My name is Doug Trussler. I have lived in Santa Monica since 2005, built my business here, raised my family here, and plan to retire here. My entire career has been as an investor and manager. I have been involved in more than fifty businesses as an investor, employee, board member, and executive. I have sat on over fifty audit committees and participated in hundreds of audits. I am running for City Council because I believe Santa Monica’s financial situation is serious, fixable, and not being described honestly to residents. 

Read More on page 3: https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp_backissues/032526.pdf%0A

Tricia Crane, a leader of Northeast Neighbors, said the group does not plan to apply after the clarifications are made.

"I don't know what the real goal of this is," Crane said. "It's not going to bring anyone back in the fold.

"Are they so shocked people said, 'No, thanks' to the money?" Crane said. "I don't think they were anticipating how independent we are."

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2026/March-2026/03_24_2026_Council_Calls_Special_Meeting_to_Clarify_Neighborhood_%20Grant_Program_Rules.html

A third neighborhood group on Thursday declined to participate in a new City grant program that bans them from using funding to communicate directly with residents or recruit members.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2026/March-2026/03_23_2026_NOMA_Declines_to_Take_Part_in_Grant_Program.html

A Comparative Environmental, Financial, and Regulatory Analysis

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2026/03/sm-a-r-t-column-two-three-possible-scenarios-for-smo/

The City Council on Tuesday will discuss a groundbreaking proposal to create a "City-aligned nonprofit" that would build, own and operate affordable housing in Santa Monica.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2026/March-2026/03_20_2026_Bold_Proposal_Gives_City_Control_of_Affordable_Housing.html

Adding 8,000 units to a city of 93,000 represents roughly an 8-10% population increase. Even with aggressive conservation, that translates to a meaningful increase in baseline water demand — on top of infrastructure that is already running a structural deficit, four reservoirs needing rehabilitation, decades-old pipelines and pump stations requiring modernization, the City of Santa Monica, and a groundwater basin operating near its sustainable yield.

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2026/03/sm-a-r-t-column-have-housing-mandates-ignored-state-water-shortages/

The Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office has obtained final judgments in two cases filed against landlords who failed to pay mandatory temporary relocation benefits to tenants who were displaced from their homes. 

Read More: https://www.santamonica.gov/press/2026/03/12/city-attorney-s-office-obtains-judgments-and-injunctions-against-landlords-in-tenant-relocation-cases?mc_cid=2c66695d8d&mc_eid=323f6ff6d8

AND: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2026/March-2026/03_13_2026_Landlords_Ordered_to_Pay_Relocation_Fees.html

ental prices in Santa Monica fell sharply in March, dropping 2.3% in a single month as the city recorded the steepest annual rent decline in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

The median rent in the city now stands at $2,318, according to the latest Apartment List data. One-bedroom units have a median rent of $2,194, while two-bedroom apartments average $2,630.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/santa-monica-rents-plunge-7-5-as-coastal-market-cools-faster-than-nation/

The Santa Monica Planning Commission is being asked to scope an “affordability study” for single-family neighborhoods – who could object to studying affordability? But before anyone agrees, it’s worth asking: What, exactly, are we studying, and why? 

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2026/03/sm-a-r-t-column-a-goal-in-search-of-a-question/

Friends of Sunset Park (FSOP) informed City officials Friday it would not participate in the City's new grant program, making it the second neighborhood group to reject the new restrictions.

The letter from the Board of the 37-year-old organization said it was "outraged" by new demands to participate that are "unreasonable, unwarranted, and unwelcome."

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2026/March-2026/03_09_2026_Second_Neighborhood_Group_Pulls_Out_of_City_Grants_Program.html