The Santa Monica Daily Press provided candidates with three opportunities to address readers this year. Candidates were asked to fill out a short form survey, provide responses to written questions and invited into the Daily Press office for a one on-one interview about their candidacy. Candidates were given three questions and allowed to answer any or all of them as they saw fit.
The vast majority of Santa Monica’s homeless population were made homeless somewhere else and traveled to Santa Monica. What is the city’s role and responsibility in addressing homelessness given the regional nature of the problem and the disproportional impact the crisis has on Santa Monica?
Santa Monica’s leaders need to (1) provide an immediate, compassionate response to those who are unhoused (and experiencing housing insecurity) in our city, and (2) ensure that our city is doing its part to address the underlying causes of homelessness.
Our immediate responses to the homelessness crisis should focus on programs that prevent evictions and displacement in the first place. Santa Monica’s Preserving Our Diversity (POD) program has proven to be a successful model for keeping vulnerable seniors in their homes. We should expand the POD program and provide other emergency rental assistance opportunities. Voters who care about these issues should be aware that landlords and developers are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to support Brock, de la Torre, Putnam, and Rocknian. For example, Douglas Emmett (the landlord behind the attempted Barrington Plaza mass evictions) donated $100,000 to support their campaigns.
Santa Monica’s immediate responses should incorporate evidence-based and health-focused strategies. By some estimates, approximately 75% of unhoused individuals in Santa Monica experience some form of mental illness or addiction (which is closely associated with co-occurring mental health issues). We need to work with our partner agencies across LA County to invest in programs like the Therapeutic Transport Vans, behavioral health outreach teams, and other on-the-ground solutions that connect individuals to resources. We need to ensure that we support transitional housing and temporary housing services that are directed at providing resources and health interventions for this vulnerable population. We also need to ensure that individuals experiencing homelessness are provided safe and appropriate emergency shelter space at both a local and regional level. Diversionary programs like the CARE Court and STEP Court programs are also a step in the right direction, though these programs will only be effective if participants can make their way to supportive housing or residency programs that provide a pathway to long-term housing.
As for the underlying causes, experts agree that homelessness in urban areas is largely the result of a lack of affordable housing opportunities. This is a regional and state-wide problem, but Santa Monica needs to do its part to provide our share of meaningful affordable housing opportunities for our residents. Santa Monica obviously cannot solve California’s housing crisis (or the regional housing crisis) on its own. But we need to do our part.
The city's economy continues to lag and a recent study said Santa Monica was among the most expensive places to operate a business. What will you do to address the City’s economic challenges and increase local revenues?
We need to restore trust in public government and ensure that Santa Monica remains an attractive destination for businesses, residents, and visitors.
In my work as an environmental and land use attorney, and as the former Chair of the Santa Monica Planning Commission, I have a deep understanding of the regulatory challenges that business owners face on a daily basis, and I understand the work that will be needed to help our business community recover from the effects of the COVID pandemic, including common-sense regulatory reforms, for example, permit streamlining.
I know from my personal friendships with local business owners in Santa Monica that many businesses are hanging on by their last thread. We need to implement regulatory reforms that are specifically targeted toward struggling small businesses, such as rent relief programs and relief from business taxes. If we don’t implement these programs, then commercial gentrification will only get worse.
We also need to recognize that the retail economy is evolving. Once we finally move forward with the Promenade 3.0 process and other planning initiatives for our business districts, we need to support zoning and other regulatory programs that attract the types of business that will thrive in our post-COVID economy. Experiential retail experiences have proven successful, and so have innovative options for re-using underutilized commercial spaces. As a Planning Commissioner, I advocated for regulatory programs that incentivize these types of creative spaces, and I will continue to advocate for these programs as a member of the City Council.
Every candidate who spoke to the Daily Press brought up Public Safety as a top priority. What has driven this subject to the forefront of local politics and what are you going to do to make residents feel safe in their public spaces?
With the exception of Dan Hall, who fought on the front lines in Iraq, I believe I am the only candidate who has worked for law enforcement agencies in the past. My first two jobs after enrolling in law school were law clerk positions for the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department and the Alameda County Counsel’s Office, where I worked with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department. I worked with these agencies to review use of force policies, a range of policies for interactions with unhoused individuals, and other issues relating to the day-to-day challenges of operating a law enforcement agency.
We need to make sure that our police department is appropriately staffed. If Chief Batista tells us that we need more officers after we fill existing vacancies, we should figure out how to meet the Department’s needs. I understand that as of mid- 2023, there were as many as 50 retirements that were expected within the Police Department within the next few years. These waves of retirements are cyclical, and I understand our city has experienced similar waves of retirements in the past. Our budget process will need to account for this and ensure that we are appropriately compensating existing officers.
Fundamentally, we need to implement smart, forward-thinking policing strategies. By embracing equitable 21st Century public safety strategies, which will require careful integration of new technologies, I am confident that we can address our public safety needs within the scope of existing budget constraints. Strategies such as drones, real-time watch centers, and other high-tech solutions have proven successful in other communities and should be supported here in Santa Monica. I will also ensure that our city allocates appropriate resources to support our police and fire departments with trained mental health professionals who can proactively reach out to individuals experiencing homelessness to get them the treatment they need.
We also need to think holistically about public safety. In a county where more people die from traffic violence than gun violence, we need to prioritize public safety on our streets. We also need to continue to step up efforts against retail theft, and we need to continue to be prepared to respond to natural disasters.
