By Jorge Casuso
August 14, 2026 – Sponsors of a ballot initiative to build 3,000 units of affordable housing on Airport land did not submit signed petitions by Wednesday's deadline and will have to start again if they want to place the measure on the 2028 ballot.
Ralph Mechur, a spokesman for the initiative, said volunteers gathered "several thousand signatures" after the measure was approved for circulation on February 12, far short of the approximately 7,000 signatures of Santa Monica registered voters needed.
After the campaign missed the mid-June cutoff to make the November 3 ballot, it continued circulating petitions in an effort to qualify the measure for the next general election in November 2028 but missed the August 12 deadline
Mechur said the campaign relied on volunteers instead of paid signature gatherers and that the number of volunteers were stretched thin when the hotel workers union, which is a key backer of the measure, focused its efforts on a wage battle in Los Angeles.
"There's always an option to start over on a ballot measure," Mechur said.
Backers of the measure -- which include Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights (SMRR), in addition to UNITE Here Local 11 -- have lobbied the City Council to include a housing component when City staff studies the impacts of building a "Great Park" after the Airport closes at the end of 2028.
"I presume this could come back to the Council in the next steps of the plan," Mechur said. "We're hoping the Council will either include (the housing) in their plan or as alternative in the EIR (Environmental Impact Report)."
The ballot measure submitted to the City Clerk in February set aside 25 percent of the Airport land for "permanently affordable housing" ("What Is in the Airport Housing Initiative," January 26, 2026).
The detailed 11-page initiative set costs and eligibility requirements to keep the units "permanently affordable," although in many cases, they would rival or exceed current market rates.
Two months after the measure was cleared by the City Clerk on February 20, SMRR sent a letter to the Council calling for it to study the impacts of including the housing ("SMRR Asks Council To Study Housing at Airport," April 27, 2026).
The Council, which has a super-majority elected with SMRR's endorsement, has not acted on the letter's request.
The Santa Monica Great Park Coalition Board said in a statement Wednesday it is not surprising the measure failed to receive the needed signatures. "The community remains committed to the Santa Monica Airport Conversion Project and the public process of creating a great park," the Board said.
"This land was purchased with a parks bond in 1926. We have a responsibility to future generations to honor that original public investment by reclaiming the land for a great public park that will benefit the public for decades to come."
The Board said it is confident the Draft Preferred Scenario expected soon "will reflect the extensive community engagement that has already shaped the SMAC Project's Draft Framework."
The Board noted that $10.5 million in state and county grant funding "is already supporting the planning and pre-design work necessary to turn community vision into reality."