ACTION Apartment Association

SMa.r.t. Column: It’s Time to Look at the Facts of Santa Monica’s Housing History

07/01/2022 8:55 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Since 1960, Santa Monica has added a net 1.5 housing units for each new resident, children included. This translates into 14,795 net new housing units supporting a net population increase of 9,794.

Santa Monica kept building new housing units even in decades that experienced net declines in city population.

New restrictions will go into effect on July 5

07/01/2022 8:52 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

At their June 14, however, Santa Monica City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that implements further water restrictions, including limiting outdoor watering to two days per week. The new restrictions will go into effect on July 5, 2022.

Eviction Protections

07/01/2022 8:48 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica's remaining health emergency orders -- including tenant protections against evictions -- have been extended through the end of the year unless the County terminates them earlier.

AND: https://www.santamonica.gov/coronavirus-eviction-moratorium

Eviction Protections

07/01/2022 8:44 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Residential Eviction Protections for Non-Payment of Rent

Los Angeles County Eviction Moratorium: For rent due from July 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022, tenants whose household income is at or below 80 percent Area Median Income are protected from eviction for nonpayment of rent, if they certify their income and inability to pay due to financial impacts related to COVID-19. To be protected, tenants must provide notice to their landlord within 7 days of rent is due, every month that rent is due.

Experts say master leasing and adaptive reuse will house homeless faster

06/30/2022 1:58 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Two policies the panelists were in strong support of were adaptive reuse and master leasing.

Adaptive reuse converts existing buildings into housing projects and aims to tackle the supply side issue of the housing crisis.

Currently, Los Angeles County is notoriously slow at building new affordable housing projects.

California's eviction moratorium to lift at midnight

06/30/2022 11:27 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

limited three-month extension to California's eviction moratorium is scheduled to expire on Thursday at midnight.

Response to Caroline Torosis and Anastasia Foster on Rent Control

06/30/2022 9:30 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The council should ask the rent board to provide a chart of the average percentage raises for each percentile of rents (from lowest 1 percentile of rents to highest 99 percentile).

Rather than jumping on this populist fix to the current crisis, the council should take time to consider other potential solutions first, that are more progressive and equitable.

City Council Adopts Balanced FY 2022-23 Budget

06/30/2022 9:00 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The adopted FY 2022-23 Budget comes as the City gradually recovers after a General Fund revenue loss of over $180 million over three years due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The FY 2022-23 Budget allocates resources responsive to Council direction and community feedback and consists of no-cost operational adjustments to improve service delivery for the community.

Council Shakes Up Downtown Board

06/30/2022 8:06 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

In what promises to be a major shakeup, a divided City Council on Tuesday night appointed three business activists to Downtown Santa Monica, Inc.'s (DTSM) board of directors.

The three appointees -- Leonid Pustilnikov, Luke M. Cain and Lucian Tudor -- are part of a push for change on a Board that has been criticized for not doing enough to address an increasingly entrenched homeless problem on the Promenade.

Council Submits Housing Plan Under Pressure

06/29/2022 10:11 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Under the gun, a frustrated City Council voted last week to submit a revised plan to the State to add nearly 9,000 new housing units they fear will forever change the face of Santa Monica.