Over the past year, the Santa Monica Democratic Club has been studying the airport conversion process. In recent months, the Democrat Club created an ad hoc committee to study and discuss a variety of proposed uses for the airport, including creation of a Great Park.
The ad hoc committee was composed of 31 members of the Democratic Club with a wide-variety of backgrounds and experience, including the law, secondary and higher education, medicine, technology, finance, architecture and urban design, aviation, as well as environmental and community activism. The committee met several times and attended two full membership meetings on the airport, including a presentation by the City’s Airport Conversion Planning Team.
On June 18th, the Santa Monica Democrat Club Ad Hoc Airport Conversion Committee voted 18 to 7 to support the following recommendation to its full membership:
“The Santa Monica Democratic Club recommends to City Council, for the benefit of all, the creation of an inspirational LC-compliant Great Park that would not trigger a ballot measure before airport closure, with financing that prioritizes existing on-site revenue sources, and with no sale or other privatization of the land.”
On June 26th, the Democratic Club held a full membership meeting on the ad hoc airport conversion committee’s proposed recommendation to City Council. It was one of the most well-attend events in the Democratic Club’s recent history. After much debate, the full membership voted 156 to 45 in overwhelming favor of the above recommendation to City Council to support the creation of an LC-compliant Great Park at the Santa Monica Airport.
Jorge Casuso reports in the Santa Monica Lookout:
- Airport Plan Picks Up Speed (June 25, 2025)
- Dem Club Rejects Housing on Airport Land (June 27, 2025)
