The Santa Monica City Council voted 5-1 early Wednesday to pursue upzoning of single-family neighborhoods near the Metro E Line's Expo/Bundy station rather than adopt a planning staff recommendation that would have increased density on multifamily parcels, reversing course on how the city plans to temporarily shield the area from a new state housing law.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/in-a-policy-paradox-council-pushes-density-into-single-family-neighborhood-to-delay-statewide-housing-law/

The terrain of this conflict is familiar to anyone who has sat through a City Council meeting and seen little discussion of how people move through a city, whether a twenty-story building belongs on a street that has never seen anything taller than three, and whether the view from a resident’s kitchen window is a private amenity or a public good worth protecting. These disputes look local, almost parochial, but they are also proxies for something much larger: a redefinition of who has standing to shape the place they live in.

Read More: https://smmirror.com/sm-a-r-t-column-the-war-over-who-gets-to-decide/

In the race for three seats on the Rent Control Board, former Mayor Sue Himmelrich won an endorsement in the second round of voting after falling short of the 55 percent threshold with 48.4 percent of the vote.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2026/July-2025/07_17_2026_Dem_Club_Makes_Endorsements_in_3_Local_Races.html

It  came after Councilmember Lana Negrete -- who is heading a slate challenging the liberal establishment -- finished first with 181 votes, followed by Torosis with 164 votes, with neither meeting the threshold.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2026/July-2025/07_16_2026_Dem_Club_Makes_No_Council_Endorsements.html

Item 11B, added to the agenda Thursday, would send voters as many as three separate measures amending the city charter’s rent control and housing policy articles...

A second proposed measure would bar landlords from evicting tenants over unpaid rent below a yet-to-be-set threshold amount. A third would revise rules around evicting tenants for adding unauthorized occupants, extend eviction protections to people remaining in a unit after the original tenant leaves, add just cause protections to single-unit homes and condominiums, and change requirements for owner move-in evictions from units not subject to rent control. 

Read More: https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp_backissues/071326.pdf

he Third Street Promenade became successful because it felt different. It wasn’t Sunset Boulevard. It wasn’t Times Square. It was a place where people came to walk, eat dinner, watch street performers, and enjoy being outside without being overwhelmed by advertising. 

The City has now approved large digital displays along portions of the Promenade as part of its effort to revitalize downtown, and the first proposals — including one for a landmarked building — are arriving. The reasoning is understandable: vacancies remain a challenge, city finances are tight, and officials are looking for ways to generate revenue and draw visitors back downtown. Filling storefronts, shoring up the budget, and bringing people back are worthwhile goals. 

Read More: https://smmirror.com/sm-a-r-t-column-the-promenade-wasnt-built-to-be-a-billboard/

Construction will start this month on an 82-unit senior housing project -- which includes supportive housing for homeless seniors -- at the site of a public parking lot near Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center.

Developed by Hollywood Community Housing Corporation (HCHC), the new affordable housing project on the surface lot at 1211-1217 14th Street will be accompanied by a 48-unit family apartment building, with at least half of the units two- and three-bedrooms.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2026/July-2025/07_13_2026_Construction_to_Start_on_Housing_for_Homeless_Seniors.html

The free community event will be held on Thursday, July 23, from 4 to 7 p.m. as "an open street celebration" that will take place on Main Street between Hollister Avenue and Ocean Park Boulevard.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2026/July-2025/07_13_2026_Residents_Invited_to_Upcoming_State_of_the_City.html

The City Council is expected to place a parcel tax measure on the November ballot to fund local schools after Santa Monica voters approved seven tax measures in the past two elections.

The measure -- which requires a two-thirds majority for approval --would establish an annual parcel tax of $495 per taxable parcel within the city, with the amount adjusted annually for inflation.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2026/July-2025/07_08_2026_Council_to_Consider_Parcel_Tax.html

The nomination period for Santa Monica’s November election opens Monday, July 13, with candidates able to file for three seats on the City Council, three seats on the Rent Control Board, four seats on the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board and four seats on the Santa Monica College District Board.

Read More: https://smmirror.com/santa-monica-opens-nomination-period-for-city-council-rent-control-board-school-and-college-boards/