By Jorge Casuso

October 30, 2025 -- Three months after City Manager Oliver Chi assumed the government's top post, the City Council enthusiastically approved an ambitious plan to bring Santa Monica back.

The two and a half year "realignment" plan comes as the City faces a projected $29 million budget deficit in the fiscal year starting next July and relies on $60 million from the City's rapidly depleting reserves.

Under the plan, the City will open a new police substation at Santa Monica Place Mall, deploy as many as 28 officers at the beach, Pier and Downtown and move the homless shelter out of the City's center.

It also addresses the City's long entrenched homeless problem with a carrot-and- stick approach that aggressively prosecutes misdemeanor crimes, while providing an alternative to jail that offers services and transitional housing ("City Manager Unveils Sweeping Plan for Santa Monica's Comeback," October 24, 2025).

In addition, the plan hopes to boost the local economy by encouraging more outdoor dining; expanding the Downtown entertainment zone to other business districts, as well as the Pier; launching a "large-scale" music festival, and sprucing up worn streetscapes.

The detailed 34-page plan -- unanimously approved with little analysis or public input five days after it was released -- immediately won the support of Santa Monica's major political, civic and business groups.

"This plan bridges a lot of constituencies, all of us pulling together," said Councilmember Dan Hall. "This plan is a big bet, and I hope this moment really turns a page."

"This is an investment that's going to pay off," said Councilmember Caroline Torosis. "I think people are tired of hearing promises. We all are. We want to see proof."

The "renaissance" plan, as Torosis calls it, seeks to restore public confidence by addressing public safety, homelessness and a faltering economy that has seen a recent drop in sales and bed taxes and persistently high commercial vacancy rates that are among the highest in the region.

According to Chi, "You can sense there's an erosion in the public confidence we can recover from this moment."

"When folks ask me, 'What are you seeing in Santa Monica?' I've described it as a jurisdiction that's gotten knocked down. We seem to have lost focus, capacity, confidence that used to characterize Santa Monica."

While the catalyst for the plan was Chi -- who according to Hall provided the "purpose, direction and motivation" -- it features initiatives that have been proposed or tried by previous Councils with questionable results.

"A plan looks pretty on paper, and it checks a lot of boxes," said Mayor Lana Negrete, "but it often doesn't get anything actually done.

"And I think that's the distress the community has seen," Negrete said. "They don't trust that this is real."

She said the difference between the new plan and previous ones that featured similar proposals, including some she unsuccessfully championed, is a City Manager that has taken charge ("City's New Plan Has Different Key for Success," October 27, 2025).

Chi credited a common sense of purpose shared by the Council and staff, which met for two full days to help hammer out a plan that implements the Council's vision.

"There is greater alignment, more dialogue and discussion," Chi said. "That's how you solve problems -- people working together and being able to share awareness.

"When there's alignment at the staff level and the Council level, magic can happen."