Politics & Government
Santa Monica Council Candidate Spotlight: Lana Negrete
Part 5 of 12: Patch speaks with Lana Negrete as candidates make their case for three Santa Monica City Council seats this November.
SANTA MONICA, CA — Lana Negrete was born and raised in Santa Monica, attending Roosevelt Elementary, Lincoln Middle School and Santa Monica High School before pursuing further education at several colleges.
A former mayor seeking reelection, Negrete lives in the Ocean Park area and runs her family's music business and a nonprofit providing musical instruments and lessons to children from lower-income families. Married for 21 years, she has four daughters, including two stepdaughters, and is a step-grandmother.
As a child, Negrete dreamed of becoming a hip-hop dancer on "In Living Color." Instead, she followed her family's musical roots into business before entering local politics.
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As part of Patch's Santa Monica Council Candidate Spotlight series, Negrete discussed homelessness, housing, Santa Monica Airport, downtown recovery and city finances, along with her love of hip-hop and the superstition that keeps her purse off the floor.
What is Santa Monica getting wrong about homelessness today, and what would you do differently?
We're acting as a service provider for the entire region without adequately measuring whether our programs work. That's putting pressure on public safety, economic recovery and city finances.
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We need to move away from congregate shelters toward mental health care, addiction treatment and permanent housing. We've begun funding shelter beds outside Santa Monica, including a Salvation Army program in Bell.
I'd also support closing the access center, improving transportation to treatment facilities and tracking whether people achieve permanent housing rather than repeatedly cycling through services. We need more frequent homelessness counts and greater accountability.
What measurable result would convince you that a city-funded homelessness program is working, and what result would cause you to stop funding it?
We should measure how many people achieve permanent housing, not simply how many receive services. That means tracking outcomes over several years. If people repeatedly cycle through programs without achieving stability, we should reconsider their funding.
What should happen when someone living on the street repeatedly refuses an offer of shelter, treatment or services?
California and Los Angeles County need to reconsider how conservatorship is used. I recognize its history of misuse, but I believe repeated refusal of services should be considered when evaluating whether someone poses a danger to themselves or others.
What’s your default karaoke song?
Anything by Madonna or Cyndi Lauper.
What song or band makes you crank up the volume in the car?
Tupac, Biggie Smalls, Wu-Tang Clan and Prof. I love old-school hip-hop, but also Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Fleetwood Mac and Olivia Dean.
Santa Monica Airport is scheduled to close at the end of 2028. What, specifically, do you believe should replace it?
I support a public park. Many Santa Monica residents are renters without private outdoor space, and I'd love to see something comparable to Central Park.
I'd include sports fields, recreational facilities and outdoor events. Youth sports tournaments could also attract visitors who spend money at local hotels, restaurants and businesses.
But we must understand the construction and maintenance costs. I'd like a financially sustainable park that serves residents while generating economic activity.
The airport site is roughly 192 acres and converting it will be enormously expensive. How much should Santa Monica taxpayers be expected to pay for the project, and where should the rest of the money come from?
We should explore an infrastructure financing district that captures increased property tax revenue without imposing new taxes. We could also incorporate water infrastructure, potentially generating revenue by supplying neighboring communities, and investigate whether remaining airport funds could eventually support the project.
My concern is paying for construction and long-term maintenance. I don't want the property to become predominantly housing.
What’s your guilty-pleasure TV show?
I love comedy, especially Dave Chappelle, Jo Koy and Monty Python. I'll happily watch "Life of Brian" any day.
When was the last time you took public transport and where was it to?
A couple of weeks ago, I took the E Line downtown with my daughter. I also sometimes take the No. 8 bus to the beach because it's easier than finding parking.
What is the single most important thing City Hall can do in the next two years to bring businesses and residents back to Third Street Promenade?
Provide meaningful financial incentives to attract businesses. We've discussed a $3 million fund that could help with tenant improvements, storefront renovations and rent while businesses wait for permits.
I call that "dead rent." We also need major retailers that attract customers and support smaller businesses. City Hall should work directly with landlords and prospective tenants to make opening downtown easier and demonstrate that Santa Monica is genuinely open for business.
Is downtown Santa Monica fundamentally suffering from a public-safety problem, a business-model problem or a development problem, and what role should new housing play in its recovery?
It's all three. Shopping habits have changed with e-commerce, and people need to feel safe downtown. Increased police presence and a substation have helped, but residents also need to support local businesses.
New housing could bring customers downtown, but it must be affordable. Building more expensive apartments doesn't necessarily create the active community we're trying to restore.
Who would you most hate to be stuck in a lift with?
Someone who constantly complains without offering solutions. It might even be one of my children!
What’s your most irrational superstition or habit?
I never put my purse on the floor because I was taught that means you'll lose money.
Does Santa Monica have a revenue problem or a spending problem and if finances deteriorate, what specifically would you be prepared to cut or change?
It's both, but spending is our bigger problem. As a business owner, I look at expenditures in terms of return on investment.
Sometimes city spending doesn't reflect our most pressing priorities. When household finances tighten, you stop eating out and start cooking with what's in the refrigerator. City Hall needs that same discipline.
Who was your childhood hero?
Bono from U2. I admired his philanthropic work and remember listening to "The Joshua Tree" on cassette, wanting to give back to my community.
What’s the most recent book you gave up on, and why?
"The Let Them Theory" by Mel Robbins. I haven't really abandoned it; I've just been too busy campaigning. As a control freak, it's probably a book I should finish.
Has Santa Monica gone too far, not far enough or roughly the right distance in redesigning streets around bicycles and pedestrians and would you support removing or substantially redesigning a project that was shown to create new safety or access problems?
We've gone too far in certain areas, particularly on narrow streets. I support cycling and walkability, but Santa Monica is also a commuter city. I'm concerned about configurations such as 17th Street and Pico Boulevard, where emergency vehicle access can be difficult, and parking arrangements that create safety concerns.
I'd support redesigning problematic projects and exploring bicycle registration to address theft and fund education. We need solutions that work for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?
At 18 or 19, I processed mailed-in payments for products like the Ab Slide and George Foreman Grill. I sat alone in a cubicle opening envelopes all day. It was incredibly depressing.
What completely different job would you secretly love to do?
A flight attendant, because I'd love to travel everywhere, although I'm afraid of turbulence. I'd also enjoy being a political campaign consultant.
Santa Monica faces major decisions over the future of both the Civic Auditorium and Bergamot Station. What should happen to each, and how much should preserving their existing cultural uses influence those decisions?
Bergamot Station should remain an arts destination, preserving its galleries while incorporating artist housing, affordable housing and open space. I'd like redevelopment phased so galleries can remain on-site rather than relocate and struggle to return.
The Civic Auditorium should remain a music and entertainment venue. We should preserve its historic character while finding financially viable uses, including concerts, artist residencies and other events throughout the year.
When did you last do something for the very first time?
A few weeks ago, I tried a virtual reality roller coaster on Third Street Promenade. I've also experimented with virtual DJ equipment through my nonprofit.
Do you have any tattoos?
Plenty. Musical notes from a Sade song, my daughters' names, a third eye, a Cancer zodiac symbol and "She believed she could, so she did." I also have a Japanese family-related tattoo.
Should Santa Monica continue challenging state housing mandates, or accept that Sacramento has largely removed the city's discretion and concentrate on deciding where new housing goes?
Absolutely, we should keep challenging them. The state needs to provide greater assurances about infrastructure. Adding thousands of homes affects water consumption, transportation, emergency services and the environment. Santa Monica has its own sustainability goals and infrastructure limitations.
We should explain to Sacramento what we can realistically accommodate without compromising our long-term quality of life.
Does Santa Monica need substantially more housing, and if so, where should it be built? Would you concentrate most new development downtown even if that means substantially taller buildings, and what areas should be protected from additional density?
We need more housing working families can afford. My family lives in a rent-controlled apartment, and I doubt we could afford to stay in Santa Monica if we had to move. I'd explore incentives to help teachers and working-class residents afford existing apartments rather than simply building more expensive units.
If substantial development is required, I'd concentrate it downtown rather than in established neighborhoods. That could help local businesses, but we must consider infrastructure and emergency services. We need homes suitable for families, not just more housing units.
Lana Negrete's campaign website is lananegrete.com
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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