OPA Membership Drive: If you enjoy this newsletter and all the events and community work OPA is leading (like this weekend’s Main St. 4th of July Parade), please help our efforts by becoming a member or making a donation. Most memberships are $20/year but there is also a $10/year option. CLICK HERE TO JOIN OR DONATE.

Main St. Parade Recap: Thanks Jeff Jarow for the MONUMENTAL effort it takes to pull off this amazing event. And props to Chris Morgan for his work on the OPA float, Patty Tann for all the check-in and accounting work, and everyone else involved. Here are some SMDP pics from the parade and here is a 30-minute video of the parade from SaMoCloseUp. And here's an NBC4 video report about how "Crowds flock to Santa Monica to celebrate the Fourth of July."

How the Santa Monica 4th of July parade went from chaos to classic: Santa Monica’s very first Fourth of July Parade could easily have been its last. Back in 2007, as a few thousand people lined Main Street waving flags, organizer Jeff Jarow rumbled forward in a bright orange Kubota tractor pulling a 40-foot flatbed trailer that sat just inches above the ground. It didn’t go smoothly. “It ripped off all those little buttons in the middle of the street, those reflector lights,” Jarow remembers. “They were getting compressed and exploding and flying up in the air. The city said, ‘You’re never going to do this again!’” Read the rest of the story here.

OPA Meeting Monthly is July 13 (Next Monday): Guest speakers include State Senate candidate John Erickson and a Farmers Market move onto Main St. discussion. Hope to see you at the Ocean Park Library at 6:00! 

Blue Notebook - A Weekly SMPD Recap June 14-20: Here is the weekly update of police activity.

Eyes on the Street: Sidewalk Construction on Ashland: "Ocean Park resident Matthew Stevens has been asking the city to improve the sidewalk on Ashland Avenue between 2nd and 3rd streets for three years, and over the last couple of days he’s seen his efforts paying off. The newly widened sidewalks will be on both the north and south sides of the street." More details here.

Library Expanded Hours: Starting this week of July 6, Santa Monica Public Library will expand its full-service hours to four days per week at the Ocean Park Branch, Fairview Branch, and Montana Branch. Celebrate an additional day of full service at the Montana Branch at its open house on Wednesday, July 8, noon – 8 p.m.

Minimum Wage Rise: Every year on July 1, the minimum and living wages in the City of Santa Monica increase thanks to an ordinance passed in 2016. Santa Monicans take pride in having one of the most progressive minimum wage laws in America, and workers benefit by seeing an annual increase in the lowest wages allowed in the city. Councilmember Dan Hall breaks down the changes in his weekly newsletter: Effective July 1, 2026, the general minimum wage rises to $18.47 per hour, adjusted annually by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The wage for hotels and businesses operating on hotel property rises to $25.00 per hour. More details here.

JSX Adds Nonstop Santa Monica-Oakland Flights in September: JSX will begin nonstop flights between Santa Monica Airport and Oakland on Sept. 14, the air carrier announced. Seats are now on sale. The service will operate up to three times a day, and twice a day on Saturdays, on JSX's ATR 42-600 aircraft, which seats 30 and offers free Starlink Wi-Fi. Introductory one-way fares start at $149 and include at least two checked bags, onboard cocktails and business-class legroom, the company said. More details here.

Newly Opened: West Side Oyster Club on Ocean Ave.: “Santa Monica Gets a New Seafood Concept Just in Time for Summer” with this new restaurant taking over the former Blue Plate Oysterette space. The husband-wife entrepreneurs and Santa Monica residents are focusing on, a casual-meets-luxury seafood concept that’s as serious about its caviar offerings as its restaurant’s laidback, beach city spirit. 1355 Ocean Ave. More details here.

The Street Seen: 2302 2nd St. (Mathews) @ Strand St): In 1926, an unusual 2-story residential building is constructed on an irregular lot on the southwest corner of 2nd St and Strand St. More details here.

Councilmember Dan Hall Newsletter: Leading into the holiday weekend, he published this special edition of his newsletter entitled “Special Edition: Reviewing 2025 Tourism Trends in Santa Monica.” Here are some of the notable takeaways: