During a special city council meeting last week, council members combed through a long list of candidates for various positions, filling out the roster of volunteer positions through summer 2023.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/council-fills-out-boards-and-commissions-roster-for-2022-23/219804

The City of Santa Monica is considering an electric future with a series of proposed code revisions that would eliminate natural gas from homes and encourage adoption of electric vehicles. 

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/planning-commission-advances-gas-less-future/219835

As the issue of whether or not Santa Monica should be divided into voting districts — where each neighborhood elects one official to represent them on council, rather than electing seven at-large candidates from across the city — awaits judgment before the California Supreme Court, Councilmember Oscar de la Torre, who has close ties to advocates of by-district elections, has been granted the right to weigh in on how Santa Monica handles the case.

On July 18, de la Torre and the City of Santa Monica reached a settlement.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/de-la-torre-cleared-to-participate-in-voting-rights-discussion/219803

"There are reasons to be cautious about whether the scale of estimated new tax revenue predicated on previous sales over the past 10 years would materialize to the same degree year over year in the future," the report found.

That presents a problem because administering the programs will require hiring additional staff (paid for by the measure) on an ongoing basis with an "uneven flow of new annual revenues."

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2022/July-2022/07_25_2022_Consultant_Gives_Mayors_Transfer_Tax_Mixed_Review.html

Democratic California State Senator Ben Allen’s name was the only option for voters in CA-24 on the June 7, 2022, primary ballot, but with more than 6,000 district residents writing in a Republican challenger, there will be two names on the midterm ballot this November.

A self-proclaimed “mama bear candidate,” Realtor and Samohi alumna Kristina Irwin, a Republican, failed to meet the threshold to appear on the official primary, falling five signatures short by filing deadline (according to a June 3 tweet), but went on to earn 6,260 write-in votes.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/write-in-candidate-to-challenge-allen-for-ca-24-seat-in-november/219834

The critical point is that while no one wants to pay more taxes, Brock’s measure is temporary, as it should be, given the fact that under the existing city tax structure, the annual general fund revenues are projected to exceed the pre-Covid amount in about 23 months.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/letters/Letters-2022/07_23_2022_OPINION_Dueling_Tax_Measures_Offer_Voters_Easy_Choice.html

Kevin Shenkman, an education activist and lawyer who represents the plaintiffs in the Voting Rights lawsuit against the City, pulled nominating papers to run for School Board this week.

So did Jon Mann, who pulled nominating papers on Friday to run for City Council for a record 16th time, bringing to 19 the total number of hopefuls vying for three open seats.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2022/July-2022/07_22_2022_Nearly_Three_Dozen_Candidates_Pull_Papers.html

The website they created resembles tax return-filing software. It asks tenants a long series of questions in relatively plain English, or Spanish, that produces a legal document they can print and submit in court. Tenants in Los Angeles County can file the paperwork electronically. 

Read More on page 1: https://s3.amazonaws.com/smdp_backissues/072222.pdf

Following a historically high annual rent adjustment of 6% for rent controlled units, city councilmembers have indicated a desire to cap all future increases at 3%.

The Rent Control Board’s initial ballot measure sought to give Rent Control Commissioners the ability to issue a freeze on rent increases for controlled units during declared public emergencies. 

Councilmembers objected to this and other aspects of the ballot measure, subsequently directing staff to prepare two new ballot measures based on their suggestions.

According to the City Attorney’s Office, one of these measures is the 3% cap on annual rent increases. The other is a measure to authorize the City Council to impose additional rent limitations during a declared emergency. 

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/council-seeks-to-set-3-cap-on-annual-rent-adjustment-for-controlled-units/219655

Councilwoman Kristin McCowan will not run for reelection this year creating a second seat without an incumbent on the November ballot. 

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/councilwoman-mccowan-will-not-run-for-reelection/219673