By Jorge Casuso
January 22, 2026 -- Two ballot measures were submitted to the City Clerk's office in the last week, one of which threatens to divide Santa Monica's political establishment.
Last Thursday the Great Park and Community Housing Initiative was submitted, followed this Tuesday by the Citizens United Ordinance to Preserve City Funding of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD), said Interim City Clerk Denise Anderson-Warren.
The education proponents' initiative was submitted hours after an item was included as part of next Tuesday's City Council agenda asking the Council to consider a $540 parcel tax to maintain the $12 million annual funding to the School District and to enhance City services.
The Council is expected to give direction to staff on whether to proceed with the tax measure, which fared poorly in a random poll of Santa Monica voters ("Council to Consider Parcel Tax Measure," January 21, 2026).
If the Council decides to pursue a potential measure, it would require a two-thirds majority vote to place it on the November ballot. Local voters, who have approved seven tax measures in the past two general elections, would need to support it with at least 66.7 percent of the vote.
The other initiative, which requires a simple majority vote at the polls, was filed by proponents of developing affordable housing at the Santa Monica Airport after it is slated to close at the end of 2028.
It was submitted by two members of the Cloverfield Commons and a member of UNITE HERE Local 11, the hotel workers union that has actively lobbied for below-market housing on airport land.
According to the group's webiste, "Cloverfield Commons would be a neighborhood of around 3,000 below market homes, ranging from very low to middle income, in a mix of low to mid-rise buildings."
"It is envisioned as a modestly scaled community that occupies only a portion of the Santa Monica airport land, complimenting civic amenities and the largest public park on the westside."
In a statement issued over the weekend, the board of the Great Park Coalition, which is spearheading the effort to build a 192-acre park on shuttered airport land, strongly opposed the measure.
"The ballot measure risks undermining the community consensus to close the airport and risks delaying the park planning process,” said the non-profit composed of diverse organizations and individuals.
“We strongly oppose any ballot measure to amend Measure LC, which Santa Monica voters overwhelmingly approved in 2014 and which restricts development of airport land to parks.
"Although we have not yet reviewed the proposal that was filed Thursday, introducing a ballot measure at this stage disregards the extensive public planning process that resulted last summer in a 6–1 City Council vote to create a Great Park at the airport site, consistent with Measure LC," the board wrote.
Coalition leaders have publicly worried that aviation interests could place a rival measure on the November ballot to keep the century old airport open.
According to the City Clerk's Office, the City Attorney has 15 days after a ballot measure is submitted to review the measure and issue a title and summary.
After the measure is published, proponents have 180 days to gather the signatures of 10 percent of Santa Monica registered voters to place the measure on the ballot.
The City Council can then either adopt the measure or adopt a resolution to place the measure on the ballot.
If the measure is taken to a vote, supporters and opponents would prepare arguments for and against the measure, and the City Attorney would prepare an impartial analysis.