This month’s Santa Monica Pulse asked residents to rate Oliver Chi’s job as City Manager. 25 percent of respondents somewhat or strongly approved of Chi’s job as City Manager, compared to the less than 7 percent who approved of the City Council’s job performance in our August poll.
Only 38 percent of residents disapproved of Chi, compared to 87 percent who said they disapproved of the City Council. 37 percent of respondents were undecided on Chi, suggesting many residents are waiting to see if the City Manager can execute on his turnaround plan.
While the Santa Monica Pulse has consistently found dissatisfaction with city government, Chi appears to be one of the more popular city leaders in recent memory, and has room to expand his approval rating as a large percentage of residents remain undecided.
We also asked respondents their opinion on what the City Council should prioritize in 2026.
- 77 percent said that the City Council should prioritize increasing public safety
- 74 percent said the City Council should prioritize reducing homelessness
- 57 percent said that the Council should prioritize creating a positive business environment
- 39 percent said the Council should prioritize revitalizing tourism
- 22 percent wanted the Council to prioritize increasing revenue and reducing City debt
- Just 9 percent said that they wanted the City Council to prioritize enacting new labor mandates on pier businesses
Finally, we asked residents their opinion on the new increase on parking rates in Santa Monica. 73 percent of respondents said they strongly or somewhat opposed the increase, while 25 percent strongly or somewhat supported the increase. 2 percent had no opinion.