As your Councilmember, what did I do?

 


Extended many crucial rent control and housing stability protections to all Santa Monica renters


Enacted and successfully defended the most effective and community-protective vacation rental law in the country


Voted against more commercial Development Agreements than any other Councilmember in Santa Monica history


As Mayor, met with the Federal Aviation Administration to argue for immediate closure of Santa Monica Airport


Overcame corporate opposition to pass our nation’s highest living wage


Advocated for local campaign finance reform that would have rejected corporate money in favor of voter-controlled elections


Created the Clean Power Alliance, bringing 100% renewable electricity to Santa Monica, and chaired the CPA Energy and Resources Committee


Championed and passed Santa Monica’s pioneering “Climate Action and Adaptation Plan”


Led creation of the 2010 Land Use Element limiting heights, favoring residential opportunities, and ending the reliance on individually negotiated Development Agreements


Protected the historic railroad right-of-way to enable light rail serving Downtown, while opposing the maintenance yard adjacent to a residential neighborhood


Crafted citywide zoning laws to constrain commercial, build new housing over retail on transit corridors, protect existing housing, preserve neighborhoods, and avoid displacement


Put meaningful controls on neighborhood nuisance businesses, like “The Parlor” on Wilshire Boulevard in Wilmont


Created the “right to return” for Black and other families displaced by the City for Civic Center and Freeway construction in the mid-20th century


Increased and augmented streamlining for affordable housing, and funding for Community Corporation of Santa Monica to build, renovate, and manage it


Made Santa Monica an environmental and sustainability leader in water, waste, mobility, climate resiliency, and community engagement


As Mayor, presented Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus electrification plan at COP-21 in Paris at the invitation of the United Nations


Limited construction impacts in multi-family neighborhoods to one site per block at a time


Passed and successfully defended in court effective protections for hotel workers against sexual and other job harassment


Created and chaired the Westside Cities Council of Governments, uniting regional efforts on homelessness, transportation, and climate change


Enabled Santa Monica’s 100-Gigabit community broadband “CityNet” by prospectively dropping optical fiber into existing trenches during necessary street work


Opened the first municipal bike share program in the region, the “Breeze,”  paid for by sponsorship from Hulu


Built safer bicycle and other alternative mobility infrastructure throughout Santa Monica


Required community review of commercial projects over 7500 sq, ft., not 30,000, which had allowed a Whole Foods loading dock next to residential use


Opened five entirely new parks (Tongva, Euclid, the Annenberg Beach House, Ishihara, BelMar) and expanded or renovated a dozen others (Virginia, Palisades, Airport, Beach Parks, Reed, Clover, Douglas, Joslyn, Memorial, Gandara, Los Amigos, Marine)


Saved community-favorite institutions like the Santa Monica Playhouse and the Aero Theater


Successfully defended the Ballona Wetlands against Playa Vista encroachment


Expanded Santa Monica’s Public Library system to the new Pico Neighborhood Branch Library at Virginia Avenue Park


Named the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Auditorium at downtown’s Main Library


Ended the cruelty of cat de-clawing in Santa Monica


Prohibited “monster mansion” overbuilding in residential neighborhoods


Brought the Contemporary Irish-American Center for the Arts to Santa Monica at the Bergamot Arts Center


Created financial preference on City contract bids for Santa Monica local businesses


Eliminated City business license tax for home-based businesses grossing under $40,000