Last night, Santa Monica welcomed two new Councilmembers and one returning Councilmember in an installation ceremony. Following Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean C. Logan's certification of the final results for the 2022 General Election, City Clerk Denise Anderson-Warren swore in Councilmembers Caroline Torosis and Jesse Zwick, elected to four-year terms, and returning Councilmember Lana Negrete, also elected to a four-year term.
The newly installed City Council selected Gleam Davis to serve a one-year term as Santa Monica's mayor with Phil Brock serving a one-year term for the second year of the two-year mayoral term. Lana Negrete was selected as mayor pro tempore for two years.
"I'm elated to have the opportunity to serve Santa Monica once again as mayor. As the most tenured member of the Council, I hope to use my experience to lead us through the transformative process of rebuilding our organization and bringing the community together," said Mayor Gleam Davis. "There's a lot to do to advance our priorities around homelessness, a safe and clean community, and an equitable economic recovery. I'm ready to get to work with my colleagues who love Santa Monica as much as I do."
Mayor Gleam Davis has served on the Council since 2009, when she was appointed to fill the seat left vacant by the passing of Herb Katz, and was elected to an additional two-year term in 2010. She was re-elected in 2012, 2016, and 2020. At the time of her appointment, Davis was a member of the Santa Monica Planning Commission and was the Co-Chair of Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights. For more details about Mayor Davis, see her bio on santamonica.gov.
Mayor Pro Tempore Lana Negrete joined the Council in 2021, when she was selected to fill the seat left vacant by Kevin McKeown. She was elected to a four-year term in this election. Negrete was born and raised in Santa Monica and is the owner of the Santa Monica Music Center and Culver City Music Center. She founded Outreach Through the Arts and is an elected Board member of the National Association of Music Merchants.
As part of the 2022 election certification, Ericka Lesley and Kurt Gonska will return to the Rent Control Board, joined by Daniel S. Ivanov. On the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board, Stacy Rouse and Alicia Mignano will join as new members, and Laurie Lieberman and Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein will continue as re-elected members of the Board. Sion Roy, Nancy Greenstein, and Barry Snell will continue their work on the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees, joined by Tom Peters.
Voter approval of numerous local ballot measures was also certified:
Measure CS to increase the transient occupancy tax with the funds used to address homelessness, improve 911 emergency response times and neighborhood police protection, and improvements to the safety and cleanliness of our public spaces;
Measure EM to allow the Rent Control Board to disallow or modify annual general rent adjustments for rent controlled units during a state of emergency and reducing the current annual general adjustment from 6% to 0.8% from 2/1/23 through 8/31/23, or an average not to exceed 3%, with a maximum 3% annual increase thereafter;
Measure GS to provide a third tier transfer tax rate for property transfers of $8,000,000 or more to fund schools, homelessness prevention, and affordable housing;
Measure HMP to establish a business tax on cannabis businesses if Council chooses to amend current ordinances;
Measure PB to expand eligibility requirements for service on the City's Personnel Board and to reduce the term of service for Personnel Board members; and
Measure RC to adjust the owner occupancy rules for rent-controlled units.
For more information on the 2022 election results, visit lavote.gov/home/voting-elections/current-elections/election-results. Bios on new Councilmembers will soon be available at santamonica.gov.
Original source can be found here.
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