/Two+
64.6%
of Pico
residents
are nonwhite
vs. 38.2%
citywide
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Median Income: City & Pico Neighborhood
Source: ACS 2018 & 2023 5-Year Estimates; Decennial Census 2000, 2010 0 20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
2000 2010 2018 2023
Santa Monica Pico Neighborhood
$109K
SM Median Income (2023)
$85K
Pico Median Income (2023)
22.8%
Pico Homeownership
(vs. 29% citywide)
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Poverty & Displacement Risk
Source: ACS 2023 5-Year Estimates; UC Berkeley Urban Displacement Project
15.9%
Pico Poverty Rate
(vs. 11.6% citywide)
77%
Pico Renters
(vs. 71% citywide)
$2K+
Median Gross Rent
Pico (2023)
81 CalEnviroScreen
–85%
Percentile (State)
KEY JUSTICE FINDING
UC Berkeley identifies Pico tracts as Santa Monica's highest displacement risk. Low homeownership (22.8%) means most residents have no owned asset as values rise. I-10 freeway compounds environmental harm daily.
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State of the City Justice/Injustice SWOT
STRENGTHS / ASSETS
• Most racially diverse neighborhood in SM — decades of documented stable integration
• Strong Pico Neighborhood Association & grassroots civic engagement • Vibrant Latino-owned Pico Blvd corridor, cultural anchors, walkable retail
• Virginia Ave Park (9.3ac), Memorial Park (10.3ac), Gandara Park • Big Blue Bus, Metro E Line, bike infrastructure — mobility without a car
OPPORTUNITIES
• Expand homeownership via shared equity & down payment assistance • Business Ownership Fund for local Pico entrepreneurs
• Pico Community Land Trust pilot for permanent affordability • I-10 freeway cap / reconnective infrastructure study
• Youth workforce & entrepreneurship pathways
• Replicable national model for place-based restorative investment
CHALLENGES
• ~$85K median income vs. $109K citywide — gap persists 30+ years • 22.8% homeownership — lowest in Santa Monica
• 15.9% poverty rate — 37% above citywide
• Freeway proximity: elevated pollution & health risks
• Educational achievement gap; resource inequity persists
THREATS
• Highest displacement risk in SM — UC Berkeley Urban Displacement Project
• ~$1.6M median home price fueling gentrification
• Loss of Black & Latino cultural anchors
• Airport conversion (post-2028) projected to spike adjacent land values • State limits on local tenant protections
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PART 2:
MAYOR'S JUST CITY
MANIFESTO
3-4 MINUTES
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MAYOR'S MANIFESTO
My Just City is Santa Monica
Santa Monica is a coastal city where prosperity is truly shared, and where historic harms, especially those endured by the Pico Neighborhood, are actively repaired through community ownership, cultural recognition, and inclusive economic opportunity.
Restorative Justice Community Ownership Anti-Displacement Economic Inclusion Cultural Recognition Health & Environmental Justice Community-Led Governance Poverty Alleviation
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Mayor's Manifesto: Conditions of Injustice We Must Address Historic Displacement
Belmar Triangle demolished via eminent
domain. I-10 freeway bisected Pico,
displacing hundreds of families.
Persistent Income Gap
$85K Pico median vs. $109K citywide — a
structural gap persisting for 30+ years with no
intervention.
Low Homeownership
22.8% — the lowest in Santa Monica. Most
Pico residents have no appreciating asset to
anchor them.
High Poverty
15.9% poverty rate — 37% above citywide.
Child poverty disproportionately high.
Environmental Burden
Two Pico tracts at 81–85th CalEnviroScreen
percentile statewide. I-10 pollution is a daily
harm.
High Displacement Risk
UC Berkeley: Pico tracts are Santa Monica's
highest displacement risk. Median home price
~$1.6M.
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Mayor's Manifesto: What a Just Pico Looks Like
PLACES
Neighborhood Needs
• Safe, affordable & habitable housing
for all
• Community-owned commercial spaces
• Revitalized Pico Blvd corridor
• Freeway cap / reconnective
infrastructure
• Cultural landmarks and memorial
spaces
• Quality public education & outdoor
recreation
PEOPLE
Wellbeing Needs
• Workforce development programs
• Small business capital & technical
assistance
• Down payment assistance programs
• Youth career pathways
• Anti-displacement housing protections
• Healthy food options & affordable
childcare
PARTICIPATION
Governance Needs
• Community-led Restorative Justice
Commission
• Accessible opportunities for public
input
• Participatory design processes
• Capacity building for local
organizations
• Inclusion of displaced
families/descendants
• Transparent funding and decisionmaking
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PART 3:
PRIORITY PROJECT
SITE
10-12 MINUTES
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Priority Project Site: Pico Neighborhood Today
Virginia Avenue Park
9.3 acres — Pico's anchor park, home to after-school
programs, youth sports, and community events serving
10,000+ annually
Pico Blvd Commercial Corridor
The spine of neighborhood commerce — home to
Latino-owned restaurants, family shops, service
businesses, and cultural institutions for decades
18th Street Arts Center
National artists-in-residence program anchoring creative economy and cultural identity on the west side of Pico
McCabe's Guitar Shop
50+ year Pico institution — live music venue and
independent music retailer that has defined the
neighborhood's cultural character
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Priority Project Site: Cultural Assets & Legacy Sites
01 Site of the Belmar Triangle
Now: Civic Auditorium & parking lot, Pico/4th St
Interpretive installation + memorial designation
at Historic Belmar Park. Storytelling that names
what was destroyed.
02 Silas White's Ebony Beach
Club
Now: The Viceroy Hotel, 1819 Ocean Ave
Silas White Day (Oct. 12) + Silas White Street
at Vicente Terrace + permanent exhibit at Main
Library — all underway.
03 Pico Youth & Family Center
(PYFC)
2781 Pico Blvd
Priority anchor tenant for any CLT commercial
space. Youth workforce & entrepreneurship
pipeline to Pico businesses.
04 McCabe's Guitar Shop
3101 Pico Blvd — 50+ year legacy business
Priority stabilization candidate for Business
Ownership Fund. Long-term commercial lease
lock-in or acquisition support.
05 18th Street Arts Center
1639 18th St — national artists-in-residence
program
Cultural anchor for creative economy corridor.
Explore CLT partnership to protect institutional
space from redevelopment pressure.
06 Virginia Avenue Park &
Gandara Park
2200 Virginia Ave / 1819 Pico Blvd
Program delivery hubs for workforce, youth, and
community services. Partnership sites for
outdoor activation and cultural programming.
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Priority Project Site: Land Use, Income & Displacement Maps Source: ACS 2023; UC Berkeley Urban Displacement Project; City of Santa Monica Low-to-Moderate Income Population by Census Tract Pico Neighborhood Land Use — Opportunity Site Identification Item 11-A
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Priority Project Site: Existing Conditions
B.P.O. Elks #906 — Civic & Community Institution Vacant Pico Blvd storefront — Opportunity site Pico Blvd commercial corridor retail Julio's Upholstery — Legacy small business Gilbert's — Latino-owned neighborhood restaurant Pico neighborhood residential housing stock Commercial Corridor Under Pressure
Pico Blvd hosts a mix of legacy Latino-owned businesses, civic institutions, and small retail, but rising rents and vacancies signal active displacement risk. Without intervention, these anchors will not survive the next cycle of appreciation.
Legacy Businesses Need Stability
Julio's Upholstery, Gilbert's Restaurant, and dozens of familyowned businesses represent decades of community investment.
Many operate without long-term leases. A single rent increase can end a 30-year institution overnight.
Housing Stock: Renters Dominant
The Pico neighborhood's mix of single-family homes and small multifamily buildings reflects 77% renter occupancy. With homeownership at just 22.8% — the lowest in Santa Monica — residents have no asset to anchor them as values rise.
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Neighborhood/Site History: A Timeline of Displacement & Repair
Pre-1950s
Racist Covenants
Covenants confined Black
residents to Pico/Belmar — the
only area where they could legally
rent or own.
1950s
Belmar Erasure
City demolished Belmar Triangle
via eminent domain. Silas White's
Ebony Beach Club seized. Site is
now the Viceroy Hotel.
1960s
I-10 Freeway
Freeway bisected Pico, displacing
hundreds more families and
severing neighborhood
connections.
2022
Formal Apology
Santa Monica formally
apologized, acknowledging its
role in condemning Belmar
Triangle properties.
Nov 2025
Ebony Beach Settlement
$350K settlement with Constance
White. Named Silas White Day &
Silas White Street.
Jan 2026
$3.5M RJ Program
City Council unanimously
approved one of the largest
locally-funded reparations
initiatives in the country. Seed
funding from land use deal.
← HARM REPAIR →
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Existing Conditions & Program Pillars
Low-to-Moderate Income Population by Tract
1 Small Business Stabilization and Growth
Provide grants, technical assistance, and access to capital to help neighborhood-serving businesses start, grow, and remain in the Pico Boulevard corridor. 2 Ownership and Community Wealth Building
Create pathways to homeownership and business ownership and pilot a Pico Community Land Trust to support permanently affordable housing and commercial space. 3 Workforce and Youth Opportunity Pathways
Expand workforce training, youth career pathways, and local hiring opportunities that connect Pico residents to quality jobs.
4 Corridor Investment and Revitalization
Invest in streetscape improvements, public spaces, and neighborhood activation to strengthen the Pico Boulevard corridor as a thriving community hub.
5 Community Capacity and Leadership
Support and increase capacity for community organizations and neighborhood leadership that provide services, advocacy, and cultural connection for Pico residents.
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Shared Ownership Models: The Framework for Pico
5x
more households served
per dollar vs. traditional
down payment programs
(Champlain Housing
Trust)
RESIDENTIAL HOMEOWNERSHIP
Community Land Trust (CLT)
Nonprofit holds the land in perpetuity. Homeowner buys the structure at below-market cost and builds equity. When they sell, resale formula keeps the home affordable for the next buyer forever.
Breaks the speculation cycle. Every dollar of public subsidy serves multiple households over generations, not just one. $49K
avg. seller equity gain
at Champlain Housing
Trust
(2019–2023, 115 sales)
DOWN PAYMENT ASSISTANCE + DEED
RESTRICTION
Shared Equity Homeownership
City or nonprofit provides down payment gap funding. In return, buyer agrees to a resale restriction — they keep a portion of appreciation, the rest stays in the affordable pool for the next buyer.
Immediately deployable with existing $3.5M RJ Fund. Fastest path to moving the 22.8% homeownership rate in Pico.
9,300
sf
permanently affordable
commercial space built
by Rondo CLT, St. Paul
MN
SMALL BUSINESS STABILIZATION
Commercial CLT / Ground Lease
CLT acquires commercial buildings or ground leases along Pico Blvd. Businesses lease at below-market rates long-term.
Owners build equity in their business without paying
speculative rent.
Addresses the core threat: even if we help businesses grow, rising rents on Pico will displace them unless the land is removed from the speculative market.
388
member-owners in
PREC
Oakland model — Black,
Indigenous & POC-led
COMMUNITY CO-OWNERSHIP MODEL
Permanent Real Estate
Cooperative (PREC)
Hybrid of CLT and member cooperative. Community
members buy shares in a portfolio of properties — housing and commercial. Builds collective wealth while keeping
individual properties affordable.
Allows Pico residents who can't buy a home to still build wealth from neighborhood investment. Pioneered by EB PREC in
Oakland specifically for communities displaced by redlining.
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Best Practices: Residential Shared Equity & CLT
Homeownership
RESIDENTIAL CLT
Champlain Housing Trust
Burlington, Vermont — founded 1984 with $200K city seed investment 650+
shared-equity
homes stewarded
68%
of sellers go on to
market-rate ownership
$49K
avg. equity gain
per seller (2019–23)
5x
more households served
vs. traditional subsidy
"The big idea: affordable housing is a community asset too valuable to be left to the shifting winds of the speculative market." The model has helped families earning 30% below area median access homeownership — and kept those homes affordable for 40+ years.
PARALLEL STORY TO PICO
Rondo Community Land Trust
St. Paul, Minnesota — named for the Black corridor destroyed by I-94 Origin story mirrors Pico: I-94 sliced through Rondo Avenue in the 1950s — displacing hundreds of Black families and thriving Black-owned businesses, exactly as I-10 did to Pico.
Right to Return: "Right to Return to Rondo" is a reparative justice effort for descendants of I-94 displaced families — guided by a Rondo Elders Council. A direct model for Pico's descendant household priority.
CLT + commercial combined: First CLT in Minnesota to apply the model to commercial development. Built 9,300 sf of permanently affordable commercial space + 34 affordable senior apartments on two long-vacant parcels.
Legacy business stewardship: In 2023, Rondo CLT purchased Golden Thyme Coffee & Café from its owner of 25 years to steward the legacy business and ensure it remains in community hands — a model for McCabe's and other Pico anchors.
rondoclt.org · Founded 1993
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Project Goals, Objectives & Desired Just City Outcomes
SHORT-TERM
1–2 Years
• Launch with community-informed
governance
• Business fund: support 10–15 Pico
entrepreneurs
• Pilot Pico Community Land Trust
exploration
• Home acquisition assistance in highestrisk tracts
• Pico Blvd streetscape improvements
• Launch Silas White exhibit & cultural
installations
MEDIUM-TERM
3–5 Years
• Increase homeownership: 22.8% →
30%
• Support 30+ Pico businesses
• Complete harms report; expand claims
process
• Advance I-10 freeway cap study
LONG-TERM
5–10 Years
• Measurable reduction in income gap
• Pico tracts removed from 'high
displacement risk'
• Pico corridor vacancy ≤ citywide
average
• Improved CalEnviroScreen & HPI
scores
Ultimate measure: Pico residents themselves
report the neighborhood reflects their history,
their ownership, and their belonging.
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Design Scope of Work Needed
GOVERNANCE
Community-Led: A Restorative Justice Commission including Pico residents and descendants of displaced families will govern the program, not City staff alone.
DESIGN
Interpretive installations at Historic Belmar Park telling the story of the Belmar Triangle and Ebony Beach Club
Permanent Silas White Exhibit at Santa Monica Main Library (underway)
Silas White Street designation at Vicente Terrace (underway) Community-participatory design process for any capital improvements in Pico
Freeway Cap Exploration: I-10 freeway land reuse for restorative justice Item 11-A
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PART 4:
MAYOR'S DISCUSSION
QUESTIONS
2 MINUTES
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Key Questions for Design Resource Team Members
01 What does a governance model look like that centers community voice without creating an unaccountable body? 02 How do we design physical interventions — installations, renamed streets, a freeway cap — that do real commemorative work, not performative gestures?
03 What spatial strategies can prevent the Business Ownership Fund from being undermined by rising commercial rents on Pico Blvd?
04 How do we structure the Home Acquisition Program to prioritize descendant households while navigating fair housing law?
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SANTA MONICA · PICO CORRIDORS OF OPPORTUNITY
Backed by $3.5M, one of the nation's most
ambitious locally-funded acts of repair.
Pico residents deserve investment that lifts them, not displaces them. Santa Monica is ready to become a national model for equitable, place-based development.
Mayor Caroline Torosis · Just City Mayoral Fellowship · 2026 Item 11-A
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Pico Corridors of Opportunity Project Context and Status Earlier this year, I was honored to be selected as one of a small group of mayors from across the country for the 2026 Just City Mayoral Fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. I pursued the fellowship because here in Santa Monica, we have begun real restorative work, and I wanted to bring back the best thinking available to help us do it well
My fellowship project, Pico Corridors of Opportunity, examines how Santa Monica might invest in the Pico Neighborhood. And just as importantly, the project studies how we can do so without contributing to the displacement of the residents who live there now. Because a public records request has been made for these materials, I am sharing them openly, along with the context I believe they need.
First, I wanted to describe what these materials are. They are my academic work product from the Harvard fellowship and constitute an exploration of ideas and of approaches other cities have tried, including places like St. Paul, where the I-94 freeway cut through the Rondo neighborhood, much as the I-10 did here.
Of note, this work is not adopted City policy, it was not produced by City staff, and it does not commit the City of Santa Monica to any specific project, site, business, or course of action. The materials constitute a contribution of ideas to a conversation that belongs to the whole community.
Second, and most important to me, I wanted to share a word about history. The Pico Neighborhood’s story holds several distinct chapters that are too often collapsed into one. Racist housing covenants confined Black families to a small part of our city. The City of Santa Monica then used eminent domain to condemn and clear the Belmar Triangle, a harm the City caused directly and for which it formally apologized in 2022. Then, in the 1960s, the construction of the I-10 freeway cut through Pico and displaced even more families.
Today, the residents of Pico continue to carry environmental burdens that deserve to be understood and addressed on their own terms. These chapters are connected and they fell on the same neighborhoods, and often the same families, but they are not the same. They involved different actors, different decades, and different responsibilities. Honest repair has to begin by telling each of them accurately.
That leads to my final point. Repair is not a single thing, and it is not mine to define. What repair means to the descendants of the families displaced from Belmar is not identical to what it means to a longtime Pico renter facing rising rents today, or to a family concerned about the air near the freeway. A presentation can only paint in broad strokes. The real work is specific, and it must be led by the people most affected.
That work now has a home. In January, the City Council unanimously created a $5 million Restorative Justice Fund. This month, the Council established a Restorative Justice Commission to lead a genuine public process and to recommend the City’s next steps. The materials that were developed out of the Harvard fellowship I participated in are offered to that process as one source of ideas among many.
I want to reiterate that nothing has been decided, and nothing will be decided without the input from our residents. I am releasing these materials now because transparency is part of doing this work with integrity, and I welcome the conversation ahead.
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