One year since ICE came to Culver City
Hey friends,
I hope you had a wonderful Father’s Day yesterday and Juneteenth on Friday.
Juneteenth is a time to celebrate and reflect on the freedoms that so many fought and died for.
But it’s not just a part of our history… the rights of our friends and neighbors are again under attack in this administration.
One year ago, ICE came to Culver City. They grabbed a beloved paletero, Ambrocio “Enrique” Lozano, off the street and put him in an unmarked van, leaving only his cart behind.
After that, a lot happened quickly. We had to move fast to try to protect folks who were vulnerable, because the threat was daily.
So I made this video to look back on how our community responded with real action when our neighbors were targeted.
This administration wanted to turn us against each other, but instead we showed up for each other.
And we proved that even a small city can take on big fights.
Council adopts first balanced budget in 3 years, with major investments in housing, sidewalks, safe streets, parks
By a 4-1 vote, the Council officially adopted the 2026-2027 budget, the first balanced budget in 3 years. It includes several critical investments, including:
$2.5M for repairs to Bill Botts Field
$250K for alley pavings
$3.5M for street right of way improvements
$1M for sidewalk improvements (tripling our typical rate)
$2M for street resurfacing (doubling our typical rate)
$500K to enhance our treet canopy
$400K for a housing stability package including universal basic income pilot program
$1M for deferred maintainance of our parks facilities
$1.5M for future parks and rec facilities planning
And due to your advocacy, we were able to make two important additions to this already impressive list:
We added $3M for safe streets projects (such as Better Overland and Safer Fox Hills)
We preserved two unfilled positions for the Mobile Crisis Team (Culver City’s unarmed crisis response unit) that were about to be cut, allowing their operating hours to expand to 12 hours per day, 7 days per week.
You can read more about this historic budget in the city manager’s message here or check out Our Culver’s post, “A balanced, progressive budget for Culver City.”
Victory: Temporary drive thru ban passes, permanent ban in progress
In the last Culver City Council meeting, neighbors spoke out for our proposal to ban drive-throughs citywide, and my motion enacting a temporary drive thru ban passed unanimously.
This motion will prevent any new drive-throughs from applying for permits as long as it’s active.
Look, I love a burger and fries as much as the next person.
But we know that drive-throughs are unsafe, inaccessible, polluting, and create negative health impacts for the communities that live near them.
So I’m grateful for the community advocating for a better way forward— one that honors the commitments we made in our General Plan 2045 to make sure we can breathe clean air, safely walk and bike in our neighborhoods, and create an accessible, sustainable city for all.
Now that the urgency ordinance is passed, staff will be drafting the permanent ordinance and sending it to the planning commission for their input, then back to Council for a final vote.
I’ll be sure to keep you updated as we move forward.
Tonight! Civic assembly report and November election
At tonight’s meeting we’ll discuss a few important items.
P-1. PRESENTATION OF AN INTERIM UPDATE FROM CULVER CITY’S FIRST CIVIC ASSEMBLY (pictured above) ON INCREASING PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN THE BUDGET PROCESS
P-2. PRESENTATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY'S PERFORMANCE AND TRANSPARENCY SYSTEM (KPIs)
A-1. CALLING FOR AN ELECTION TO BE HELD IN NOVEMBER FOR CITY COUNCIL & BALLOT MEASURE LOWERING VOTING AGE TO 16 FOR LOCAL ELECTIONS
We would love to hear from you tonight!
Watch tonight at City Hall, Zoom, or on the city’s YouTube channel.
Just tap the button below to sign up to speak.
Around Town!
Lavendar graduation honors LGBTQ+ high school grads
There’s nothing quite like being in a room full of queer joy 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
I was honored to give the keynote at the CCHS Lavender Graduation this year— the 3rd ever commencement ceremony for CCHS queer students, celebrating their achievements and resilience.
To every grad in that room — your future is bright and the world is lucky to have you. 🎓🌈
My heartfelt thanks to CCHS faculty and CCHS Tolerance Club for organizing.
Culver City Pride is almost here!
Can you feel it? Culver City Pride is right around the corner, queen!!
This year, the fun is back at the Culver Steps until 10PM! with performances by Mariah Balenciaga, Delta Work, and so many more fabulous entertainers… there’s something for everyone!
Huge thank you as usual to the organizers of the festival Jack, Phoebe, Chris, and Warren. And the PRIDE RIDE too— thanks to Walk n’ Rollers and Bike Culver City.
See y’all there Saturday, June 27th!! 🌈🌈🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️
Thanks for taking the time to catch up with me. I hope you have a fabulous start to your week!
-Bubba