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.

Santa Monica Rent Growth Remains Sluggish

06/29/2022 10:08 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

For the third straight month median rents in Santa Monica rose by less than 1 percent in June, mirroring a slowing growth trend across the LA region.

Apartment List's monthly report released Tuesday found that rents in Santa Monica rose by 0.7 percent in June, after seeing a 0.8 percent increase in May and a 0.1 percent increase in April.

Pico Boulevard Affordable Housing Project Tops Out

06/27/2022 10:02 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Community Corp. of Santa Monica has completed wood framing on the Brunson Terrace apartments project on Pico Boulevard as reported by Urbanize Los Angeles a year after the construction began.

The project is being constructed at 1819 Pico Boulevard, which is the former location of the Mount Hermon Baptist Church.

Appointments to Downtown Board Critical

06/27/2022 10:01 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Three new Council-appointed DTSM Board members will be selected at the June 28 City Council meeting. The city needs a completely new DTSM Board laser focused on restoration and growth of the desperately needed downtown destination retail sector.

City policymaking is overwhelmingly skewed to increasing municipal costs. The ongoing devastation that is Downtown and the Promenade represent one of the few large revenue-generating opportunities left in the city.

They didn't get their security deposits back

06/24/2022 5:06 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Now a big L.A. landlord agrees to pay $12.5 million

SANTA MONICA RENT CONTROL BOARD

06/24/2022 5:04 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

APPLICATION FOR APPOINTMENT TO VACANT POSITION

See application: https://www.smgov.net/uploadedFiles/Departments/Rent_Control/test/RCB%20Application%206-13-2022.pdf?mc_cid=658ff938f3&mc_eid=c0b8aff053

City Council Okays Plan to Construct 9,000 More Units

06/24/2022 4:48 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Santa Monica City Council this week approved revisions to the city's 6th Cycle Housing Element Update which will be resubmitted to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).