The emergency declaration allows Santa Monica to accelerate programs and services aimed at addressing homelessness and preventing residents from becoming unhoused.
The Santa Monica City Council is scheduled to consider re-ratifying the city’s local emergency declaration on homelessness during its regular meeting Tuesday night, continuing a policy city officials say is necessary to expand services and secure outside funding amid an ongoing regional homelessness crisis.
The council meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall Council Chambers, 1685 Main St.
According to a staff report prepared by City Attorney Heidi Von Tongeln, the proposed resolution would renew the city’s 2025 proclamation declaring a local emergency on homelessness, first adopted in March 2025.
California Government Code requires local governments to renew emergency declarations every 60 days until they are terminated.
City officials said the emergency declaration allows Santa Monica to accelerate programs and services aimed at addressing homelessness and preventing residents from becoming unhoused. The declaration also enables the city to pursue additional county, state and federal funding, streamline certain municipal processes, prevent rental price gouging and authorize emergency actions by the city manager.
The city first declared a local emergency on homelessness in February 2023, citing worsening conditions for unhoused residents, including illness and deaths among unsheltered people in the region. A subsequent proclamation adopted in May 2024 was used to advance homelessness-related initiatives, according to the report.
Officials said conditions that prompted the earlier declarations still persist, leading the council to extend the emergency through Dec. 31.
The council has approved multiple renewals over the past year, including votes in April, June, July, September, October and December 2025, as well as February and March 2026.
