ACTION Apartment Association

Council Shakes Up Two Major Boards

07/12/2024 3:10 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Change faction on the City Council flexed its political muscle Tuesday night and replaced a Planning Commissioner and Downtown Board member appointed four years ago by the rival faction.

Both Planning Commission Chair Ellis Raskin and Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. Board member Erika Lesley failed to win the necessary four votes needed to be reappointed to a second four-year term.

Both -- who were appointed in 2020 when the City's political establishment controlled the Council -- are running in the November 5 race for four open Council seats, three of them held by the Change faction.

With 376 Staff Members Making More than $200k, Santa Monica Cannot Find Money for More Police Officers

07/11/2024 9:34 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Data obtained from a public records request by John Alle and the Santa Monica Coalition. The breakdown obtained by the organization of residents, property, and business owners concerned with public safety is as follows:

24 city employees made between $450K-$600K

40 made between $400K-$450K

56 made between $300K-$400K

256 made between $200K-$300K

Interim City Clerk to Assume Permanent Post

07/11/2024 9:31 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

A five-year veteran of the City Clerks’ Office, Newsome has held the top post since outgoing clerk Denise Anderson-Warren retired in December.

Opinion: Santa Monica massively underfunding its police department - Cody Greene

07/10/2024 12:30 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Having worked for the Police Department for 23 years it always seems as if we are borrowing from Peter to pay Paul with personnel. For example, the Directed Action Response Team was formed partly to direct resources to the out-of-control vendor issue on the Pier, and they were very successful at gaining back some sense of normalcy. The sacrifice was those employees had to be pulled from elsewhere in the department. The Police Department no longer has a plainclothes unit, a street interdiction team, a full-time mounted unit or a fully staffed downtown unit, all units the department formerly staffed. It’s always seemed like a game of Whack-a-Mole, solve an issue here but one pops up somewhere else. There are just never enough officers to keep the City as safe as everyone wants.

Council Poised to Place Two Tax Measures on Ballot

07/09/2024 3:22 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

At its meeting June 25, the Council unanimously voted to move ahead with a measure to modernize the business license tax that would generate approximately $3.9 million in its third year by removing auto dealer tax exemptions and raising the corporate headquarters rate.

In addition, at its meeting this Tuesday, the Council is expected to reconsider a Parking Facility Tax it rejected at its meeting last month that would generate approximately $6.7 million a year to enhance public safety.

Council Asked to 'Immediately Halt' Plan to Boost Safety Spending

07/09/2024 10:47 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

"However, the City faces a difficult economic climate, slow recovery, a challenging labor market, required deferred maintenance, and continued uncertainty in our legal liabilities."

Instead of reallocating existing resources, the Council "must pursue new revenue opportunities to address our public safety needs," Negrete said.

Prop. 33 Repeals Costa-Hawkins Rental Act

07/09/2024 10:44 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Rental housing providers will be facing the biggest threat to their existence this November

California just cut the red tape on housing in San Francisco. Is L.A. next?

07/05/2024 2:08 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Officials estimate the law, Senate Bill 423, will cut approval time for projects in San Francisco from two years to six months, streamlining that housing advocates consider a much-needed course correction in a city where construction is beset by delays and high costs.

Housing advocates hope the new rules in San Francisco means other major California cities in need of more housing, including Los Angeles

Just the Facts -- SMPD Launches New Blog

07/05/2024 8:14 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

"This seemed like the perfect opportunity to help correct the record and feed public curiosity about the work we do," Aklufi said.

Opinion: Clouds…and we’re screwed - Charles Andrews

07/03/2024 12:19 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

So it might seem irrelevant who we elect to our City Council this November. But it isn’t. You now have three Council members who have come down firmly on the side of more and more development “needed” in Santa Monica — Jesse Zwick, Caroline Torosis, Gleam Davis. And you have all their power brokers bowing to developers — SM “Forward,” SMRR, SM “Democratic” Club, and “The Community for Excellence in Public Schools” — all endorsing our worst nightmare, four pro pro rah rah mo’ mo’ taller bigger development candidates: Dan Hall, Natalya Zernitskaya, Barry Snell, Ellis Raskin. If even one or two of them win Council seats, we’re screwed. And right now, other than our incumbents —
Phil Brock, Oscar de la Torre and Christine Parra — we have no candidates running against them. No PAC money, no organization. WTHeck. Screwed.