By Mayor Pro Tempore Caroline Torosis
I entered public service because I love Santa Monica. I believe in its people, its neighborhoods, and its future. That belief has guided every decision I have made as a public servant.
That is why I was disappointed to see an anonymous political mailer recently circulated more than a year before the next election. It is filled with misinformation, fear-based rhetoric, and personal attacks. This kind of shadow campaigning does not reflect the character of Santa Monica, and it raises serious concerns under California’s campaign transparency laws and the Fair Political Practices Act. Our city deserves honest, transparent debate, not anonymous smears.
More importantly, the mailer ignores the real work happening every day on behalf of Santa Monicans.
Over the past year, the Santa Monica City Council advanced a clear, results-driven Realignment Plan to improve public safety, strengthen our economy, stabilize housing, and reinvest in the public spaces that make our city work. That work is delivering real results.
On public safety and cleanliness, the City, at the direction of Council, expanded coordinated deployments of police, ambassadors, and outreach teams in downtown and other high-impact corridors. We increased daily sanitation, adding thousands of service hours for street cleaning, pressure washing, and trash removal. Foot and bike patrol visibility is up where residents and businesses asked for it most.
On economic recovery, Santa Monica issued several thousand business permits and renewals this year, streamlined approvals for outdoor dining and storefront activation, and invested millions in downtown revitalization and small-business support. While we are continuing to recover from both the pandemic and the January firestorms, hotel occupancy now reaches roughly 75 to 80 percent in peak months. Through the Realignment Plan, we are rebuilding business confidence and driving reinvestment that restores tens of millions of dollars each year to the General Fund to support core services like public safety, parks, fully reopened libraries, and human services.
On housing and renter protections, the City approved hundreds of permanently affordable housing units this year as part of our commitment to an inclusive Santa Monica. We strengthened enforcement against illegal evictions, expanded tenant protections, passed a renters’ right to counsel, and continued to defend rent control while expanding the Preserving our Diversity “POD” program. At a time of historic affordability pressure across the region, Santa Monica is doing both parts of the work: protecting renters and building housing.
On homelessness and behavioral health, we continued to fund outreach, interim housing, and permanent supportive housing while securing substantial state and regional funding to reduce the burden on local taxpayers. Over the past year, hundreds of our most vulnerable neighbors moved from the streets into stable housing through coordinated local and regional placements. These outcomes are the product of persistent, unglamorous work across City departments and regional systems.
On infrastructure and public space, we have moved forward reinvestments in streets, parks, libraries, and mobility corridors across Santa Monica that improve safety, access, and long-term climate resilience.
None of this work is theoretical. Residents see it every day in reopened libraries, habitable housing for our neighbors, deployed safety teams, and cleaner, safer public spaces.
Throughout my career, I have advocated for Santa Monica at the regional level so our city receives its fair share of funding for housing, homelessness response, transportation, economic development, and public safety. That work brings real resources home and helps reduce costs to local taxpayers. In a regional economy, effective leadership means showing up where the funding and policy decisions are made.
Governing is complex. It requires balancing safety, compassion, accountability, economic vitality, and housing stability at the same time. It requires facts, not fear. It requires transparency, not anonymity.
Santa Monica is bigger than fear-based, anonymous attacks. We stand for innovation, inclusion, and civic engagement. We face hard problems directly, and we solve them with honesty and accountability.
I remain proud of the direction in which our city is moving, and I am clear-eyed about the work still ahead. I will continue to listen to residents, adjust where needed, and focus relentlessly on delivering measurable results. My door is always open to anyone who wants to engage in honest, open conversation about the future of our city.
Anonymous attacks will not distract me from the responsibility voters entrusted to me. I will continue to lead with integrity and to fight every day for a Santa Monica that is safer, stronger, and more resilient for everyone who calls it home.
