What do New Santa Monica City Councilmen Dan Hall, Barry Snell, Natalya Zernitskaya, and Ellis Raskin Want?

Counsel On the Council

Santa Monica City Council has a new majority, consisting of two incumbents plus newcomers Dan Hall, Barry Snell, Natalya Zernitskaya, and Ellis Raskin. All were endorsed by SMRR, and by the local Democratic Club. None were endorsed by the police or fire fighters unions, who preferred defeated incumbents Phil Brock and Oscar de la Torre.

So what happens now? What do they really want? What changes will the newcomers make in your lives as Santa Monica residents?I interviewed a SMRR insider, who asked not to be named.

I deny that SMRR did ballot harvesting, he said. "They ran a good campaign, and apparently, Santa Monicans voted for these people because they want more development. Why shouldn't they? It means lower rents and more availability. Development is a good thing."

“The new council will be very pro development. Expect to see all the auto mechanics on Lincoln Blvd and car dealerships on Santa Monica Blvd, quickly replaced by apartment towers. And yes, that was the point of eliminating the car dealership exemption to the business tax (Local Measure K). Only Lana Negrete is a slow growth person, so it's 6 to 1 in favor of developers and development."

Viewing SMRR as a monolith is an outmoded view of that endorsement. Yes, these 4 people want lower rents, but they know the only way to achieve that is through more supply. Because price equals demand divided by supply.

This election means that Incumbents are no longer safe in Santa Monica. One incumbent was defeated in 2022, 2020 was a revolution, 2018 Pam O'Conner was defeated. In this election, all 4 seats go to newcomers. Herb Katz, Christine Reed, Ken Genser had to be carried out of chambers (i.e. after they died in office after serving for decades). Those days are over.

This is the return of the old guard after the 2020 revolution. Oscar and Phil are finished in local politics. All 4 newcomers had the SMRR endorsement.

A few interesting notes: There are now 3 Jews on the Council. Ellis Raskin went to a Yeshiva. His background is as a section 8 housing lawyer. He is a former SM Planning Commissioner.

Natalya's campaign manager actually lives with Former SM Mayor Judy Abdo.

Barry Snell is a former school board member and is on the SMC College Board.

While some SMRR rhetoric may seem anti police, the newcomers are not anti-police per se. They will want to see local homeless people treated with dignity and compassion. But they will also want Santa Monica to be a safe place for residents to live.

And if you disagree with any of this, then you need to check your north of Montana Avenue privilege. This is what the majority of Santa Monica residence just voted for.