Goodbye Santa Monica
While I grew up in Santa Monica – going to Roosevelt, Lincoln and Samohi I left to go to UC Santa Cruz and then to do graduate work at the University of Michigan. I was drawn to national politics and moved in the late 1970s to work in Washington DC for more than 35 years. Over the decades I have returned to Santa Monica to visit family and friends. In 2011 I returned to make the city my home.
The last fifteen years have been challenging. While serving on the Los Angeles County Civil Grand Jury in 2013 – 2014 I became aware that the City of Santa Monica lacked an audit committee. I worked with members of the Council and the Santa Monica Transparency Project to add an Audit Committee for financial oversight to the City Council’s supervision of city administrative activities. I hope that the Audit Committee will be used to monitor the financial decisions of the City. It is essential that knowledgeable residents in the city monitor Council and administrative activities.
As a lifelong advocate for the elderly and the vulnerable, I returned to Santa Monica where I served on the Social Services Commission and the We Are Santa Monica Fund Advisory Board over the last ten years.
I am stunned to hear from members of the current City Council say that residents, and their neighborhood organizations, should not be considered in policy decisions taken by the Council. The School Board announced that the timeframe for parents and concerned residents to express their preference for natural grass instead of synthetic turf at Franklin has passed. Do any school board members have children currently using these fields?
The escrow officer informed me that Los Angeles requires certification confirming shrubbery does not touch residential buildings. Santa Monica does not impose any such requirements. The first 5 feet surrounding a home should be kept clear of combustible materials, including vegetation and wooden fences, in order to prevent embers from spreading fire to buildings, structures, and decks. In April 2025, Los Angeles passed an ordinance on wildfires that includes CAL FIRE maps.
The Santa Monica City Council intends to formally adopt the CAL FIRE wildfire maps, which encompass certain areas within the city. The areas are all in the north of the city. While they can adopt these, there is no strategic plan to provide changes in the code to protect the residents. To prevent fires, keep foliage at least 5 feet away from the front, rear, and side elevations of homes and between properties. Air vents in older homes should have retrofit grates installed to prevent embers from entering attic crawl spaces. The city should analyze the fire risk of street trees near wildfire areas. Hazardous trees should be replaced. The city ordinance stipulates that hedges in the front setback must not exceed a height of forty-two inches. These rules should be enforced, regardless of whether they were previously exempted due to their provocative nature. We should learn from the Palisades fires, not put our head in the ground and hope that residents will do the correct thing and keep hedges trimmed no higher than forty-two inches.
The City Council in October decided that code enforcement should not concentrate on hedge height violations. That was before the wildfires that destroyed the Palisades. The Fire Marshall and the Council should consider changes to protect our city. We should consider CAL FIRE standards and recognize that high hedges, pine, and palm trees can be incendiary if the wind changes.
A local magazine, Santa Monica Spotlight, featured an article in their April 2025 edition on “how to build a fire-resistant home”. While NOMA is a mix of 1920’s and newly built homes this article provides information that should have been made available by the Fire Marshall or other city officials concerned about the impact of the Palisades fire on our city. Where do Santa Monica's officials, both administrative and elected, stand on these critical issues?
The current City Council has made changes in the format of the meetings that have included limits on resident participation. These include public comment time limits. More importantly they have included on the Consent Calendar very controversial items such as the vote to endorse SB 79. These should not fall under Consent.
Residents, neighborhood organizations, and other interested parties thoroughly examine the issues and provide substantial suggestions. The Council often dismisses these suggestions, saying "neighborhood groups" have misinterpreted the language. This disagreement should be discussed, not ignored. The public sits through hours of Council discussion with little or no input. We need a better way of discussing items such as the budget deficit as the year goes forward.
I leave the city I love with mixed feelings. Since 2011, I have been actively involved in addressing local issues. I have been a member of the Social Services Commission, the We Are Santa Monica Fund, Santa Monica Transparency, the North of Montana Association, and the Neighborhood Council. Engaging residents is essential to democracy. I hope that city officials (elected and administrative) will reach out to the community and develop more effective democratic ways of making policy decisions.
Nancy Coleman