In what will be an emotional evening for many, this will be the last time Mayor Phil Brock and Councilmembers Gleam Davis, Christine Parra and Oscar de la Torre will be sitting on that side of the dais. And it won’t even be for very long as newly-elected Councilmembers Dan Hall, Ellis Raskin, Barry Snell and Natalya Zernitskaya take their positions.
And Vice Mayor Lana Negrete will become Mayor. In January 2023, the Council voted six to one to change the system going forward to “select the longest continuously serving Councilmember, whether initially elected or appointed, to serve as Mayor for a one-year term.”
According to Rule 17 within the council protocol, “after each municipal election, the City Clerk shall determine City councilmember seating order by drawing lots, with the exception of the Vice Mayor, who shall be seated next to the Mayor. Changes in seating may be allowed by the Mayor, without requiring a vote, for good cause when those changing seats consent.”
So who will end up sitting next to who, ultimately remains to be seen. Moreover, a majority vote will be taken as to who the new Vice Mayor will be. Councilmember Caroline Torosis will be the second longest serving councilmember after Negrete and despite arguably being the favorite candidate, there is no guarantee that she will be awarded the role of deputy.
Speaking to the Daily Press, Negrete spoke of how emotional and humbling the experience is given that she hailed from a very modest, working class background. “I only wish my dad was alive to see because, you know, my parents became citizens here, and I remember it distinctly, standing in front of City Hall with a picture. So that part is very heartwarming, and I'm really excited to just embrace all of that,” she said.
She spoke of how many might not realize that the position of Mayor is not omnipotent or all-powerful. “We get asked or blamed for things that we really don't have a lot of control over, some of which are things outside of the city's hands.” she said,” adding, “So, my only fear is that there will be this expectation to address and attack major issues that are national issues like homelessness and crime and they'll expect to see immediate results that unfortunately, as an elected official in a charter city, are not unattainable.”
Davis put her own, unique stamp on Council by highlighting a different animal waiting to find their forever home at the Santa Monica Animal Shelter and Brock chose to highlight a different element of Santa Monica history each meeting. Many are curious as to how Negrete will personalize her mayorship.
“Mine is going to be a community voice video. We'll highlight a person and there'll be a forum that has three questions; what do you love most about Santa Monica? What issue would you like to see City Council address? And how are you giving back to your community? And those three simple questions, people can submit somebody, and we will highlight someone. And the goal is to highlight people of every age, from every background.”
Negrete said that years ago, when she was growing up, her first exposure to City Council was when her school sports team received a commendation and she hopes that by highlighting local residents, it might ignite an interest in local politics, where they had previously not been particularly interested.
scott.snowden@smdp.com
