NOMA OPPOSES OCEAN AVE MENTAL HEALTH FACILITIES... YOU CAN TOO, TONIGHT AT CITY COUNCIL

The Board of NOMA has joined the widespread opposition to opening mental health facilities for the unhoused in our neighborhood. Below is our letter to City Council, the City Attorney's Office, and the City Manager's Officer, voicing our concerns and opposition. It has also been shared with LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath.

We urge residents who wish their voices to be heard about these facilities to attend tonight's City Council meeting and speak during Public Comment.

Residents can also obtain more information, ask questions, and express their concerns at a community meeting hosted by the St. Joseph Center this Thursday, October 16, at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church, 1343 Ocean Park Blvd. The meeting starts at 6:30pm.

To: Mayor Negrete, City Councilmembers, City Attorney von Tongeln, and City Manager Chi
Re: Item 16B, City Council Agenda, October 14, 2025

The Board of NOMA strongly supports our community's concerns and strong opposition to the facilities being proposed for 413 and 825 Ocean Avenue. 

They are poorly conceived, thrust on our neighborhood without any notice or a chance for community input, and represent a potential danger to all of us. Seriously mentally ill people — who will not be screened for drug use or prior criminal records — will be brought into our neighborhoods, close to elementary schools, and across from a park where children play, and seniors take their walks.

It also appears individuals at these facilities will be allowed out —unsupervised — from 7am to 9pm, including after dark. The only requirement is that they are not registered sex offenders and that they are seriously mentally ill. Facility residents could include people convicted of violent crimes, abuse to women, children, or the elderly.  

We support facilities that help the seriously mentally ill and homeless. More are needed. But this model and its location is ill-conceived and without regard for community safety. It will lead to a reduction of public support for these services and a further erosion of confidence in our public officials, both at the County level and in  Santa Monica. 

On short notice about 300 Santa Monicans attended a Zoom meeting NOMA held this past Thursday. At least four City Council members, including the Mayor, were present as was our City Manager. The opposition was vocal and passionate; all who spoke were against placing these facilities in this neighborhood. This issue is not going away.

The City Council should be proactive in carrying out the specific requests we set out below. 

NOMA supports this 16B item and specifically requests:

1. Legal Review: The City Attorney be directed to carry out as a high priority a full and thorough review (or re-review) of all legal options Santa Monica has to challenge this facility. These should include, without limitation, all arguments (a) that this facility is a “mental health facility” and not “supportive housing” as the facilities contend and which would result in their not qualifying for automatic approval, and (b) that there was a failure to provide the community with their legal right to be timely heard under SB326 and Welfare and Institutions Code §5604.2(a)(4). We urge that the City Attorney reach out to those who have expressed a desire to sue or have hired legal counsel so that the City can benefit from their legal analysis. The City Attorney should promptly report back to the Council all legal options.
2. Inspections and Enforcement: The applicable City departments should be directed to carry out a thorough review, including inspections, of compliance with all applicable City codes and laws at these facilities. Residents have pointed out that codes have been strictly applied to their homes and businesses and they expect nothing less here. 
3. Taking Responsibility: The public should be told why neither the County nor the City informed residents of these projects until after they had been approved. Both need to come clean so residents can understand how and why they were not included in a process that will so dramatically affect their lives.  Who knew what and when, and what they did about it, should be part of this inquiry. Who from the City, if anyone, visited the properties and when. NOMA first learned of these projects only two weeks ago from Mayor Lana Negrete’s weekly newsletter. 
4. Request the County Pause These Projects and Review: Finally, but importantly, the City Council should contact the LA County Dept. Of Mental Health and Supervisor Horvath and insist that they pause these projects while the County reviews the very flawed process involved, the law, and the appropriateness of placing these facilities in a residential neighborhood with the protocols discussed above.

The Board of the North of Montana Association (NOMA)