SM.a.r.t Column: How Many People Are We Actually Planning For?

08/28/2026 2:51 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica is planning for more housing, and that means planning for more people. But City Hall still has not answered a basic question that should support all of this: how many people is the water system actually being built to serve? The City’s working assumption is roughly two people per new housing unit. Multiply the number of units by that figure, and you should get a population estimate. But Santa Monica does not have one agreed-upon number. It has several, and they do not match.

Parcel Tax Fails to Win Dem Club Backing

08/28/2026 2:43 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Measure ES fell short of winning the 55 percent needed, with 96 Club members, or 52 percent, voting to endorse the tax, 80 voting to oppose it, or 44 percent, and 7 members voting to make no endorsement, or 4 percent.

Political Establishment Lacks Unified Front in Council Race

08/27/2026 12:09 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

In the November 3 race for three open seats, however, none of the six groups are backing the same three candidates, with one group making no endorsements at all.

The latest group to weigh in, the Community for Excellent Public Schools (CEPS), this week endorsed two rival candidates -- Mayor Caroline Torosis and Councilmember Lana Negrete, who are heading opposing slates.

Last-Minute Budget Deal Would Exempt Major Downtown Project from Review

08/26/2026 9:50 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The proposal benefits only the Ocean Avenue Project, the mixed-use hotel, residential, and cultural campus designed by Frank Gehry for the Worthe Real Estate Group, wrote Kim Delfino, president of the Earth Advocacy consulting firm in an email Tuesday.

Santa Monica Frantic to Build Housing As People Move Out of Los Angeles County

08/24/2026 9:57 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Why?

Look closer and the political incentives become clearer. Santa Monica’s left-leaning City Council is not simply responding to abstract state mandates or “chronic shortage” talking points about shrinking household sizes. By controlling the pipeline of heavily subsidized, income-restricted, and supportive units—especially on public land with Housing Trust Fund loans, tax credits, and ground leases—the council and its nonprofit partners get to shape who moves in. Waitlists managed by the Santa Monica Housing Authority and favored operators mean local politicians and bureaucrats effectively pick the winners. Permanent supportive housing for seniors and the formerly homeless adds a ready-made constituency that depends on continued government programs and progressive governance.

SM.a.rt. Column: More Housing, Same Water?

08/21/2026 3:13 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

At issue is SB 79, the new state law requiring cities to allow substantially more housing near major transit stops, known as Transit-Oriented Development, or TOD, zones. Santa Monica has seven such zones. Six already qualify for a temporary exclusion from SB 79 because their existing zoning provides far more housing capacity than required to satisfy that law. The exception is the area around the Expo/Bundy station.

Water Neutrality can reduce the impact of new development, but it cannot simply be assumed to provide an unlimited supply of offsets for future growth. The City’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan does not say how much Water Neutrality offset capacity is still available citywide, how much has already been committed to development projects, or how much future growth the remaining offsets could support.

Top City Earners Made More than $500,000 in Pay

08/21/2026 3:10 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Of the 71 municipal workers who made more than $350,000 in pay, excluding benefits, 68 were firefighters and police officers. The other three were former City Manager Susan Cline, former City Attorney Doug Sloan and Chief Deputy City Attorney Jenna K. Taggart.

Santa Monica Frantic to Build Housing

08/20/2026 11:13 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Look closer and the political incentives become clearer. Santa Monica’s left-leaning City Council is not simply responding to abstract state mandates or “chronic shortage” talking points about shrinking household sizes. By controlling the pipeline of heavily subsidized, income-restricted, and supportive units—especially on public land with Housing Trust Fund loans, tax credits, and ground leases—the council and its nonprofit partners get to shape who moves in. Waitlists managed by the Santa Monica Housing Authority and favored operators mean local politicians and bureaucrats effectively pick the winners.

First SB79 Housing Project Proposed in Santa Monica

08/19/2026 10:34 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The development would demolish the existing single-family residence and construct approximately 9,916 square feet of residential floor area across three stories.

Santa Monica rents edge up in July but stay below year-ago levels

08/17/2026 10:22 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The median rent in Santa Monica rose 1.4% over the course of July to $2,405, according to Apartment List’s August 2026 rent report. The increase came in a market that has spent much of the past three years in retreat. Even with the gain, rents are down 2.7% from a year earlier, leaving Santa Monica behind both the state and the nation.