ACTION Apartment Association

Santa Monica homeless population shrinks by 8%

06/12/2020 12:52 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica’s homeless population fell by 8% this year, officials announced Friday.

The 2020 homeless count, which was conducted in January, found 907 people experiencing homelessness in Santa Monica, down from 985 counted in 2019.

In contrast, the city and county of Los Angeles both recorded a roughly 13% increase in homelessness in the 2020 homeless count. More than 66,000 people were experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County in January, about 41,000 of whom were living in the city of Los Angeles.

SMa.r.t. Column: The Great Santa Monica Loot-Out

06/12/2020 12:23 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The angst and anger of our community are still reverberating throughout Santa Monica. Everyone I have communicated with has a strong opinion about the events of Sunday, May 31st. The afternoon of looting was an “all-time low” for our city. The owners of Santa Monica Music Center called 911 seventeen times. The response, “You’re on your own. If you own a registered firearm, you’re welcome to guard your own business.” Residents need to understand how our treasured, independent merchants became part of a free-for-all swap meet downtown. By the way, downtown SM (DTSM) includes Lincoln Blvd. The district and zoning designations were expanded so the city council could let their crony developers build higher and more densely on Lincoln, feasting at the trough of residents. So, when we say looting, we include Lincoln.

Landlord group sues city of L.A. over coronavirus anti-eviction protections

06/11/2020 2:19 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Apartment Assn. of Greater Los Angeles, in the federal lawsuit filed Thursday, argued that the city’s efforts to prevent evictions for those who can’t pay due to the economic or health effects of the coronavirus violate landlords' 5th Amendment rights against government taking of their property without compensation. The lawsuit also targets a measure passed by the L.A. City Council to halt rent increases in more than 600,000 apartments covered by the city's rent stabilization program due to the pandemic.

Keeping People in Their Homes Through COVID-19

06/11/2020 12:43 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

As the City organization is restructured in response to COVID-19 and a resulting budget deficit, investments in housing protections are preserved and actually increasing. City Council took an unprecedented step at their May 26 meeting by advancing programs that will provide housing assistance to those who need it most.

California courts eye ending rental, eviction protections

06/11/2020 8:13 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

California judicial leaders are considering an early end to statewide emergency orders suspending foreclosures and evictions during the coronavirus pandemic.

The move is prompting objections from lawmakers and advocates that they may be acting too soon and disproportionately harming minorities in the midst of civil unrest over the deaths of black people at the hands of police.

The state’s Judicial Council in early April delayed all eviction cases from moving forward as one of 13 steps responding to the pandemic. Among others was setting bail statewide at $0 for misdemeanors and lower-level felonies to reduce the population in jails, for fear they would become hotbeds of infections.

Santa Monica moves forward with ballot measure to tax luxury real estate sales

06/10/2020 5:26 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monicans will be asked to vote this November on a new tax on luxury real estate that would raise about $3 million each year for public services.

The city of Santa Monica is looking for a way to generate some extra money as its traditional revenue sources — sales and hotel taxes and parking fees — suffer during the pandemic and accompanying recession. City Council voted Tuesday to move forward with a ballot measure that would tax real estate sales over $5 million at $6 per $1,000 of sales price, or $30,000 for a $5 million property. Currently, all real estate transfers are taxed at $3 per $1,000.

The other measure that a representative sample of 562 Santa Monica voters were polled on between May 26 and May 31 was an increase in the business license tax, which hasn’t been raised since 1988 and is lower than the tax charged by the city of Los Angeles.

Santa Monica Council Reviews FY 2020-21 Operating Budget

06/10/2020 5:12 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

At its meeting last night, June 9, 2020, the Santa Monica City Council provided direction on the City’s proposed FY 2020-21 budget and biennial FY 2020-22 capital improvement program budget. The budget reflects an organizational restructuring in response to the impacts of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), including measures to close a projected $224 million budget deficit.

SANTA MONICA RENT CONTROL BOARD NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGS

06/10/2020 7:53 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Public hearings on the following topics will be conducted during the Santa Monica Rent Control Board meeting on Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. via teleconference:

1) Consideration of imposing a $32 ceiling (or maximum increase) on the 2020 annual general adjustment of 1.4%;

2) Consideration and adoption of the Santa Monica Rent Control Board’s Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Operating Budget; and

3) Consideration of amending Regulation 11200 to clarify that a “business day” is any day that the Board is staffed and conducting business, regardless of whether City Hall is open to the public; and to provide for the deferment of registration fee payments with respect to units occupied by tenants who were unable to pay rent due to a loss of income occasioned by COVID 19.

AND: https://www.smgov.net/uploadedFiles/Departments/Rent_Control/About_the_Rent_Control_Board/Agendas_and_Minutes/2020/RcB061120.pdf

Council to Consider Charging for Candidate Statements

06/09/2020 11:50 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Local candidates will have to pay $1,700 if they want the City Clerk to distribute their candidate statements to voters, according to a proposed resolution the City Council will take up today.

In the past, the City has paid the cost of printing, handling, translating and mailing candidate statements that appear in the Supplemental Sample Ballot that Santa Monica voters receive.

Santa Monica City Council to discuss cutting annual budget by $192 million

06/08/2020 2:23 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica City Council is set to cut the city’s budget by up to 25% as coronavirus decimates the hospitality and retail sectors that generate most of its tax revenue.

City Council will discuss the budget Tuesday afternoon after meeting two weeks ago to restore $6.4 million in funding to programs that city staff had proposed eliminating. Under the proposed budget, all city departments except the Santa Monica Police Department and Santa Monica Fire Department would see significant funding cuts, which city staff say are needed to avoid a $224 million budget deficit over the next two years.