Santa Monica Council Candidate Spotlight: Lindsay Davis

SANTA MONICA, CA — Lindsay Davis, better known as "Daisy the Venice Healer," describes herself as a neighborhood superhero, believes conventional economic systems are fundamentally flawed and wants Santa Monica to become a model for what she calls universal needs-based governance.

Her proposals range from eliminating homelessness through community-run wellness centers to replacing most bicycle lanes with wildlife corridors. She also wants Santa Monica Airport to become the centerpiece of an ambitious transportation network involving flying cars, an orbital ring and a space elevator.

Born in Connecticut, Davis grew up across the United States and parts of Central and South America. She moved to Santa Monica in June 2020 and is currently enrolled at Santa Monica College, where she studies subjects related to wellness, movement and politics.

Davis describes herself as a yoga instructor, social media influencer and practitioner of nonviolent communication. She says she previously owned several properties and was financially successful before concluding that money and competition were themselves forms of addiction.

Now living on $220 a month, Davis says she deliberately avoids participating in what she calls the "market economy," preferring to help others without charging for her services. She credits her experiences with homelessness, addiction recovery and social services with shaping her political philosophy.

Central to her campaign are 22 proposals intended to transform vacant commercial properties into community facilities she calls "fellowship spaces," where residents could receive food, health services, shelter and other assistance without having to pay.

What is Santa Monica getting wrong about homelessness today, and what would you do differently?
One of my proposals is called "Room for Everyone," and it's directly tied to another called "A Call to Love." I want a 111 system connected to 911, where community volunteers would answer calls first and determine whether someone needs emergency assistance or simply emotional support, breathing exercises or help meeting their basic needs.

Instead of police responding to homelessness, community members like me would respond. We would not tolerate homelessness in Santa Monica because it's dangerous, particularly when people are woken up at three or four in the morning and moved along.

I propose what I call a "love engulf." It's not an arrest. It's basically saying, "If you don't come with us, we're taking you." People would be brought to Room for Everyone, which would be like a spa, with yoga, breath work, food, beds and opportunities to receive care. The idea is to make it irresistible not to stay at the beach.

What measurable result would convince you that a city-funded homelessness program is working, and what result would cause you to stop funding it?
I know it's working because there is not one homeless person in sight, and if there is a homeless person, they're receiving the most love, care and kindness, and the least force, control and violence. I believe Santa Monica can become free from homelessness and show other cities how to solve the problem.

If there are still violent attacks, drug paraphernalia and people sleeping outside, then we're not finished. I wouldn't stop funding something unless it was clearly hurting people and the benefits weren't outweighing the problems.

What should happen when someone living on the street repeatedly refuses an offer of shelter, treatment or services?
It's not an option to live at the beach and be homeless. We do not allow camping at the beach, and under a love engulf, community members would approach people without pepper spray or weapons.

They could bring essential oils, tuning forks, music, massage therapists, hypnotherapists and people trained in nonviolent communication. The police could stand by or even participate through FaceTime, but I don't believe they would be needed. Instead of asking whether a crime has occurred, we should ask what underlying need someone's behavior is trying to meet.

What’s your default karaoke song?
"Shoop," by Salt-N-Pepa.

What song or band makes you crank up the volume in the car?
Anything by Andy Grammer.

Santa Monica Airport is scheduled to close at the end of 2028. What, specifically, do you believe should replace it?
I have a proposal for the world's first space elevator and the world's first section of our first orbital ring. Think of a giant highway with high-speed trains, living quarters and places where flying cars can stay. We have the technology to build structures like this, and I want Santa Monica to think ahead as Los Angeles prepares for flying cars around the 2028 Olympics.

There are already engineers working on these ideas, with proposals for an orbital ring around the entire planet. We're talking about one little section for Santa Monica, and I believe it could make us a world leader in transportation technology.

I don't want to lose the airport because it's one of our treasures, with so much history behind it. I certainly don't want it turned into housing. Heaven forbid housing. Instead, we should be thinking about bioorganic building materials, vertical gardens and cities that clean carbon from the atmosphere. I want Santa Monica to be a city of the future.

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?
I believe we can get federal grants because it's such an innovative project. There's funding available for technology, robotics and electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, which are going to be enormous industries.

We would be very sorry if we got rid of the airport and missed this boom. Keep the airport and do whatever it takes to fund it, because we want an orbital ring, a space elevator and high-speed trains. We want to blast off to the future like a rocket.

What’s your guilty-pleasure TV show?
I don't watch any television or movies.

When was the last time you took public transport and where was it to?
Yesterday. I took the bus to school, then to dance class, and then home.

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?
The empty storefronts make Santa Monica look like it's experiencing urban decay. I want to take down the flashy lights and screens, put up vertical gardens, bring our waterways back to life and let native flowers grow. We could have water features with lights and music, places to meditate and plaques encouraging people to think about gratitude. When people come here, it could be like Burning Man at the beach.

I would also fine owners of vacant commercial properties, hypothetically $3 per square foot per month. If they opened their properties as fellowship spaces, the city could instead pay them $1 per square foot per month. These spaces could provide yoga, dentistry, laundry, community restaurants, trauma healing and other services, bringing rich and poor people together. Someone who receives a free meal might then spend hundreds of dollars shopping, while someone without money would still have somewhere to belong.

We need to create abundance instead of withholding people's needs and selling them back.

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?
It's suffering from all of those things, and housing could deeply help solve them. We should examine existing buildings and determine which can be converted, expanded or replaced, while creating a beautiful skyline that increases housing without destroying views.

I propose three kinds of housing: immediate crisis accommodation, short-term recovery housing and longer-term housing. We should also create incentives for homeowners to replace toxic building materials and install composting toilets. Santa Monica could become a no-sewage city, where our waste becomes soil instead of going into the water. Composting toilets are better, cheaper to maintain and create something useful from what we flush away.

We should also build more housing near public transportation, with businesses operating around the clock to improve safety and make neighborhoods more welcoming.

Who would you most hate to be stuck in a lift with?
John the bully.

What’s your most irrational superstition or habit?
I believe everyone can feel my thoughts. They might not know exactly what I'm thinking, but if I look at someone and think about how lovable they are, or evaluate or compare them, I believe they can feel how I think about them.

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?
We have both a revenue and a spending problem. We're wasting a lot of money, and I don't know what handshakes are happening, but I believe there are ways to be much more efficient.

I used to be very wealthy. By the time I was 22, I owned several properties and had businesses, so I understand what it's like to have substantial financial responsibilities. Some commercial landlords can afford to leave buildings empty for years, while others don't want to admit a project has failed. Santa Monica is too nice to commercial property owners, and we need to make those vacant spaces productive.

Who was your childhood hero?
The Ninja Turtles.

What’s the most recent book you gave up on, and why?
Facebook.

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?
We have too many bicycle lanes, and they're in the wrong places. I'm a skateboarder, I've been hit by cars twice and I don't want to be next to traffic.

I propose removing most existing bicycle lanes and creating what I call nature carless care corridors. These would be streets without cars, where people could bicycle or skateboard alongside native wildlife. We might see a mountain lion, a bear, a beaver or an otter, but that's OK. We could use artificial intelligence to identify and monitor the animals, with livestreams so people around the world could watch them. We could even have protected bicycle tours through the corridors.

We need biodiversity, grazing, watering holes and composting. If we restore ecosystems, predators can help control pests naturally, and perhaps we could responsibly introduce other species, maybe even flamingos. By 2034, I believe we can have all cars off the ground because of flying-car technology. Transportation should be a universal need available to everyone.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?
Being a superhero during COVID at the beach. I was living among thousands of people and trying to de-escalate confrontations, sometimes involving guns and knives. I loved helping people, but it was very stressful.

What completely different job would you secretly love to do?
I would love to lead healing circles, which is actually what I plan to do when elected. I believe government should be a loving, nurturing parent, not a sadistic, abusive one.

Instead of everyone looking up at the City Council, we should sit together in a circle, pass a microphone and talk about our feelings and needs. People don't feel heard at council meetings. Someone speaks, their time runs out, and they're told to move along.

I want to bring people together and create relationships based on trust and connection, because that's how we begin to meet each other's needs.

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?
We should beautify these places and have more events, giving people additional spaces to dance, perform and create art. They're valuable for tourism, community and history, and I don't understand why we would get rid of something special.

I want us to stop putting housing in our cool places because there are plenty of other places to build it. We could transform commercial properties and parking structures into housing instead. As flying cars become commonplace, we won't need so many parking garages, and those could become beautiful high-rise residential buildings.

I also want to remind everyone that George Jetson was born in 2025. I believe we're approaching the future shown in "The Jetsons," with flying cars and people living above the ground, and Santa Monica could lead that transformation.

When did you last do something for the very first time?
I ran for office for the first time this year.

Do you have any tattoos?
Yes, I have a lot.

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 don't think Sacramento is bullying us, and I think we can meet the housing mandate. We could change zoning and create taller buildings near public transportation while preserving other parts of the skyline.

We should look at the infrastructure we already have and determine what can be reused or converted. Eventually, by 2034, I believe parking garages could become housing because cars will no longer need to stay on the ground.

I don't think we should fight Sacramento. We should be sweet and ask for more money.

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?
Yes, we need more housing, and my preference is to concentrate most of it along public transit corridors rather than necessarily downtown. We could build much taller buildings near transit and change zoning to accommodate them.

I live in housing near public transportation, and I know how valuable it is to have the bus or train right outside. We should ask communities what they want and preserve the places that make Santa Monica special.

I don't believe the state's housing quota is too much. We can meet it by being creative with the buildings and infrastructure we already have.

Lindsay Davis' website is daisythevenicehealer.org

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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