ACTION Apartment Association

Council approves $6M renter aid program to combat evictions and homelessness

05/29/2026 8:53 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Santa Monica Renter Aid program, funded entirely by Measure GS — the city's real estate transfer tax approved by voters in 2022 — is expected to begin serving residents this summer and will initially assist approximately 150 at-risk households annually. The council approved the contract 6-0, directing staff to execute a two-year agreement with The People Concern with three additional one-year renewal options.

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https://www.santamonica.gov/press/2026/05/27/city-to-launch-6-million-santa-monica-renter-aid-program

SM.a.r.t Column: Santa Monica’s Coast Is About to Change Forever. Part 2.

05/29/2026 8:46 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The amendments

Last week’s new amendments make several significant changes: the proposed bill’s sunset date moves from 2037 to 2029. The housing-related provisions remain, but confined to an area between Wilshire and Pico Boulevards, where housing projects would avoid Coastal Commission review if it does not approve Santa Monica’s new Local Coastal Plan by mid-2029. It will now move to the Assembly for a full vote.

SM.a.r.t Column: Santa Monica’s Coast Is About to Change Forever.

05/26/2026 1:15 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Coastal Commission requires height limits along mapped sight lines to the ocean, helping residents living further inland to see the coast and the ocean and enjoy ocean breezes. Those limits directly reduce project value in a city where added height near the water translates into real money. Local elected officials, facing pressure from developers and housing advocates alike, have never written those restrictions into law in a form the Commission would accept. Today’s Council majority favors intense densification of the areas within the city’s Coastal Zone.

Housing Provider Over Budget on $37.5 million Rehab Project

05/26/2026 1:06 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The 77-year-old building in the Pico Neighborhood is being rehabilitated by Community Corporation of Santa Monica (CCSM) with $37.5 million in loans from the City's Housing Trust Fund to purchase, renovate and temporarily relocate the tenants.

That likely makes it the most expensive City-funded rehab project in the city's history.

Santa Monica to Launch Renter Aid Program

05/26/2026 1:03 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The new Renters Protection Program (RPP) provides one-time payments of up to $5,000 to residents at risk of "losing housing due to a financial emergency" and up to $10,000 per household to "support continued housing stability."

Council Keeps Homelessness Emergency Going

05/13/2026 5:14 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The emergency -- which was unanimously approved by the Council in February 2023 -- makes it easier to boost funding and speed up hiring to address a crisis that has persisted for decades in the beach city.

Tuesday's vote re-ratifies the latest emergency proclamation approved on March 11, 2025 that extends through the end of this year.

Santa Monica to Vote on Re-Ratifying Homeless Emergency Declaration

05/11/2026 12:56 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Santa Monica City Council is scheduled to consider re-ratifying the city’s local emergency declaration on homelessness during its regular meeting Tuesday night, continuing a policy city officials say is necessary to expand services and secure outside funding amid an ongoing regional homelessness crisis.

SM.a.r.t Column: Get Into the Weeds With Us

05/08/2026 3:20 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Walk down Ocean Park Boulevard, and you can feel something coming. Development signs announce seven- and eight-story buildings that will tower over local shops and restaurants. Almost 1,000 mostly luxury units. Across Santa Monica, neighbors who love their “Neighborhood Commercial” streets are wondering: Could this be coming to my neighborhood? To Main Street? Pico? Montana Avenue?

If you aren’t, you should be. Because it can. And it is. A quick check of the City’s development projects shows multiple 8-story buildings across the city, an 11-story on Broadway, and even a 23-story on 7th Street. 23 stories! So much for ’nothing taller than the clock tower.’

SM.a.r.t column: More bull? More B.S.!

05/04/2026 11:11 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The interesting thing to note in the article of eight years ago is that incumbents have a much higher chance of re-election than a new name on the ballot…even if the ‘incumbent’ is a recently appointed council ‘newbie’. And history may be close to repeating itself if one current council member chooses to resign and the new ‘hat-in-the-ring’ candidate gets an ‘appointment’. I don’t think I am going to be too surprised, and don’t think ‘you’ should be either.

Council Race Taking Shape

05/04/2026 11:05 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Unlike the 2024 race that saw Santa Monica's liberal establishment regain control after a historic loss in 2020, the November 3 election for three open seats won't flip the Council majority.

One slate will be headed by Mayor Caroline Torosis, the top vote getter in 2022, and likely won't include fellow incumbent Jesse Zwick, who has indicated he is unlikely to seek a second term.

The rival faction will be headed by Councilmember Lana Negrete, who has been the lone anti-establishment vote on the Council after two of her allies were swept from office two years ago and a third chose not to run.