Member of the City Council, City of Santa Monica
What does this office do?
- Passing city laws, called ordinances
- Approving the city budget
- Funding city services, such as police, trash, and parks
Affects: Environment and Public Health, Government Efficiency, Government Spending Reduction,
Candidates:
Nonpartisan
Ashley Oelsen is a conservation biologist and Santa Monica sustainability commissioner who chaired the Clean Oceans and Beaches Measure V oversight panel. She wants data-tracked homeless services and full police staffing to restore downtown safety.
Records: Environment and Public Health 1 for
Nonpartisan
Brett Morrow is chief communications officer for the LA County Department of Public Health and a Santa Monica human services commissioner. He backs the SaMo Bridge homelessness diversion program and childcare subsidies for workers.
Nonpartisan · Incumbent
Caroline Torosis is Santa Monica's mayor, a workers' rights attorney, and a former six-year Rent Control Board member. She wants to build affordable housing on city-owned land and keep local shelter beds for Santa Monica's own unhoused residents.
Records: Housing Affordability 4 for, Public Safety and Crime Control 2 against, Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties 1 for
Nonpartisan
Daniel "Danny" Ivanov is an attorney who chairs the Santa Monica Rent Control Board. He supports homelessness-prevention subsidies and dense housing downtown and on commercial boulevards while keeping single-family neighborhoods as they are.
Records: Housing Affordability 1 for
Nonpartisan
Derrick Townsend is a licensed occupational therapist with 18 years in healthcare. He wants mandatory treatment for people with addiction or mental illness on the streets and tax cuts for small businesses.
Nonpartisan
Doug Trussler co-founded the investment firm Bison Capital and has spent 35 years in private equity; he also volunteers as an AYSO coach and board member. He wants audits of city-funded nonprofits and 3,000 to 5,000 new homes downtown.
Nonpartisan
Eli Gill is a business operations manager with a background in insurance operations and a Santa Monica renter and public-school parent. He wants a 24/7 shelter placement system and public dashboards that track crime and city spending.
Nonpartisan
Ericka Lesley sits on the Santa Monica Rent Control Board, where she was its first Black woman member, and has long advocated for domestic violence survivors. She wants regional burden-sharing on homelessness and housing in commercial zones while protecting R2 neighborhoods.
Records: Housing Affordability 1 for
Nonpartisan · Incumbent
Lana Negrete is a Santa Monica councilmember and former mayor who owns the Santa Monica Music Center. She backs Flock cameras and strict anti-camping enforcement, and wants City Hall back on a five-day-a-week schedule.
Records: Housing Affordability 3 for, Public Safety and Crime Control 2 for
Nonpartisan
Lindsay Davis, known as Daisy the Venice Healer, is a yoga instructor who runs volunteer food forests, healing circles, and beach cleanups. She backs restorative justice and building food forests into new housing.
Nonpartisan
Phil Brock is a former Santa Monica mayor (2023-2024) and councilmember (2020-2024) who served on the city's Recreation and Parks Commission. He backs a treatment-first homelessness approach and fighting state density mandates like SB 79.
Records: Public Safety and Crime Control 2 for, Civil Rights 1 for, Housing Affordability 1 for
Nonpartisan
Wade Kelley is a singer-songwriter and community activist who spent ten years as a street performer on the Third Street Promenade. He backs tiny-home villages for unhoused people and a tax on vacant commercial buildings to fund social programs.
Source: content.lavote.gov