Photo by Eli Gill: Tree trimmers get to work shorty after the passage of the Santa Monica Realignment Plan
Last year, Santa Monicans took the decisive step of electing an entirely new city council, rejecting the old politics of Santa Monica in favor of a vision to make our community vibrant, thriving, and safe. Now, not even a year into their terms, the new council we worked to elect has delivered on that mandate. With leadership from Mayor Pro-Tem Torosis, Councilmembers Zwick, Zernitskaya, Hall, Snell, and Raskin, and our new City Manager Oliver Chi, council approved the Santa Monica Realignment Plan last Tuesday. This plan provides a multi-year framework to tackle the core issues of safety and affordability that have harmed the livability of our city.
Since the Covid-19 Pandemic, Santa Monica has been in decline. Prior council majorities have had a chance to do something about it, but instead chose to cling onto a bygone era, refusing to embrace the change needed to build Santa Monica’s future. Now, with a change-oriented group of leaders, the new council majority has taken decisive action on the problems that have plagued Santa Monica.
We elected the new council majority to deal with the city’s housing affordability crisis. The Realignment Plan makes building possible in Santa Monica, implementing a permitting modernization process that will cut permit wait times down to a matter of weeks. Additionally, the plan includes a new vision for how we can bring more residents to downtown, increasing the number of homes and bringing some life back to our empty streets. It also creates a vacant property registry and fee, which will push landlords to make sure vacancies are filled and maintenance is done.
We elected the new majority so Santa Monicans can 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, hiring additional public safety officers and bringing police out of patrol cars and onto the street. What’s more, the plan will create meaningful quality of life improvements through public infrastructure, such as new sidewalks, fountains, signage, and street trees. This is how we make a safer Santa Monica.
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. The plan will bring live music and festivals to the promenade and pier, helping provide the spark downtown needs to come back to life and tackle the public perception problem that is driving away tourists and locals alike. The relaxation of 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 plan is the result of a strong voter mandate for change. Forward-looking policies like these are what are necessary to build a capable, thriving city with enough room for everyone. Now, we must do the hard work of making this bold vision a reality. We strongly support the council’s vision for our future, and are excited for what is to come.
Zennon Ulyate-Crow is the Santa Monica Director with Abundance Network, and Mati Fuchs-Lynch is a high school student and Administrative and Communications Intern with Abundance Network Santa Monica. ANSM is working to bring down costs and make Santa Monica a livable community for all.
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