Food-delivery outfit DoorDash sold 33 million shares to institutional investors yesterday for $102 each, raising $3.37 billion, for an initial market value of $38 billion. Shares [DASH] started trading mid-day today, went on to around $190, for an initial pop of 86%, giving it briefly a ridiculous market value of $70 billion, before backing off. In 2018, the company had a “valuation” of $1.4 billion.

Read More: https://wolfstreet.com/2020/12/09/glorious-ipo-spac-bubble-fattened-further-by-ridiculous-doordash-ipo-airbnb-next/

City Council will meet on Tuesday, Dec. 15 for a special meeting to discuss the upcoming Housing Element update.

The Housing Element will be part of a study session and while it doesn’t include a vote, the Tuesday item is an opportunity for Council to provide direction to staff on the process.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/council-begins-housing-element-discussions/199764

Councilmember Sue Himmelrich was elected mayor of Santa Monica for two years on Tuesday in a clear display of power by the newly seated council.

Himmelrich, a slow-growth advocate, was elected in a 5-2 vote after outgoing Mayor Kevin McKeown's motions to elect Councilmember Gleam Davis to replace him repeatedly failed.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2020/December-2020/12_09_2020_Himmelrich_Elected_Mayor_as_Change_Slate_Takes_Power.html

AND: https://www.smdp.com/sue-himmelrich-selected-to-serve-two-year-term-as-mayor/199742

Santa Monica did what it has done every two years for 150 years, and swore in a new City Council on Tuesday Night.

Read More: https://www.smobserved.com/story/2020/12/09/news/three-new-santa-monica-city-council-members-sworn-in-tuesday-night-via-zoom/5118.html

Santa Monica will pick a new mayor and seat newly-elected councilmembers Tuesday.

At the December 8 Santa Monica City Council meeting, Phil Brock, Kristen Parra and Oscar de la Torre will be sworn-in as Councilmembers. In the recently-certified election of four councilmembers, challenger and Arts Commissioner Brock finished in first place (19,319 votes) while incumbent Gleam Davis finished in second place (18,153 votes). Parra–a challenger and head of emergency services for Culver City–finished in third place (18,031 votes) while challenger and SMMUSD School Board member Oscar de la Torre finished in fourth (17,570 votes). 

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2020/12/santa-monica-to-choose-new-mayor-and-seat-new-councilmembers/

Using a U.S. Census survey on how the coronavirus is affecting households across the country, Carolina Reid, associate professor of city and regional planning at the University of California, Berkeley, estimates there are approximately 2 million people, including children, at risk of eviction based on the 600,000 California households that fell behind on rent in August.

Read More: https://calmatters.org/projects/late-on-rent-how-california-renters-are-bracing-for-an-eviction-tsunami/

Santa Monica’s sixth Housing Element is set to be discussed in detail by Planning Commissioners this Wednesday and the community is invited to discuss the document that dictates how the region will meet affordable housing needs in the next decade.

The Planning Commission already heard a presentation about the Housing Element back in November but no action was taken at the meeting.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/housing-element-discussions-continue-wednesday/199601

On Tuesday, December 8th, shortly after 5:30 PM, Oscar de la Torre, Christine Parra, and I will be among the Council Members sworn in to make decisions on your behalf as we try to right the SS Santa Monica. We are all on this voyage together. Together, you’re the captains, and Oscar, Christine, and I are among the sailors, hoping to make the rigging stronger and the boat more resilient. Above all, we want our ship to stop taking on water. We need to act with the utmost urgency as we bring residents back to the seat of power in the City of Santa Monica.

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2020/12/smart-column-a-better-ship-of-state/

Rents in Santa Monica dropped by nearly 13 percent over the past year, as the coronavirus shutdown hit high-priced cities with high-tech work forces the hardest, according to a report by Apartment List.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2020/December-2020/12_03_2020_Santa_Monica_Rents_See_Yearly_Drop_of_Nearly_13_Percent.html

The City Council on Tuesday will accept the official results for the November 3 election before three new Council members and two incumbents are sworn in.

The newly seated Council is then expected to elect Sue Himmelrich, a slow-growth advocate who was first elected in 2014, as Santa Monica's new mayor.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2020/December-2020/12_03_2020_New_Council_to_Be_Seated_Mayor_Picked_Tuesday.html