City Staff Report Mixed Results One Year Into Realignment Plan, Citing Lower Crime and Vacancies Alongside Sharp Rise in Arrests

SANTA MONICA - City staff presented a one-year accounting of the Realignment Plan to the City Council this week, citing lower crime figures, reduced commercial vacancies, and a smaller-than-budgeted draw on reserves. The numbers come from the city's own tracking system and were not independently verified in the staff report.

The council adopted the plan on October 28, 2025, when staff projected a $29.6 million structural deficit. Of 179 activities listed in the plan, staff said 96 were marked complete and 79 remained in progress as of September 30. The Police Department reported reaching full sworn staffing for the first time in more than 20 years.

Staff stated that retail vacancy fell from about 16 percent to about 11.8 percent and office vacancy from about 35 percent to about 21 percent. The 2026 Point-in-Time Count, conducted by the city and its partners, showed unsheltered homelessness down 18.1 percent. Staff also reported that violent crime and burglaries declined 11.2 percent from January through September compared with the same months the prior year, and that Part I crime fell 12.5 percent in 2025.

Those crime declines occurred alongside large increases in enforcement. Staff reported that total arrests rose about 62 percent over the same period, traffic citations roughly doubled, and arrests involving unhoused people increased about 71 percent. The City Attorney's office said it now files charges in about 91 percent of legally fileable cases, up from roughly 65 to 70 percent before the plan.

On the budget side, staff said new recurring revenue and savings totaled about $28.8 million a year, above the original $24 million target. The city used $26.7 million in one-time reserves to close fiscal year 2025-26, compared with the $34 million that had been budgeted. Of that amount, $22.5 million was capital spending, leaving an operating gap of about $4.3 million. Staff projected that the General Fund operating budget could balance by July 1, 2027, without further reserve draws.

Not all figures moved in the same direction. Parking revenue came in 13.1 percent under budget, and planning and building revenue was 7 percent under. Plan-check and permit submittals fell about 30 percent, and roughly 6,000 entitled housing units remain paused. Staff noted that private reinvestment has not yet occurred at the scale the plan anticipated.

The council also reviewed several related proposals, including a $3 million Downtown Catalyst Incentive Program, ticketless parking pilots, and a lease allowing Zoox to stage robotaxis in city garages. A RAND Corporation study released earlier in the month was cited by former Mayor Lana Negrete as supporting evidence; the study itself noted that business operators still described Santa Monica as a difficult place to operate.

All of the performance numbers in the update originate from city departments. The report does not include independent audits of the crime, vacancy, or homelessness data, nor does it detail how changes in enforcement levels or counting methods may have affected the results. The council is expected to continue reviewing remaining plan items and related revitalization proposals in the months ahead.