ACTION Apartment Association

City Council News

07/13/2022 1:29 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

As Reported by Wes Wellman

A. The City Council voted to place on the ballot for the November 8, 2022, general election amendments to the City Charter, as follows:

For an owner occupancy eviction, require that an owner make a declaration of intent to occupy the unit for at least two consecutive years unless there are extenuating circumstances and require the owner to occupy the unit within 60 days of the tenant moving pursuant to the eviction.
Provide that an election need not be held if the number of qualified candidates does not exceed the number of open Rent Control Board positions.
Give the City Council authority to suspend rent increases in an emergency subject to possible criteria for what constitutes an emergency and with some possible limitations to be further discussed.

B. Other Council Action/Inaction

Rejected a request by the Rent Control Board to allow Rent Control Board Commissioners to be elected to a maximum of three full terms.
Did not act on a request by the Rent Control Board to establish a rent registry on non-rent-controlled units. (This is likely to reappear in the near future as a Council ordinance)
Directed the City Attorney to return 7/26 with the draft of an amendment to be placed on the November ballot limiting annual rent increases to no more than 3%.
There was no discussion, and no action was taken (yet?), regarding limiting the 6% increase, subject to the $140 cap, approved by the Board effective 9/1/2022.
Directed the City Attorney to return 7/26 with the Draft of a Transfer Tax Measure of $20 per thousand dollars of consideration or value transferred in excess of $8 million subject to certain exemptions and be collected in addition to existing transfer tax rates that apply to the entire transfer amount. This (AKA the “Brock” Measure) would have a 10-year sunset clause. If approved at the 7/26 meeting this would be a competing initiative to the “Mayor’s” transfer tax measure for which 10,000 signatures were recently submitted to the City Clerk. If both measures are put on the ballot, the one which receives the most qualifying votes will become law.

Read at: https://files.constantcontact.com/588963b0501/339163c9-dfaf-469b-b931-87e1f7a239e3.pdf

LOOKING BETTER? KEEP PUSHING!

07/13/2022 12:59 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Charles Andrews

THE BUCK STOPS AT CITY COUNCIL

And there has been some real progress on our plethora of issues since The Slate pulled off the miracle election last time. (I will be happy to report on efforts by long-serving Gleam Davis and Sue Himmelrich to do meaningful work for residents, but I haven’t observed it.) The Slate is still in the minority but new appointee Lana Negrete has been voting with them frequently. We do still need to elect at least one more residents-first candidate to City Council this fall to make that solid. Be careful who you vote for, do your research. Someone may have good-looking credentials but if they are beholden to any group, they may not put residents first.

Council to hold special meeting for Frank Gehry project

07/13/2022 12:01 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Just 48 hours after convening on Tuesday, Council will meet again on Thursday night for a special meeting to discuss a mixed-use development designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry. During this meeting Council will also make its annual Board and Commission appointments.

The Frank Gehry development—known as the Ocean Avenue Project—is a two acre hotel, apartment, retail and public space project located on the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Ocean Avenue.

Citywide Tour of New Accessory Dwelling Units on Saturday

07/13/2022 11:52 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

On Saturday, Maxable, a team of ADU experts, are opening up guest units in Los Angeles for a self-guided tour, complete with the homeowners who are benefitting from the extra income, the contractors who built the ADU and lenders who helped financed the construction.

Ballot measures head to Council

07/12/2022 10:50 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Tonight - Tuesday, July 12, 2022

These measures are a Rent Control Board charter amendment and a revenue raising property transfer tax measure authored by Councilmember Phil Brock.

Watch Live at 5:30: http://youtube.com/user/Citytv16santamonica

SF Now Requires Annual Rent Housing Inventory

07/11/2022 10:17 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

A new law passed by the City and County of San Francisco requires property owners to provide certain information to the Rent Board about their residential properties.

Big leadership changes underway at Downtown Santa Monica, Inc.

07/11/2022 10:02 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Following the departure of 25 year Executive Director & CEO Kathleen Rawson, a job offer has been given to a new CEO whose name will be announced in the coming weeks. Change is also underway within the DTSM Board as during a June 28 meeting City Council appointed three new Board members, who are all Downtown business owners and have fresh ideas for the organization.

Brock's Transfer Tax Measure Could Test SMRR's Clout

07/11/2022 9:46 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

"They're putting on the squeeze," said Councilmember Oscar de la Torre, who said he met Sunday with Soloff, Mayor Himmelrich's husband. "They want us to reject Phil's measure and support Sue's.

"There's a full court press," said de la Torre, who ran on a Change slate with Brock in 2020. "This (tax measure) is not only to raise revenues, it's a political strategy."

Affordability Answer: A New Tax on Housing Speculators?

07/11/2022 9:43 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The problem, it appears, is less a lack of housing – especially while California’s population is relatively stable and not growing fast, if at all – than the fact that wages and home prices have gotten out of the usual synch, partly because of institutional investments.

This year, Democratic state assemblyman Chris Ward of San Diego, which recently “won” the ranking as America’s least affordable city, proposed a bill to tax the profits of house flipping, especially by corporations and pension funds. It died in committee, but deserves resurrection.

SMar.t. Column: Has the Promenade Turned a Corner?

07/11/2022 9:42 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

So SMa.r.t. (Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow), who have never shied away from controversy and always invites a debate, will make a prediction: the recovery of our beleaguered Promenade began on June 28, 2022.

On that day, the City Council appointed three new board members to DTSM (Downtown Santa Monica), the nonprofit that manages our 3rd Street Promenade (also called the mall) and its environs. The new board members are Leonid Pustilnikov, Luke M. Cain, and Lucian Tudor. These new appointees have “skin in the game” as business owners and younger Promenade stakeholders. So their points of view, which will not necessarily always be in lockstep, will significantly impact the 12-member board that runs your Promenade.