INSIDE Santa Monica City Manager David White Announces February 2025 Departure smmirror.com
December 13 - December 19, 2024 Volume CXXIII Issue 214
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Lana Negrete Named Mayor as Santa Monica Swears in New City Council Members Dan Hall, Ellis Raskin, Barry Snell, Natalya Zernitskaya Begin Their FourYear Terms
Newly-elected Santa Monica City Councilmembers Dan Hall, Ellis Raskin, Barry Snell, and Natalya Zernitskaya were sworn in Tuesday during an installation ceremony led by City Clerk Nikima Newsome. The ceremony marked the start of their four-year terms. The newly constituted City Council appointed Lana Negrete as mayor for a oneyear term. Caroline Torosis will serve as mayor pro tem for 2025, followed by Jesse Zwick in 2026. Negrete, who was appointed to the council in 2021 and elected in 2022, brings deep ties to Santa Monica, where she was born and raised. She owns the Santa Monica Music Center and Culver City Music Center, founded Outreach Through the Arts, and serves on the National Association of Music Merchants board. “I am overwhelmed with gratitude and a deep sense of responsibility,” Negrete said.
“As a small business owner, I understand the unique challenges we face. I’m committed to fostering an environment where businesses can thrive and families can flourish, and it is truly an honor to serve as mayor.” The ceremony followed the December 3 certification of the 2024 General Election results by Los Angeles County RegistrarRecorder/County Clerk Dean C. Logan. In addition to the council swearing-in, the results for local races were certified, including the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board, Santa Monica Rent Control Board, and several local measures: • Measure F: Updates the business license tax ordinance, exempting small businesses, reducing tax rates for retailers and restaurants, and increasing rates for corporate headquarters. The measure is expected to generate $3 million annually for essential city services. • Measure K: Increases the Parking Facility Tax from 10% to 18%, applying only to private parking structures and lots. It is projected to raise $6.7 million annually to address traffic congestion and public safety. • Measure PSK: An advisory measure directing at least half of Measure K revenue toward public safety and homelessness
initiatives. Newsome also administered the oaths of office for Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board Members Jennifer Smith, Jon Kean, and Maria Leon-Vazquez, as well as Rent Control Board Members Kay Ambriz and Phillis Dudick. The council and community honored outgoing Mayor Phil Brock and Councilmembers Gleam Davis, Oscar de la Torre, and Christine Parra for their service. Davis served 15 years on the council, while
Brock, de la Torre, and Parra each served four years. Reflecting on his tenure, Brock highlighted his focus on public safety, homelessness, and the city’s parks and green spaces. “It has been the highlight of my life’s work to serve the residents of Santa Monica as their mayor,” he said. “And my work is not done. I will always champion the needs of our community and uphold the beautiful spirit of Santa Monica.”
Man Arrested for Murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO in NYC Has Ties to Santa Monica Suspect Found with Ghost Gun, Manifesto, and Fake IDs in Pennsylvania
Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old man, was arrested in Pennsylvania on Monday after an intensive search for the man who shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in the early morning hours of Wednesday, December 4 in New York City. The murder has stoked online anger at insurance companies, with many people sharing stories of being refused coverage by UnitedHealthcare and other companies after the death of Thompson. Despite the efforts of the NYPD and the FBI, Mangione was arrested because someone recognized him at a McDonalds in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and called the police. Mangione was born in Baltimore,
Maryland to a wealthy family, but information has surfaced that he has ties to Santa Monica and Stanford College. He worked as a summer counselor as part of a program at Stanford, according to CNN, and worked at True Car, an online car sales website as a data engineer starting in 2020, according to his now deleted LinkedIn account. True Car’s spokesperson confirmed to CBS News that Mangione was at one point employed by the company, but has not worked for True Car since 2023. True Car is based in Santa Monica and the company’s LinkedIn page states “TrueCar has built a trusted brand and a strong reputation for providing consumers with useful tools, research, market context, and pricing transparency as they embark on their car-buying journey.” The suspect was found in possession of a ghost gun and silencer, a manifesto, several fake IDs, and a passport, according to multiple media accounts. His Twitter account has a Pokemon character, a
shirtless photo, and an x-ray of someone’s back with three pins in it. Mangione reportedly moved from Honolulu because of severe back pain that he was enduring before he had back surgery. The “manifesto” is a document that explained his motives and stated that he had “ill will towards corporations” and “These parasites had it coming, I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done.”, as quoted by CNN according to police officers who had seen the document. Both the state of Pennsylvania and New
York City have charged Mangione. New York City has charged him with one count of murder, two counts of carrying a loaded firearm, one count of possessing a forged instrument, and one count of criminal possession of a weapon. Pennsylvania has charged him with forgery, firearms not to be carried without a license, tampering with records or identification, possessing instruments of crime, and false identification to law enforcement.