By Jorge Casuso

June 2, 2026 -- Former Mayor Phil Brock -- a staunch supporter of law-enforcement -- will seek to regain the City Council seat he lost two years ago in a liberal establishment sweep.

Brock told The Lookout he will likely run as an independent in the race for three open Council seats on November 3 and not as part of a slate, as he did two years ago.

This time, Brock will be running as a challenger at a time when the opposition has been implementing a Realignment plan that includes a number of the measures he has championed.

Brock said he plans to focus on boosting the Police force, tackling homelessness and fighting tall housing projects he believes are ruining the uniqueness of the beach City where he was born and raised.

"I believe firmly the City needs strong leadership," Brock said. "We need to keep working on homelessness issues, public safety. The amount of people dying on the streets is still at a critical level."

Brock believes that while the Police Department is fully staffed with the 228 officers budgeted now in place, an additional 50 officers are still needed, especially when local tourism fully recovers.

He also believes major problems such as homelessness and water pollution at the Pier need to be tackled at regional, State and national levels.

"These are not Santa Monica problems," Brock said, noting that the Pier has ranked among California's most polluted beaches for a decade despite spending more that $100 million to tackle the problem.

"We're still in a position where our finances are shaky," Brock said. "We have to do things with common sense. We've got to be down to earth."

He also believes the Council's current 6 to 1 super-majority has been shunning residents by restricting funding for neighborhood groups and limiting pubic testimony at Council meetings to one minute per speaker.

"Councilmembers need to be responsive to residents," Brock said. "Thye're doing their best to silence the city's population."

Brock also believes mid- and high-rise housing projects are failing to help the working class while destroying Santa Monica's character.

"We are supposed to be distinctly and uniquely Santa Monica," Brock said. "You should come into Santa Monica and feel the difference. We are a breath of fresh air."

These are the same issues that propelled Brock and two anti-liberal-establishment candidates to be swept into office in 2020, ousting as many incumbents in one race as had been defeated in the previous 26 years.

And they were the same issues championed by the slate of four candidates headed by Brock and former Councilmember Oscar de la Torre that was soundly defeated two years ago.

This time, Brock said he is inclined to run as an independent and not as part of a slate.

"Running as a slate last time, obviously did not help me," he said. "It buried me."