SANTA MONICA, CA — Danny Ivanov was born in Skokie, Illinois, and grew up in the Chicago suburb of Buffalo Grove before attending the University of Miami, where he studied economics, political science and history. He subsequently earned his law degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and now works as a labor and employment attorney representing employers.
Although he dreamed of becoming a professional basketball player as a child, Ivanov ultimately pursued a career in law. After passing the California bar exam, he moved to Southern California for a position at a law firm near Los Angeles International Airport, settling in Santa Monica during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Drawn by the coastline, warm weather and the prospect of escaping Chicago's winters, Ivanov has lived in Santa Monica for approximately five and a half years. He has served on the Santa Monica Rent Control Board since 2022 and is its current chair. Now seeking a seat on the City Council, he advocates expanding homelessness prevention programs, streamlining business regulations and concentrating new housing development downtown. He also supports closing Santa Monica Airport by the end of 2028, although he believes decisions about the property's future should wait until environmental and financial questions have been resolved.
What is Santa Monica getting wrong about homelessness today, and what would you do differently?
I have a dual-track approach to homelessness that focuses on prevention and intervention, because I believe we need to address both the circumstances that cause people to lose their housing and the challenges facing those already living on the streets.
On the prevention side, that means expanding emergency rental assistance, our POD rental subsidy and right-to-counsel program, while also scaling up diversion initiatives such as SaMo Bridge and STEP Court. The objective is to reach vulnerable residents before they become involved in the criminal justice system or lose their housing altogether.
For those already experiencing homelessness, I want greater investment in permanent supportive housing with wraparound services, including mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment and job training. Right now, we're not doing enough to connect people with those services, and temporary shelter models can end up moving individuals around for months without addressing the underlying problems.
Santa Monica cannot solve homelessness alone, so I would bring together the city, county, state and business community to establish a realistic goal, perhaps reducing homelessness by 10 or 15 percent by 2030, and develop a coordinated plan to achieve it humanely.
What measurable result would convince you that a city-funded homelessness program is working, and what result would cause you to stop funding it?
We should be tracking how many people are connected to transitional or permanent supportive housing, how many are no longer living on the streets and the year-over-year percentage decrease in homelessness. Those figures would demonstrate whether our programs are making meaningful progress.
I don't necessarily see a situation where we completely stop funding a successful program, because withdrawing support after making progress risks losing those gains and seeing homelessness increase again. The objective should be to build on measurable improvements while maintaining the services necessary to sustain them.
What should happen when someone living on the street repeatedly refuses an offer of shelter, treatment or services?
There will inevitably be people who refuse services, including individuals experiencing severe mental illness or other crises, and I think our response needs to depend on the circumstances.
If someone is experiencing a mental health emergency and poses an imminent danger to themselves or others, an appropriate mental health crisis response team should intervene. However, if someone isn't a danger but simply refuses assistance, the situation is different because ultimately, you cannot force someone to accept help when they don't want it.
What's your default karaoke song?
"12 to 12" by Sombr.
What song or band makes you crank up the volume in the car?
Troye Sivan.
Santa Monica Airport is scheduled to close at the end of 2028. What, specifically, do you believe should replace it?
I've been very clear throughout my campaign that the immediate priority must be closing the airport by Dec. 31, 2028, under the terms of Measure LC, and I don't believe that's necessarily a done deal. The aviation industry is making a concerted effort to delay or prevent closure, so we need to concentrate on accomplishing that first.
Once the airport closes, we can have a community conversation about what should replace it, but I think it's premature to insist that the property must become entirely a park, entirely housing or some combination of the two.
Environmental remediation will be necessary after closure, and we don't yet know how much that will cost or how long it will take. It could take five years or 10 years, and until those studies are completed, we won't know what's feasible. I'm committed to closing the airport first and making informed decisions about its future afterward.
The airport site is roughly 192 acres and converting it will be enormously expensive. How much should Santa Monica taxpayers be expected to pay for the project, and where should the rest of the money come from?
Assuming we move forward with a major park or another substantial redevelopment project, I expect Santa Monica taxpayers would have to contribute some portion of the funding, but we would also need significant outside support through grants from the state, county and federal governments.
We should work with our congressional representative, Ted Lieu, to explore federal funding opportunities, with the ultimate financing coming from a combination of sources. That's another reason I believe it's premature to commit to a particular vision before we understand the environmental requirements and overall costs.
What's your guilty-pleasure TV show?
"The White Lotus."
When was the last time you took public transport and where was it to?
This summer, around June or July. I took the Big Blue Bus to SoFi Stadium for the United States' opening World Cup match against Paraguay.
What is the single most important thing City Hall can do in the next two years to bring businesses and residents back to Third Street Promenade?
We absolutely need to modernize and streamline our permitting process, particularly by establishing a Local Coastal Program, because businesses currently face duplicative requirements involving the city and the California Coastal Commission.
Something as simple as allowing outdoor dining on an existing patio can become tied up in years of studies, hearings and reviews, which isn't a sensible way to encourage economic development. Establishing a Local Coastal Program would help reduce unnecessary duplication and make it easier for businesses to operate.
On the Promenade itself, I'd like to see more outdoor dining, concerts and regular events, potentially through partnerships with Santa Monica College and its fine arts programs. The World Cup watch parties demonstrated how events can attract visitors and benefit local businesses, but we need that activity to become sustainable rather than lasting only a few weeks.
Housing is also essential to downtown's recovery because more residents living nearby means more people walking around, visiting restaurants and supporting local businesses throughout the year.
Is downtown Santa Monica fundamentally suffering from a public-safety problem, a business-model problem or a development problem, and what role should new housing play in its recovery?
I think it's all of the above, because there isn't one single explanation for the Promenade's current condition, and there won't be one single solution.
We're still dealing with the economic consequences of COVID-19, but public safety is also part of the problem. I'm pleased that the city's realignment plan included a downtown police substation and increased patrols in parking garages, beach lots and other areas, although homelessness continues to affect people's perceptions of safety.
Housing is another major component, and I believe we have room to upzone our downtown core to accommodate substantially more residential development. Bringing more people into the area would create a larger customer base for businesses and help restore activity throughout downtown.
Ultimately, it's going to take improvements in public safety, economic development and housing working together to get downtown back on track.
Who would you most hate to be stuck in a lift with?
Probably the current president of the United States.
What's your most irrational superstition or habit?
It's something my parents taught me, rooted in our Eastern European heritage. If you leave the house and realize you've forgotten something, such as your keys or wallet, you have to look at yourself in the mirror before leaving again, otherwise it's bad luck. I still do that every single time.
Does Santa Monica have a revenue problem or a spending problem and if finances deteriorate, what specifically would you be prepared to cut or change?
I think we have to acknowledge that the city's financial difficulties are largely connected to the $245 million sexual abuse settlement, and it's not fair to suggest that the current situation simply resulted from the City Council spending irresponsibly.
The realignment plan has been a positive step toward restoring financial stability, but we also need to strengthen our revenue base. I support the school funding measure on November's ballot, which could generate approximately $12 million annually, and believe we should work with lawmakers in Sacramento to pursue reforms to AB 218, the state law that expanded opportunities to bring certain childhood sexual abuse claims.
Economic development is equally important because our sales tax and hotel tax revenues have not fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels. We need more business investment to support city services and fund the programs residents depend upon.
As for spending reductions, I would examine the budget for overlapping responsibilities between departments and opportunities to operate more efficiently, but I would never support cutting programs that protect our most vulnerable residents, including emergency rental assistance or rental subsidies. That's a red line for me.
Who was your childhood hero?
President Barack Obama.
What's the most recent book you gave up on, and why?
I can't remember the title, but it was a work of fiction that I found rather dense and boring, and I couldn't get into the story. I stopped reading about halfway through, and I think it might have been something by Barbara Kingsolver, although I'm not certain.
Has Santa Monica gone too far, not far enough or roughly the right distance in redesigning streets around bicycles and pedestrians and would you support removing or substantially redesigning a project that was shown to create new safety or access problems?
I think we're moving at a good pace in expanding protected bicycle infrastructure, and I'd like to see us go further because there are still gaps in the network that need to be addressed.
We've had what I consider successful projects on Ocean Avenue, Broadway and Colorado Avenue, and the purpose of these improvements isn't simply to protect cyclists but also to improve pedestrian safety and make our streets safer for everyone.
If a particular project creates unintended consequences that actually make conditions more dangerous, I would absolutely support redesigning or removing it. The entire objective is safety, and if something isn't working as intended, we need to fix it.
What's the worst job you've ever had?
My first law firm. Hopefully nobody from there reads this interview.
What completely different job would you secretly love to do?
I'd love to be a therapist. I've always found it fascinating to hear people's stories and experiences, understand their problems and offer advice about how they might address them.
Santa Monica faces major decisions over the future of both the Civic Auditorium and Bergamot Station. What should happen to each and how much should preserving their existing cultural uses influence those decisions?
I think there's a sensible middle ground for both properties that could satisfy people on different sides of these debates, rather than treating either decision as an all-or-nothing proposition.
Bergamot Station is identified in our Housing Element as a city-owned site designated for affordable housing, and the city has been considering development proposals. I believe we can preserve the area's artistic character while incorporating affordable housing, potentially above or around existing galleries and retail spaces.
It doesn't have to be a choice between preserving the arts district and building housing, because we can create a mixed-use development that accommodates both and maintains the character that makes Bergamot Station special.
The same principle applies to the Civic Auditorium, where we should explore ways to preserve its landmark character while restoring its ability to generate revenue through concerts, conventions and other events. Both properties can retain their cultural significance while serving additional purposes that benefit the community.
When did you last do something for the very first time?
Last summer, when I went kayaking in Colorado. I'd never done that before.
Do you have any tattoos?
No.
Should Santa Monica continue challenging state housing mandates, or accept that Sacramento has largely removed the city's discretion and concentrate on deciding where new housing goes?
I think continuing to fight the state through legal challenges is largely a losing battle, and we risk spending enormous amounts of money on litigation that the city cannot afford.
That doesn't mean every housing bill coming out of Sacramento is necessarily good for Santa Monica. We should implement legislation that benefits our community while working with state lawmakers to seek exceptions or modifications when particular requirements create problems.
SB 79, California's Abundant and Affordable Homes Near Transit Act, is an example. Regardless of whether someone supports or opposes that legislation, the city needs to determine how best to implement it, with my priority being to ensure that new development doesn't displace vulnerable renters, particularly in the Pico neighborhood.
I support the city's efforts to develop an alternative local approach that would redirect more density downtown rather than concentrating development in areas where existing tenants could be displaced. Instead of spending money fighting battles we're unlikely to win, we should focus on implementing state requirements in ways that minimize negative consequences for Santa Monica residents.
Does Santa Monica need substantially more housing, and if so, where should it be built? Would you concentrate most new development downtown even if that means substantially taller buildings and what areas should be protected from additional density?
We're in a housing crisis, and I fundamentally believe we need to build housing at all income levels because we cannot solve the problem through affordable housing alone or market-rate development alone. We need both.
Our priority should be upzoning the downtown core, particularly around Third Street Promenade and our commercial boulevards, because that's where additional development makes the most sense.
More residents downtown would support local businesses and contribute to economic recovery, while allowing us to accommodate substantial new housing without concentrating large-scale, high-density buildings in established residential neighborhoods.
I'm not advocating that kind of development in those neighborhoods. The focus should be on creating more housing downtown while protecting existing residential communities from inappropriate development.
Danny Ivanov's s campaign website is electdannyivanov.com
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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