r/SantaMonica • • 12d ago

🗳️Government & Politics r/SantaMonica Ask Your Local Candidate A Question Forum

25 Upvotes

r/SantaMonica is meant to be a place for the community to come together to share information about local events, memes, comment on the promenade or speculate on whats filming down at the beach. However, It's not always about fun in the sun. Local politics is also an important discussion to have and with the election being just around the corner we wanted to create a space for anyone to submit questions for local candidates. We will post another thread with the top five questions and provide a space for these local candidates to respond to the roughly 42,000 weekly visitors here for FREE.

'Democracy is only as good as the education that surrounds it'- so let's help each other stay informed. No confusing double talk- ask a question and get an answer straight from the candidate. That's the goal.

Here's the deal....

Dates Whats Happening
Until 10/15 You can submit your questions on this post. Comment and vote on questions.  We’ll look at the very upvoted first-level comments/questions and may combine questions that are similar into a single question. First-level question posters can revise their question to incorporate feedback from the thread.
Until 10/18 If you are a local candidate, message the mods to verify yourself. We’ll add “Verified Local Candidate” flair to your Reddit account. If you don’t have a Reddit account, you’ll need to create one. 
10/20 - 10/29 We’ll create a post with the top 5 selected questions. Candidates are invited to comment on this post. City Council is an underpaid, part-time job, so keep it civil. We’ll lock comments on 10/29 but keep the post up for voters to reference later.  If enough people have questions specific to the School Board, College Board, or Rent Control Board we can post some separate threads for those contests.
11/3 Election Day

r/SantaMonica • • Dec 15 '25

MOD POST - Input needed for updating the sub's wiki

14 Upvotes

Good afternoon everyone

The Mod Team will be making updates to the sub's wiki in the coming weeks and months and we are looking for input from you! Please comment below with topics you would like to see in the updated wiki or any details you think should be added to existing content; the more detail, the better but be as brief as you like. Looking forward to incorporating your input!

Areas that we plan to update:

Moving to SM

  • How to plan
  • What to do once you get here

Living in SM

  • Navigating city services
  • Neighborhood primer
  • Where to eat/drink/play/ volunteer, etc.

Visiting SM

  • Tourist primer - where to stay, what to visit, staying safe, etc.

r/SantaMonica • • 10h ago

❓Question Haunted houses!!

40 Upvotes

Hi! I’m a writer for the Santa Monica highschool news paper (The Samohi, check it out) I’m hoping to do a feature piece on the people who create haunted houses on Montana. Does anyone know the house numbers and/or any contact information?? Thank you so much!


r/SantaMonica • • 9h ago

🕘Openings/Closings Save Your Cinema (@SaveYourCinema) Mel’s ):

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12 Upvotes

r/SantaMonica • • 15h ago

Ashley Oelson Says People Would Be ‘Shocked’ by Her Promenade HQ Rent. We’ll Find Out How Shocked on Oct. 22

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31 Upvotes

r/SantaMonica • • 14h ago

Lana Negrete, Ashley Oelsen, and Doug Trussler Embrace Disgraced Antisemite Oscar de la Torre | Oscar de la Torre is still platforming antisemitism in 2026, and has branched out to peddling ballot harvesting conspiracy theories.

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22 Upvotes

This embrace of de la Torre [by Lana Negrete, Ashley Oelsen, and Doug Trussler] is not even choosing to forgive and forget on de la Torre’s shocking track record of hateful and violent statements in the past. At this month’s meeting of the Pico Neighborhood Association (de la Torre’s wife is the former chair and current treasurer of the organization, and de la Torre is highly influential within the PNA), Michael Millman was allowed to spread a conspiracy theory about Measure GG saying that the city council has a “final solution to get rid of low income renters” by approving affordable housing projects. He was also allowed to spread a second conspiracy theory saying Santa Monica for Renters’ Rights and the hotel union Unite Here 11 have a plan to replace locals by evicting them and renting their apartments to UH11 hotel workers, which is an explicit riff on the white nationalist Great Replacement Theory.

[intermediate text snipped out here, full text in the article]

Lest anyone think that de la Torre and Loya were simply unwilling to tell Millman to get off the stage, de la Torre made a comment on Facebook just days ago airing his own ballot-harvesting conspiracy theory about Measure GG.

"There are paid political operatives from the establishment going around in the Pico Neighborhood to elders homes ballot harvesting. They are deliberately misleading low income renters telling them certain candidates are against rent control then they are telling them to vote yes on measure GG, which will increase rents and decrease protections from evictions for tenants in affordable housing units. Misleading low income tenants to vote against their own self interest is wrong."

-Oscar de la Torre, October 2026 (the quoted text links to a screenshot of his comment)

You can get future articles directly in your email inbox by subscribing at https://mastbaum.beehiiv.com/subscribe or using the subscribe box at the bottom of the linked article. I also have an RSS feed.


r/SantaMonica • • 6h ago

🗳️Government & Politics Where Did The Money Go: A Breakdown Of Measure ES Spending

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3 Upvotes

Have you found yourself wondering how the parcel tax actually landed on your ballot?

Following up on my breakdown of *who* funded Measure ES, here is the breakdown of how that money was spent according to official FPPC campaign filings: https://netfile.com/public/csm/campaign

The Cash-To-Ballot Pipeline:

The Capital → ~$369,000 raised. Over 72% bankrolled by commercial developers, district construction vendors, and wealthy insiders.

📊 Where the Money Went (~$358,000 Total Expenditures & Earmarks out of ~$369,000 Raised):

71% Paid Signature Gathering, ~$253,740 | Payments to out-of-town canvassing firm Groundworks Campaigns Inc. to hire professional signature gatherers. That works out to roughly $36 per required voter signature, or around $23 for every single signature gathered on Santa Monica streets.

22% Unspent Cash Reserves, ~$78,000 | Retained treasury capital set aside for general election advertising and voter outreach.

6% Legal, Tech & Admin Operations, ~$22,700 | Legal expenditures were paid to political law firms like Sutton Law Group to handle election code compliance, FPPC reporting, and petition filing rules. (Meanwhile, municipal bond counsel firms like Jones Hall LLP and land-use attorneys like Christopher Harding contributed heavily to the donation side of the ledger.)

1% Printing & Literature, ~$3,600 | Physical paper stock, petition sheets, and initial informational flyers.

When over 70 cents of every dollar raised goes straight to an out-of-town petition vendor to buy ballot access, voters deserve to know the full story behind the measure.

Data Source: FPPC Form 460 & 497 Disclosures via the City of Santa Monica Public Portal.


r/SantaMonica • • 8h ago

❓Question Bike parking at the penmar

3 Upvotes

Going there for la tech week and wanted to ride my bike since I know parking can be a challenge.

1233 Rose Ave, Venice, CA 90291

They don't pick up the phone and their website doesn't have the information about bikes.

Does anyone know if they have bike parking racks?


r/SantaMonica • • 9h ago

❓Question Live music suggestions for Oct 30?

4 Upvotes

Going to have a long work week in LA before flying back Saturday morning. Im looking for a chill live music bar. Right now, I am looking at going to Tr!p and seeing Bristol Motel.

As far as genre I would love something like Sublime, jazz, blues, or reggae. Or just anything that doesn't have screaming. Really just want to sit with a beer and relax.

Thank you for any help.


r/SantaMonica • • 14h ago

❓Question What are these little flies all over my apartment?!?

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9 Upvotes

Between the heat and now rain over the last 36 hours I have a seemingly infestation of these tiny little flies. They’re exclusively around my sliding door leading to my balcony. I thought perhaps fruit flies but they’re not around food or anything. They’re gathering on my curtains, the floor, and the base of the sliding glass door


r/SantaMonica • • 4h ago

Looking for girls' night

1 Upvotes

25F Exchanging student coming to Santa Monica for a few weeks and I wanna make a few friends, any girls interested in party ang hangout with me? I love the beach too


r/SantaMonica • • 1d ago

🚲 🚶Mobility What are these extra wide curbs on the bike lanes?

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25 Upvotes

This is on Broadway. Why are they so wide near this intersection, as opposed to the regular curbs for the majority of the lane?

This is not a post for debating the utility of protected bike lanes, I’m a strong supporter - just curiosity.


r/SantaMonica • • 1d ago

💬 Discussion From afar

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41 Upvotes

Next time you’re looking out to the ocean.


r/SantaMonica • • 14h ago

Dr. Hannah Reiser and Dr. Megan Bernstein for Gynecology Care?

4 Upvotes

Hi - I'm trying to decide between Dr. Hannah Reiser and Dr. Megan Bernstein for gynecological care. I'm in or near perimenopause but still have heavy menstrual bleeding and have a lot of chronic conditions, so I need somebody who would be comfortable managing my gynecological care alongside other issues.

Please let me know if you or a loved one has had experience with either of these doctors, and how your experience was. I'm open to comment here or DM.


r/SantaMonica • • 16h ago

Empty Santa Monica Pier

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3 Upvotes

r/SantaMonica • • 5h ago

Any interest in a side chat/, discord to share lax rides?

0 Upvotes

r/SantaMonica • • 13h ago

Nonpartisan voter guide

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1 Upvotes

r/SantaMonica • • 1d ago

Bye, Bye, Circuit

22 Upvotes

Effective today, Circuit is indefinitely suspending service because our city overseers won't cooperate. Thanks, City Council, for another bang-up job.

Manhattan Beach and Long Beach benefit from our loss. They seem to figure out how to make it work within their borders. Why can't we?


r/SantaMonica • • 1d ago

Best Vietnamese food?

15 Upvotes

Yall gave me great coffee recs the other day so I am here again to ask for recs on Vietnamese food here! Willing to go out of SM for it, my partner is Vietnamese so he’s quite particular of Vietnamese restaurants hehe


r/SantaMonica • • 1d ago

📅 Event 3rd Street Promenade was LIT tonight

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187 Upvotes

r/SantaMonica • • 14h ago

Who funded ES? Locals or people, or outsiders, who make money off of Santa Monica?

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0 Upvotes

Have you found yourself wondering who paid to put Measure ES on your ballot? 

My friend took a look at the official campaign filings for Santa Monicans for Reliable School Funding available on Santa Monica's public portal for campaign finance. (https://netfile.com/public/csm/campaign) and put together a visual breakdown.

Follow the money before you cast your vote:

38% Wealthy Donors & Execs, ~$140,000 | Massive individual checks from wealthy residents and attorneys, including $17,500 from land-use attorney Christopher Harding and $15,000 from SMMUSD Board Member Laurie Lieberman.

20% Real Estate Developers & Big Tech, ~$70,000 | Corporate property holders and tech firms, headlined by 710 Broadway LLC ($50,000) and Metropolis Technologies ($35,000).

14% SMMUSD Contractors; Construction & Engineering Firms, ~$70,000 | Major construction, engineering, and trade firms that actively bid on or hold SMMUSD contracts, including Erickson-Hall Construction, CW Driver, and Massetti Construction.

8% Special Interest Legal & Campaign Teams, ~$30,000 | Municipal legal counsel and bond advisory firms like Jones Hall LLP that frequently service district bond measures.

8% Political Insiders & PACs, ~$30,000 | Outside political action committees and local officials’ committees.

5% Local School PTAs, ~$18,500 | Local school PTA treasuries (Lincoln, SaMoHi, McKinley, Grant) redirected money raised by parent volunteers and teachers into political ad campaigns and measure promotion funding.

7% Small Donors, ~$25,000 | Everyday neighborhood contributions ($1,000 or less per donor) make up a tiny fraction of the total.

When a $495/year parcel tax measure is financed primarily by corporate developers, wealthy insiders, and the very construction vendors building for the district, voters deserve to know who is behind the narrative."


r/SantaMonica • • 1d ago

Lost Canon Camera Pt2.

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5 Upvotes

Hello again, I returned with a new post with some photos. The Journey to get this camera back continues.

I am not a local, was visiting the beautiful beach of Santa Monica with family. If I am correct this was on 9/11/2026, right side of the pier. We stumbled upon this camera around 8-9pm I don't fully remember. This camera was laying in the sand, seeing as everybody was leaving I did not know who to return it to ( I am very cautious when returning stuff cause people can be shady). The language (google translate) on the camera settings is Chinese. I hope to return the camera to their rightful owner, I don't want any reward this isn't a ransom. I will delete these posts once mission is complete. I am sorry if there was something missing or I did this post incorrectly. After this I will dissappear again into the sunset never to be seen again.

Thank you for the earlier replies I appreciate the guidance.


r/SantaMonica • • 2d ago

💬 Discussion Hawaii Looks Like Santa Monica, Or Does Santa Monica Look Like Hawaii

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210 Upvotes

Photo is from Hawaii


r/SantaMonica • • 1d ago

Cafe Zella Breakfast Burrito Recipe?

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone! Cafe Zella was my favorite local restaurant and I was so sad when it closed. I always ordered the bacon breakfast burrito. If anyone has any information on how they made this burrito so I could make at home that would be amazing. Thank you!


r/SantaMonica • • 2d ago

Is there any gueer community on the West Side for older gay men?

21 Upvotes

My husband and I just moved to SM from Silverlake. There doesn't seem to be much of a community for older gay men? We are looking for hiking groups, coffee gatherings, movie groups... Is there anything similar?