ACTION Apartment Association

Ousted Downtown Santa Monica Board Members Threaten Legal Action Against City Council

08/15/2025 5:10 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

In a letter sent this week to DTSM leadership, attorneys for board members Jon Farzam and Leo Pustilnikov argued that the council’s action to oust its appointees was “plainly illegal” and ignored protections adopted by the board during an emergency meeting on July 29. That meeting, convened under Government Code Section 54956.5, resulted in amendments to the organization’s bylaws restricting the city’s authority to remove directors without cause.

SM.a.r.t Column: The Rhetoric of Municipal Control

08/15/2025 5:08 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

When I say character, it means making it more unaﬀordable, a city I grew up in that I don’t recognize, that I can’t aﬀord to live in, that my kids can’t aﬀord to live in, that my business can’t sustain because we have no parking. That’s what I’m talking about. So, when I talk about character, it’s about the loss of character. It’s about me seeing the elderly people leave this town in droves because they can’t aﬀord a cup of coﬀee down the street because we’re building development that down below has to sustain a coﬀee place that sells lattes for $12. It’s about my kids not being able to live here like I was. It’s about brown and black people being displaced even today.

Long-shot ballot initiative could have huge effect on California insurance

08/13/2025 2:05 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Proposition 103 has regulated home, auto and other types of property and casualty insurance in the state since 1988. It requires insurance companies to seek approval from an elected insurance commissioner to raise their premiums, and allows members of the public to object to rate increases.

The initiative — which experts are calling a long shot — would throw all of that out. Insurance companies would not need the state’s approval to raise their policy holders’ premiums; the commissioner would be appointed by the governor instead of elected; and the public would no longer be able to intervene in rate filings.

City Council approves loan to rehab Virginia Avenue affordable apartments

08/13/2025 2:02 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Santa Monica City Council Tuesday approved a Housing Trust Fund loan not to exceed $35.7 million to Community Corporation of Santa Monica, or CCSM, for rehabilitation of a 40-apartment rent-controlled community at 2033-2101 Virginia Ave.

Council Takes Up Voting Rights Case Again

08/13/2025 1:55 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The closed session item was added to Tuesday's agenda days after a Superior Court Judge issued an order charting a path for the legal battle that has been winding its way through the courts since June 2016.

The item also was taken up after the Los Angeles Times reported that the law firm representing the City -- Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher -- had submitted an $1.8-million invoice to the City of Los Angeles for two weeks of work in May.

Council agenda features housing incentives and parking rate increases

08/12/2025 9:56 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Finally, the council will consider directing the Planning Commission to review zoning changes related to small lot subdivisions and duplex projects. The amendments would implement recent state legislation including Senate Bill 1123, which allows properties zoned for single-family homes to be subdivided into up to 10 parcels.

Read More on pages 1 and 4: https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp_backissues/081225.pdf%0A

Santa Monica is Hiring a Housing and Human Services Operations Director

08/12/2025 9:53 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The role comes at a time when the city is placing new emphasis on tackling homelessness and expanding housing access. The director will not only lead a recently restructured department but also play a central role in guiding the city’s strategy on one of its most urgent challenges. This position reports directly to the City Manager and will serve as Santa Monica’s primary representative on homelessness policy, overseeing coordination between departments and working with regional, state, and federal partners.

Santa Monica hiring for new director to oversee homeless operations

08/11/2025 2:41 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The position, which offers an annual salary range of $209,592 to $258,756, represents a key role on the City Manager's Executive Team and comes with considerable political and departmental support to address urgent community needs.

New housing ordinance that could exponentially densify single lots

08/11/2025 2:38 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Council voted 5-2 at their last meeting to approve an emergency zoning ordinance that dramatically expands housing development possibilities in single-family neighborhoods, allowing up to 20 units on vacant residential lots and permitting three-story buildings in areas previously restricted to single-family homes.

Council Takes Up Emergency Ordinance to Kick-start Housing Construction

08/11/2025 1:40 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

On Tuesday, the Council will take up an emergency ordinance to counter a "dramatic slowdown in housing construction" that has seen few of the more than 3,400 market rate and 900 affordable units approved in the streamlined process issued building permits.

The proposed options include allowing market rate developers to meet their affordable housing quotas by "pooling" affordable units from multiple projects and building them at an off-site location not in the Pico Neighborhood, City staff wrote in a report to the Council.