June 22, 2026
We have good news for those who care about protecting Santa Monica’s coastline.
After mounting opposition and outrage over our City's secret sponsorship of Assembly Bill 1740—which would have gutted the California Coastal Commission’s authority over Santa Monica’s (and only Santa Monica’s!) coastline—the City and Assemblymember Rick Zbur were forced to back down and leave the Coastal Commission's jurisdiction intact.
We’re happy to report that, thanks to you, all the verbiage in AB 1740 that would have given control of our coastal zone to our hyper-development City Council has been removed.
In what Council leaders are now spinning as a “victory,” they didn’t get the most important thing they wanted.
Instead, Santa Monica will have to craft a coastal plan WITH public input—something it did NOT do with AB 1740.
Make no mistake: AB 1740 was an attempt by well-funded developers, working hand in glove with politicians, to test whether they could sneak through narrowly targeted legislation that would kneecap the Coastal Commission. Why do we say “sneak through”? Because Santa Monica crafted and sponsored AB 1740 in secret without ANY public input. And the Council refused to convene a public hearing to discuss it – let alone try to defend it.
If you’re interested in how such a thing can happen in a city with supposedly “progressive” leadership, here’s an article that explains it. Spoiler alert: Tech billionaires think democracy is too cumbersome and are financing politicians who will do their bidding, bragging that they successfully “flipped” Santa Monica. https://prospect.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Memo_-Unlocking-California-by-Solving-Our-Public-Problems-at-Scale.pdf
But that’s for another email.
For now, let’s celebrate this victory for democracy and for protecting Santa Monica’s most precious resource: our coastline. We know this fight will never truly be over, but this is our home, and when monied interests come for our coast, we will always be ready.
Thank you for your help. You won. Savor it.
