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Top Stories 2025 Q1 -- Housing, Evacuations and a Budget Crisis
By Lookout Staff
December 29, 2025 -- A newly seated City Council that holds a 6 to 1 super-majority quickly makes housing development its top priority. New mayor Lana Negrete, who had been part of a narrow slow-growth Council majority that focused on public safety, finds herself a lone dissenting voice.
From the start, the Council approves measures that make it easier and faster for residential developers to build and sets aside City land for affordable housing. Talk of placing thousands of units on Airport land -- designated by voters for a “Great Park” -- picks up steam.
Meanwhile, crime and homelessness persist as major issues highlighted by three killings in the first two months, the number of serious road accidents surges and a rising property crime rate puts Santa Monica on the national map.
Worried the City could be "careening towards bankruptcy," Council members float ways, some extraordinary, to balance a budget that has been relying on rapidly depleting reserves to stay in the black.
JANUARY
Lower Speed Limits Go Into Effect
January 2, 2025 -- Traffic will slow down this year on some 30 miles of streets across Santa Monica, which has seen fatal and serious injury crashes rising since 2020.
How Santa Monica Voted
January 6, 2025 – Bucking Santa Monica's liberal tradition, local voters on November 5 opposed a statewide rent control law and joined a large majority of Californians who voted to crack down on crime.
New Planning Head Assumes Post
January 6, 2025 -- Santa Monica began the year with a new interim head of planning as the City Council begins quickly shifting its policies to make it easier to build new housing.
Evacuation Order Issued
January 7, 2025 -- City officials have issued an evacuation order for all areas of Santa Monica north of San Vicente Boulevard due to an "immediate threat to life" from the Pacific Palisades fire.
Curfew in Place, Air Qualify Worsens
January 9, 2025 -- A curfew is now in place for the mandatory evacuation zone North of Montana Avenue, as Santa Monica residents are being urged to stay indoors with smoke from the Pacific Palisades fire approaching unhealthy levels.
Police Arrest 10 Burglary Suspects in Evacuation Zones
January 13, 2025 -- Since emergency orders were issued in Santa Monica last Tuesday, police officers have made more than 40 arrests in evacuation zones during the Pacific Palisades fire, police officials said Monday.
Homeless Man Shot in Year's First Homicide
January 15, 2025 -- SMPD detectives are investigating the fatal shooting of a homeless man in a Downtown alley at around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, marking the first homicide of the year.
City Fills 2 Key Posts
January 22, 2025 -- Santa Monica brought back a former top official to serve as interim city manager and hired a new head of community development, City officials announced Wednesday.
Housing at Airport Site Picks Up Steam
January 29, 2025 -- Affordable housing -- which has been largely ignored in crafting a plan for the future use of Santa Monica Airport land -- took center stage at Tuesday night's City Council meeting.
Local Property Crime Rate Among Nation's Highest, Report Finds
January 30, 2025 -- A recent report posted by Vivint, a resource for home security, found Santa Monica had one of the highest property crime rates in the country based on FBI crime data.
FEBRUARY
Negotiations to Save Civic Auditorium Stalled
February 3, 2025 -- Six months after the City Council gave the go ahead, negotiations to revive the shuttered Civic Auditorium as an entertainment venue have not begun, City officials said Monday.
Homicide Victim Found on Beach
February 10, 2025 -- A homeless woman was found apparently beaten to death in a sleeping bag on Santa Monica Beach early Monday morning, according to police.
Crashes Resulting in Severe Injuries, Deaths Soar
February 14, 2025 -- The number of Fatal and Severe Injury (FSI) crashes in Santa Monica soared in 2024, marking the fourth straight year the numbers have risen.
Police Arrest Suspect in Year's First Homicide
February 17, 2025 -- An Inglewood man was arrested last Tuesday and charged with the murder of a homeless man in a Downtown alley last month, police officials said.
Two Men Stabbed Near Miramar, One Dead
February 17, 2025 -- A man was fatally stabbed and another wounded near the Miramar Hotel early Saturday morning, according to police.
Three Arrested in Fatal Weekend Stabbing
February 20, 2025 -- Three suspects with "extensive criminal histories" have been arrested for two stabbings, one of them fatal, outside the Fairmont Miramar Hotel Saturday, according to police.
Santa Monica Beach Loses Ground
February 20, 2025 -- Santa Monica State Beach is no longer among the top ten on Tripadvisor's annual list of 25 best U.S. beaches, which was released by the popular travel site this week.
City Scrambles to Find Waste Disposal Site
February 21, 2025 -- The City of Santa Monica must act quickly to find a permanent garbage disposal site after the landfill it has used for more than 15 years abruptly shut down for good on New Years Eve.
Council Moves to Amend Contribution Cap
February 27, 2025 -- The City Council on Tuesday took steps to nearly triple the contribution limit to Council candidates' campaigns.
MARCH
City Must Use Savings to Stay Afloat
March 3, 2025 -- The City's budget is in a "structural deficit" and must continue tapping its "already depleted" reserves to stay in the black over the next three years, Santa Monica's Finance Director warned Friday.
Council Sets Aside 3 Affordable Housing Sites
March 3, 2025 -- The City Council last Tuesday paved the way for large-scale affordable housing projects by declaring three City-owned sites as "surplus land" to meet its State-mandated housing quota.
Council Floats Bold Moves to Balance Budget
March 10, 2025 -- With one member worried Santa Monica could be "careening towards bankruptcy," the City Council on Saturday floated both predictable and extraordinary ways to balance its upcoming budget.
Seemingly Random Acts Lead to Arrests
March 13, 2025 -- Santa Monica police recently arrested suspects in three separate incidents that involved chasing residents with a knife, waving a machete and lunging at a victim with scissors.
City to Launch New Renters’ Protection Program
March 13, 2025 -- The City Council on Tuesday approved a new Renters’ Protection Program that will initially provide $8 million to expand legal counseling and help tenants at risk of eviction pay their rent.
Streetlight Repair Backlog Reaches Record Levels
March 17, 2025 -- The time it takes to repair a broken streetlight in Santa Monica has "ballooned" from a week to as long as six months, according to a report sent from Public Works to the City Council Monday.
Catastrophic Claims Drive Up Workers' Comp Costs
March 20, 2025 -- After dropping to a seven-year low, City workers' compensation liabilities shot up by $8.2 million last year, the highest amount in at least ten years, the City's top finance official reported Tuesday.
Motel City Claims is Hotbed for Drugs to Shut Down
March 26, 2025 -- A Sunset Park motel Santa Monica officials claim has long been a public nuisance will close down after the City's decision to revoke its business license was upheld on Monday.
Plan to Revive Civic Auditorium Takes Big Step
March 27, 2025 -- The City Council this week took a major, but quiet, step in the decades-long effort to resurrect the shuttered Civic Auditorium as a regional cultural venue.
Family of Black Entrepreneur Has No Claim to Property Taken by the City
March 28, 2025 -- The family of a Black entrepreneur that claims his Civic Center property was taken by the City in the late 1950s is not entitled to the land, City officials have determined.
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