ACTION Apartment Association

Council approves limited affordable housing pilot program allowing units to be built off-site

08/27/2025 9:04 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The pilot program offers three options for developers to meet affordable housing requirements: constructing units off-site with $150,000 per unit in gap financing, rehabilitating existing uninhabitable units, or paying in-lieu fees of $43.91 per square foot for apartments and $51.30 per square foot for condominiums.

War Over Transit-Oriented Housing Bill Heats Up

08/27/2025 8:57 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

On Tuesday, State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who authored SB 79, announced "a surge of major endorsements" for the bill, which allows new residential buildings of up to seven stories near major transit stops.

Endorsing the bill since Saturday were the California Democratic Party, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, climate investor Tom Steyer, the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and the Los Angeles Homelessness Service Providers.

Rally Against SB 79 Draws Crowds in Palisades

08/26/2025 9:29 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The bill, which advanced through Senate and Assembly committees, faces review by the Assembly Appropriations Committee this week, with a full vote possible by August 29

Crowds gathered in Pacific Palisades on Saturday, August 23, to rally against Senate Bill 79, a state housing measure critics say endangers communities with unchecked high-density development.

City Manager Names Acting Police Chief

08/26/2025 9:27 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

City officials on Monday formally announced the resignation of Police Chief Ramón Batista and the appointment of Deputy Chief Darrick Jacob as Acting Chief of Police.

Slow Growth Group Blasts Council Actions

08/25/2025 10:01 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

"This Council majority is now actively dismantling public participation so that residents (both property owners and renters), can have no input into major development decisions that will radically affect them," Coalition officials wrote.

Letter from Police Chief Ramon Batista

08/25/2025 10:00 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

It is with deep gratitude and reflection that I share the news that on today’s date, I submitted my letter of resignation to City Manager Oliver Chi. I will be stepping down as your Chief of Police, effective October 4, 2025.

Clashing Views on Public Safety May Have Led to Police Chief's Departure

08/25/2025 10:00 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Police Chief Ramon Batista's abrupt resignation Friday not only shocked his officers -- who learned the news from an open letter to the community -- but it raised questions about the reasons for his exit.

SM.a.r.t Column: The Algorithm Will See You Now: Santa Monica’s Upcoming AI Reckoning

08/22/2025 8:34 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

This is the choice that members of Santa Monica’s government face, though they probably don’t realize it yet. They can use AI to become the transparent, responsive government they’ve always claimed to be. Help residents understand complex issues. Model policy outcomes honestly. Share power instead of hoarding it (fix the city’s Open Data Portal, to take but one example).

Or they can keep playing the old game, and discover that artificial intelligence has a way of turning small fibs into big problems, bad decisions into civic disasters, and ignored constituents into organized opposition.

Opponents Mount Last-Ditch Effort to Kill Housing Bill

08/22/2025 8:27 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The last-ditch effort comes as the Appropriations Committee prepares to vote next week on whether to send the bill to the Assembly floor, after it barely passed the Senate in June.

LA became the latest and largest city to oppose SB 79, joining more than 90 California cities that oppose a measure they contend will further usurp local control over planning issues.

Only the Santa Monica and West Hollywood city councils have voted to back the measure...

Police Make Dent in City's Homeless Population

08/21/2025 10:31 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

During the week of August 3, eight homeless individuals who have committed low--level crimes agreed to enter the City's new SaMo Bridge program that offers an alternative to jail.