By Jorge Casuso

July 15, 2024 -- The City Council last week approved the nation's first Bitcoin "office," sought input on a landmark Supreme Court decision and reversed course on a local ballot measure.

The three items placed on Tuesday's agenda by Councilmember Lana Negrete elicited little debate and swift action.

The unanimous vote to launch a pilot Bitcoin Office program with a local non-profit quickly went viral on X and made headlines in Bitcoin publications, Negrete said.

The Council action, she said, is expected to draw Bitcoin enthusiasts and conferences to the City that will help "support Santa Monica’s economic recovery and cultivate economic growth."

The pilot program -- which would be outsourced at no cost to The Proof of Workforce Foundation -- will educate the public about the first decentralized cryptocurrency, which was invented in 2008.

Since there is no physical location for the Bitcoin "office," sessions would be held at venues that could include the public library, as well as at staged events, Negrete said.

Other Bitcoin initiatives that will be explored by City staff and brought back to the Council include identifying "remote and local career opportunities for Santa Monica residents and students."

"We want the opportunity to draw people here," Negrete said on Monday. "Two companies have already reached out."

Negrete was inspired by a recent visit to El Salvador, where she saw an influx of tourists and investments after becoming the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in 2021.

Negrete said the impoverished Central American country had invested the revenues in "paved roads and redone hotels."

The City's post on X quickly went viral, generating a record number of retweets and likes, Negrete said. "The (City's) X account blew up everywhere."

The Council on Tuesday also directed City Attorney Doug Sloan to return to the Council with an evaluation of the Supreme Court's recent 6 to 3 Grants Pass ruling.

The City Attorney's legal evaluation of the landmark decision -- which paves the way for municipalities to penalize the homeless for camping on public land -- could inform City policy, said Negrete, co-sponsored the item with Councilmember Oscar de la Torre.

Santa Monica already has a strong anti-camping ordinance, but there are concerns neighboring jurisdictions could use the decision to "start pushing (homeless) people out," impacting the beach city, Negrete said.

In a separate action sponsored by Negrete, the Council unanimously voted to revive the Parking Facility Tax narrowly rejected by the Council on June 25.

The tax -- which would increase the rate by 8 percent for non-City owned parking lots and structures -- is expected to generate $6.7 million a year, adding an additional boost to the City's public safety initiatives.

The Councilmember item directs City Manager David White "to immediately halt the process" to allocate as much as $3.8 million to address public safety in the budget that kicked in July 1 ("Council Adopts Budget With Added Public Safety Spending," July 1, 2024).

The item, however, retains last month's Council's direction for White to return no later than September with a study session item that includes proposals to enhance public safety and address homelessness.

The study session would provide the Council "with critical information to deploy resources" generated by the proposed Parking Facility Tax.

Negrete said her item "bridges" Mayor Phil Brock's proposal to reallocate a portion of the City budget for public safety and Councilmember Jesse Zwick's parking tax measure.