OPA Volunteer Opportunity - Fire Service Day is Saturday, May 9, 10am – 1pm at Fire Station 1 (1337 7th St.): OPA will have a table at this event and it is a great opportunity to represent OPA and meet and greet community members. No previous volunteer experience is needed…it’s really just a great way to lean in on community engagement. Reply to this email to volunteer.

Free Cookies Next Week @ Cookies with the Cops – Monday, May 4 at Junior Cookies (2726 Main Street): More details will be in Monday’s newsletter and the SMPD facebook page: facebook.com/santamonicapd

SaMo International Jazz Festival (May 1-9): The inaugural Santa Monica International Jazz Festival is a nine-day "citywide destination" event that blends the coastal elegance of the Westside with the global reach of jazz. The festival carries a deep sense of history, honoring the 100th anniversaries of jazz icons Miles Davis and John Coltrane, as well as the centennial of the historic Route 66. smjazzfest.com

May is Mental Health Awareness Month: The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health has launched its annual Take Action for Mental Health L.A. County campaign, a month-long series of events and activities marking May as Mental Health Awareness Month. This year the department is partnering with 84 community-based organizations to host 137 grant-funded mental health events — both in-person and online — throughout May. LACDMH will also host nine large-scale signature events, beginning with a kickoff at Magic Johnson Park on Sunday, May 3, followed by events at community colleges across Los Angeles County. More details here.

May is also National Bike Month! Bike Month is an opportunity to celebrate biking, encourage others to give biking a try, and celebrate the many reasons we ride, whether it’s for your commute, saving money and time, or for exercise! In Santa Monica, there will be several events to attend such as Bike It! Walk It! Bus It! Week (May 4-8th), Bike Anywhere Day (Thursday, May 14th), the Kidical Mass Bike Ride (Sunday, May 17th), plus many more! Check out Santa Monica Spoke’s Bike Month webpage for more Bike Month activities.

May is also Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month: This year’s theme is "Power in Unity: Strengthening Communities Together," highlighting the importance of collective power, storytelling, and building bridges to foster resilience. In celebration of AANHPI Heritage Month, the Santa Monica Public Library (SMPL) joins more than 130 library systems across California, Washington, and Oregon for One Book, One Coast, the largest book club on the West Coast. The inaugural selection, “They Called Us Enemy” by George Takei, is a powerful graphic memoir that recounts Takei’s childhood experience of incarceration alongside more than 120,000 people of Japanese descent following Executive Order 9066 in 1942. More details here on that and other events throughout the month.

Santa Monica Planning Commission Moves to Fill Housing Gap for Middle-Income Workers With Cottage Court Plan: The Santa Monica Planning Commission voted unanimously this week to forward a sweeping "Missing Middle Housing" proposal to the City Council, recommending the city formally define a category of housing designed for middle-income workers who earn too much for subsidized housing but too little to afford what the market builds. The plan, presented by Planning Commissioner Shawn Landres at the commission's April 15 meeting, centers on a "cottage court" development model: clusters of six or seven detached 850-square-foot units arranged around a shared courtyard, designed to read from the street as a large single-family home. More details here.

Tishman Speyer rolls out updated plans for two additional Santa Monica sites: New websites launched this month indicate revised proposals for properties at 1323 and 1338 5th Streets. They are planning an eight-story, 110-unit market rate apartment complex on one lot with a three-level, 95-car subterranean parking garage and a five-story, 100 percent affordable housing development containing 35 residential units on the other one. More details here.

IKEA Culver City Opens: IKEA comes to the Westside with the debut of a new 38,000-square-foot IKEA store in the Helms Design District. Designed for urban living, the Helms District location focuses on space-saving solutions and home organization within a smaller footprint than the brand’s traditional suburban warehouses. The store will host a community-wide grand opening celebration on Saturday, May 2. Running from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the weekend event will feature live music, Swedish food tastings, and access to IKEA planning specialists. More details here.

Samohi Education Tours: You are invited to the Samohi Education Tour planned for Wednesday, May 6, at 4 p.m. Please RSVP here by 5/3/26. What you’ll see and learn: (1) How students collaborate and learn together in the classroom; (2) Project-based learning that connects to real-world skills; and (3) How creativity, critical thinking and communication are built into daily learning.

Councilmember Lana Negrete Newsletter: Here is her weekly newsletter, with updates on public safety, economic development, education and community, housing, and more.

Message from OPA Silver Member AQUASURF: Join us and Certified Surf Therapy Facilitator Mary Frandson for a unique 2-hour surf wellness experience thoughtfully designed to guide you through self-discovery, healing, empowerment, & connection, leaving you feeling enlightened, restored, strengthened, and supported. Come for one session or immerse yourself in the full journey - Aqua Surf Instructors will also be there for surf instruction and support!