ACTION Apartment Association

Los Angeles County Assessor Takes Look Back With 2021 Annual Report

02/21/2022 8:57 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Moreover, as the Annual Report does every year, it lists the top 20 highest valued cities in the County for 2021. The top five highest valued cities for 2021 remain the same, with the City of Los Angeles at No. 1 with an assessed valuation of $723.6 billion (4% increase); Long Beach with an assessed valuation of$65.7 billion (3.5% increase); Santa Monica with an assessed valuation of $43.834 billion (3.7% increase);

New Wealth Tax Proposal in California

02/18/2022 12:13 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Chapter 2 would be added and is titled, “Imposition of Tax on Wealth.” This new law applies to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2023, and before January 1, 2025, on the activity of sustaining excessive accumulations of wealth as a resident. There would also be imposed an excise tax of 1.5 percent upon the worldwide net worth of every resident in this state in excess of:

For married taxpayers filing separately, $500,000,000.
For all other taxpayers, $1,000,000,000.

‘Crammin’ Jack is Back! ‘Dingbat’ City is Here!

02/18/2022 11:39 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

SMa.r.t.

Well, it appears that massive negative development has arrived, in vivid form, reflecting the community risks that arise from development that seemingly unrestrained profit driven densification produces.

Disney to build residential neighborhoods in Storyliving project

02/17/2022 2:16 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Disney company announced plans on Wednesday to create multiple residential neighborhoods across the United States, the first of which is expected to break ground this year in Rancho Mirage, California.

Ocean Park Neighborhood Could Be The Site of Massive Mixed Use Apartment Complex

02/17/2022 9:24 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

SanMon Inc. is eyeing the Gelson’s Shopping Center at 2627 Lincoln Blvd in the Ocean Park neighborhood for a massive mixed use development that would boast a development with 521 apartments, 53 of which would be designated as very low income housing, distributed among different buildings with various heights up to 5 stories or 65 feet tall as reported by Urbanize Los Angeles.

ZOOM Link for 2/17/22 meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82892453793

Chair Resigns From Police Commission

02/17/2022 8:34 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Under Brown's leadership, the 11-member Public Safety Reform and Oversight Commission (PSROC) created by the City Council in January 2021 has been torn by internal conflicts that have prevented it from meeting key deadlines.

HCD rejects City’s Housing Element

02/15/2022 9:01 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica has a state mandated requirement to build 8,895 new housing units by 2029, but the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) says the City’s plan to do so is not up to par.

As a result, HCD has declined to certify the City’s 6th Cycle Housing Element and is asking for a revised plan with more research into the feasibility of converting City-identified sites into housing and tweaks to the City’s proposed development programs.

City Council joins SMMUSD opposition to district voting

02/14/2022 8:32 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica City Council is willing to stick its neck — and, if necessary, its checkbook — out to support the local School District in its challenge against district-based voting.

On Jan. 1, a new law came into effect that allows petitioners to request county school boards implement voting districts in their communities. The rule, under SB 442, is designed to ensure residents of chronically underrepresented neighborhoods — those where a majority of residents are people of color or members of another protected class — do not see their votes diluted by traditional, at-large voting.

SMa.r.t. Column: Santa Monica – Dawn of the Downtown Dead

02/14/2022 7:57 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Going out in Santa Monica is becoming a mix of trepidation and terror, complete with dirty man-made monsters and criminals on the loose. This is not the time for getting popcorn and sitting on the sidelines to watch.

Homelessness including the mentally ill, is a national problem, and Santa Monica has become one of the key focal points in Los Angeles because of our city’s government’s inability or even unwillingness to do the hard and difficult things that need to be done consistently to resolve the problem.

Changes To SM Rent Law Proposed

02/12/2022 9:32 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Activist Santa Monica Rent Control Board Commissioners Caroline Torosis and Anastasia Foster proposed a list of changes to the Santa Monica Rent Control Charter Amendment they want the Rent Board to approve and to send to the City Council as recommendations for the Council to place them as initiatives on the November 2022 ballot. Their proposals are:

1. Eliminate any new 3-unit owner occupancy exemptions;