The Santa Monica City Council voted 6-0 Tuesday to establish a new Restorative Justice Commission to oversee programs addressing historic inequities in the city, the centerpiece of a sweeping overhaul of the city's boards and commissions that also consolidated housing and human services bodies and triggered a heated debate over compensating commissioners from marginalized communities. Council Member Barry Snell was recused.
The seven-member commission, created by ordinance on first reading, will develop program criteria, eligibility standards and oversight mechanisms for a broader Restorative Justice Program funded through a deal with the RAND Corporation. The council in January allocated $3.5 million in one-time funds toward the program and reserved an additional $2 million in future RAND funds for the initiative.
Each appointee must be a Santa Monica resident with either subject-matter expertise in restorative justice or lived experience representing communities affected by past and present inequities. The new commission replaces a former staff-developed Landback and Reparations Task Force.
The creation of the commission prompted Council Member Natalya Zernitskaya to call for financially compensating its members, saying she did not want to be "asking folks from marginalized backgrounds to do the heavy lifting without any sort of compensation." Mayor Caroline Torosis backed the idea, saying, "Too often we are expecting people of color to do work for free, and that is not acceptable to me."
Council Member Lana Negrete pushed back on the framing, cautioning colleagues against "presuming that people of color always lack finances or resources." The city attorney noted that the charter limits stipends to the Planning Commission and said staff would research whether other commissions could be compensated.
Any recommendations or policies developed by the Restorative Justice Commission will return to the City Council for public review and formal adoption before implementation.
The vote came as part of a comprehensive review of the city's advisory bodies launched in January. Among the most significant structural changes, the council voted to dissolve the Housing Commission and Human Services Commission and consolidate them into a new seven-member Housing and Human Services Commission effective July 1. Two seats must be filled by affordable housing participants — one age 62 or older, and one who is unhoused or formerly unhoused.
Other changes reduce the Arts Commission and Public Safety Reform and Oversight Commission to seven members each, convert the Urban Forest Task Force into a standalone commission and consider reducing the Disabilities Commission from 11 members to seven.
Teresa Clark, a Disabilities Commission member, urged the council in written comments to keep that body at 11 seats, writing that the larger membership functions as "an accommodation for the disability community" by allowing for absences while still meeting quorum.
The meeting's most contentious moment came over Section 1.G of the city's commission policies, a long-standing rule barring close family relatives of council members from serving on boards and commissions. Council Member Dan Hall moved to retain the anti-nepotism provision and was seconded by Torosis. Negrete spoke in support, arguing that in a city of more than 90,000 residents, the council should look beyond their own spouses to fill advisory roles.
Council Members Barry Snell and Ellis Raskin successfully passed a substitute motion to delete the rule on a 4-3 vote, joined by Mayor Pro Tem Jesse Zwick and Zernitskaya. Torosis, Hall and Negrete voted no.
Raskin called the original rule "a targeted attack on a specific Commissioner" — the husband of a former councilmember and former mayor — and said it was "discriminatory in a lot of ways, to think that spouses and family members of people serving on this dais... can't make substantial contributions to the community."
Hall, whose partner previously served on the personnel board and stepped down to avoid the appearance of a conflict, urged colleagues to keep the rule, invoking a line he attributed to former Mayor Pro Tem Kristin McCowan: "We either believe in this policy or we don't."
The decision drew sharp public criticism. "Read the room," Santa Monica resident Nikki Kolhoff wrote to the council, citing "an unprecedented time of nepotism, grift, and erosion of democracy." Tricia Crane, chair of Northeast Neighbors, asked, "Which City Council relative is seeking a position on a board or commission?"
The Airport Commission also drew significant public comment, with speakers criticizing the body for lacking aviation expertise as the Santa Monica Airport heads toward its scheduled Dec. 31, 2028, closure. Resident Eve Lopez told the council the commission costs roughly $67,270 annually — the city's most expensive advisory body — and argued the council can prioritize aviation expertise without a charter amendment. Staff said formally requiring aviation experts would require a voter-approved charter amendment, estimated at $77,225 on the November 2026 ballot.
The ordinance returns to the council for a second reading before taking effect July 1.