By Jorge Casuso

December 19, 2025 -- California's top political watchdog has concluded that City Councilmember Jesse Zwick is disqualified from participating in "housing production decisions" made by the Council, City officials said Thursday.

The formal advice issued by the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) on December 8 determined that Zwick's employer, the statewide Housing Action Coalition (HAC), could benefit from the Council's action.

The FPPC found that while neither Zwick nor HAC's financial interest in local housing production decisions met traditional criteria, a conflict was possible "under a separate 'nexus test' that the FPPC might apply," City officials said.

“(A)ny reasonably foreseeable financial effect on a source of income to a public official or the official’s spouse is material if the decision will achieve, defeat, aid, or hinder a purpose or goal of the source,” the FPPC wrote.

"Under that standard," City officials said, "the FPPC advised City housing production decisions could benefit HAC, despite safeguards put in place to ensure no direct benefit to either Mayor Pro Tem Zwick or HAC from such decisions."

The FPPC's advice does not affect any past actions and the agency "did not find that Mayor Pro Tem Zwick acted improperly, violated the law, or failed to disclose his employment," officials said.

Zwick told The Lookout he disagreed with the FPPC's decision, noting that he had followed the advice of the City Attorney's office and taken steps to avoid any actual or perceived conflict.

"I am a little disappointed because I disagree, but of course I will abide by the decision," Zwick told The Lookout.

Zwick, who is helping raise a young family and assumed his new post with the housing non-profit in September, said the FPPC's decision could impact whether he decides to run for reelection next November.

"I have been agonizing about the decision prior to this, but this guidance from the FPPC certainly dims my enthusiasm," Zwick said.

"Still, I think housing production issues are really important," he added, noting that he has not made a final decision on whether to seek reelection. "That's why I'm on the Council."

Zwick has been a leading advocate of housing development since joining the seven-member Council in December 2022 and has co-sponsored key measures as part of the new Council's 6 to 1 super-majority.

Since September, he has been the director of HAC's new office in Southern California, where he is responsible for "growing HAC’s membership and advancing pro-housing solutions across the region," the non-profit said.

One month after his hiring was announced on September 5, Northeast Neighbors sent a letter to City Manager Oliver Chi requesting that the City investigate Zwick's conflict of interest on housing issues.

"We are concerned that the record shows that Councilmember Zwick may not be able to meet his obligations to the people of Santa Monica and also satisfy the expectations of his new employer," The Northeast Neighbors Board wrote.

Five of the six other neighborhood groups joined in, and the City sought guidance from the FPPC.

Three weeks later the campaign intensified when the slow-growth Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City circulated an open letter urging Zwick to resign. On November 21, the group officially issued the letter signed by some 400 residents, including civic leaders and former elected officials.

The Councilmember's new post, the letter stated, "creates a clear, ethical conflict of interest, making it impossible for Mr. Zwick to impartially and independently vote on any matters relating to development."

"Councilmember Zwick is being paid by an organization to advance its agenda -- an agenda on which he will be voting in countless Council meetings," the letter said.

"Residents elected Mr. Zwick to represent the best interests of our City and our community, not the interests of an organization with a very specific agenda."

In an opinion piece published in The Lookout, Zwick said he consulted with attorneys at both the City and HAC before accepting the position and "secured an agreement that neither I nor HAC" would do any work related to Santa Monica.

"Despite these safeguards," Zwick wrote, "some critics have decided to make political hay out of nearly every vote I have taken since accepting this position -- even on policy matters entirely unrelated to housing production.

"That’s because their issue, at the end of the day, isn’t really about ethics or conflicts of interest," Zwick wrote. "It’s that they fundamentally disagree with the values I stand for."