Ashley Oelson was the first candidate to return the questionnaire prepared by students in our journalism class at the Police Activities League., and today we bring you one by Lindsay Davis — ❤️Daisy The Venice Healer. For more on Davis’ campaign, visit her website.
1. If you are elected, what is the first thing you would want to do?
I want to bring people together around a shared purpose: meeting the needs of all life through collaboration, freely given contributions, and dependable follow-through. My first step would be to bring residents, city staff, nonprofits, and local businesses together to launch A Call to Love—111, a proposed community care system that connects people who need help with people who can provide it. Every initiative should have a lead, a first task, and a date to report back. Less arguing about what is wrong, more working together on what we can do.
2. If you could be remembered for one thing for your work in City Council, what would it be?
I want to be remembered for helping Santa Monica become a city where nobody is disposable, nature is part of our family, and everyone has something meaningful to contribute. I want to help transform government from something people fight over into something that cares for people, like a nurturing parent. My vision is a city built around three things: healing, biodiversity, and fellowships where we can give, receive, learn, teach, and create together.
3. What can we do to raise more money for schools so we can have better supplies and working water fountains? Do you support Measure ES?
We need to make sure every student has clean drinking water, working facilities, and the supplies they need to learn. I would bring the City, school district, parent groups, local businesses, and community foundations together to identify immediate needs and pursue grants, donations, and public funding. We should publish a clear list of needs, costs, responsible parties, and completion dates so families can see what is getting done.
I support the goal of reliable school funding, and Measure ES deserves serious consideration. It proposes a $495 annual parcel tax, adjusted for inflation, to provide ongoing funding for Santa Monica public schools. Before taking a definitive position, I want residents to have clear answers about accountability, how the funds will be used, and how school facilities will remain accessible to the community. Our children deserve both dependable resources and transparent stewardship.
4. How do we help people get around who are too young to drive and might not have easy access to a bus?
Young people deserve independence without having to depend on a parent with a car for every trip. I would explore youth transit passes, safer walking and biking routes, protected bike lanes, secure bike parking, and better connections between schools, parks, libraries, the beach, and public transportation. We should ask young people directly what routes feel unsafe and what destinations they cannot easily reach.
Bonus: What is something adults in Santa Monica are arguing about that you think is a waste of time to argue about?
Arguing about who is the good guy and who is the bad guy while the problem remains unsolved. We can disagree without treating one another as enemies. I’d rather see us identify everyone’s underlying needs, listen with curiosity, and work toward solutions we can measure. We have real challenges to address, and our time is better spent building a city we love than fighting over who gets credit.
5. If you were looking to interview someone about the topic of your choice, who would you interview and what would it be about?
I’d interview young people experiencing homelessness alongside the people working to support them. I’d ask what actually helps, what barriers keep people from getting housed, and what a community designed around belonging and universal human needs would look like. Too often, we make decisions about people without listening to them. I want the people most affected to help design the solutions.
6. If you had Elon Musk money, what would you do to support the people of Santa Monica?
I’d invest in a city where everyone’s basic needs matter. First, I’d help expand access to stable housing, mental health support, food, and human connection. I’d create welcoming fellowship spaces in vacant storefronts where people could share skills, learn, teach, make art, and support one another without money being the price of belonging.
I’d also invest in youth programs, clean water, public spaces, native gardens, food forests, wildlife habitat, and accessible transportation. I’d build and test a connected system of care so that when someone asks for help, a real person responds and follows up. And I’d publish the spending and results for everyone to see.
The goal wouldn’t be to make people dependent on a wealthy benefactor. It would be to build a community where everyone has the resources, relationships, and opportunities to thrive. That’s the kind of wealth I want Santa Monica to create together.
