ACTION Apartment Association

Redistricting creates strange bedfellows

12/22/2021 9:20 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Beginning in 2022, Santa Monica’s assembly district will include some new territory: Griffith Park. The new Assembly District 51 cuts inland, rather than along the coast, combining Santa Monica’s two-and-three-quarter miles of coastline with 4,210-acre Griffith Park, and most everything in between along Santa Monica Boulevard.

Council calls for comprehensive information on homeless resources

12/20/2021 10:08 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

In a Dec. 14 meeting Councilmembers voted unanimously to have staff consolidate a wide range of information on services pertaining to homelessness, so that gaps can be identified and direction given for supplementing resources.

The request, which was submitted by Councilmembers Phil Brock, Christine Parra and Oscar de la Torre asked that a specific list of data, information and suggestions be made available to Council and the public.

City Manager David White Appoints Susan Cline as Santa Monica’s Assistant City Manager and Rick Valte as Public Works Director

12/20/2021 9:51 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Her role as Assistant City Manager began December 19, 2021 with a salary of $294,360

He is the current president of the City and County Engineers Association of Los Angeles and will take the helm of Public Works on December 19, 2021 with a salary of $253,716.

SMa.r.t. Seismic Water Resiliency

12/19/2021 9:35 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Quakes, fires, tidal waves all involve the same temporary displacement of residents. Thus it would be beneficial for our City to have pre-identified landlords, hotels and individuals willing to participate in such a short term emergency response program similar to the way local fire departments and police departments have mutual aid agreements to send reinforcements to each other when the local resources are overrun.

Stagnant Rent Growth Forecasted

12/19/2021 9:33 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Lusk Center for Real Estate at USC has revealed its annual Casden Real Estate Forecast for multifamily rental properties in the state of California for the first time since 2019. In the Westside area, from Beverly Hills to the coasts, the forecast is that rents will remain slightly in decline for 2022.

New Map Turns Supervisor District More Conservative

12/19/2021 9:29 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

A map for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved Wednesday by a citizens redistricting commission turns the 3rd District that includes Santa Monica more conservative.

The new map, which went into effect today, adds Porter Ranch, Chatsworth and Granada Hilles and removes Mar Vista, the Southeast Valley and the Cahuenga Pass from the District, which includes the Westside and the San Fernando Valley.

State’s Housing Solution Starts Happening

12/15/2021 10:06 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

That solution: Convert or repurpose the vast amount of square footage in office buildings and towers that has become vacant over the 20 months since the coronavirus pandemic set in and changed the work habits and environments of millions of white collar employees and their bosses.

UCLA study probes SMPD budget

12/15/2021 9:49 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The report shows 63% of the department’s budget is spent on salaries, with more than $10 million going to overtime pay in 2019.

A UCLA School of Law Criminal Justice Program report claims SMPD overtime calculations are out of step with broader trends but city officials have said the expenses are necessary to provide the quality of service expected by Santa Monica residents.

New York Developer Poised to Buy 8 Prime Downtown Properties

12/15/2021 9:42 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The eight properties -- which total more than 600 units -- are part of a portfolio of 23 closely knit parcels, most of them Downtown, bought by prominent Westside developer Neil Shekhter over the past decade.

California proposes reducing incentives for rooftop solar

12/14/2021 11:58 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The state’s three major utilities — Pacific Gas & Electric, San Diego Gas & Electric, and Southern California Edison — say the savings solar customers get now are so great that those customers no longer pay their fair share for the operation of the overall energy grid.