ACTION Apartment Association

Santa Monica City Council Approves Sweeping Cuts, Layoffs

05/06/2020 9:44 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Over 400 city employees set to lose jobs, $203.2 million in budget cuts approved

At an over seven-hour meeting Tuesday, City Council authorized the abolition of 337 permanent positions and 144 part-time positions while approving $203.2 million in budget cuts.

The plan approved Tuesday frees up $117 million in one-time funds while slashing $86.2 million in ongoing expenses via cuts to city services, programing and staffing.

AND: https://www.smdp.com/santa-monica-budget-cuts/190547

Letter to the Editor – Task Force Transparency

05/06/2020 9:43 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Revised City Budget NOW includes $1 Million for a new Task Force to speed economic recovery in Santa Monica. $1 million to a committee that has had no public process or public vetting.

The Santa Monica Transparency Project was formed in 2010 to assure openness and accountability in city government. We are concerned about the pro-developer bias on this committee as announced. It’s important for the public to understand who the city has invited to serve as task force members and whether reasonable growth members will also be included.

What to keep in a world of cuts

05/05/2020 7:27 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica is in the midst of an economic crisis and despite the headlines surrounding budget cuts, we don’t think the magnitude of the problem has fully permeated the public consciousness yet.

While we are going to lose a lot, there are services that will remain and some concepts should be put at the top of the list.

Housing Fund Mostly Off Limits to Budget Cuts

05/05/2020 7:18 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The City of Monica has enough money available in its Housing Trust Fund to avert many of the budget cuts the City Council is expected to make Tuesday.

But it would have to sacrifice one of its top funding priorities -- the creation of affordable housing -- to help bridge the massive budget gap caused by the coronavirus shutdown.

Under a proposal hammered out by staff over the past two weeks, only $5.6 million of the nearly $58 million available in the Housing Fund would be used to help fill a $150 million budget gap by next July.

The $1 Million Question: Who Sits on City's New Economic Recovery Task Force?

05/05/2020 7:16 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

By Mary Marlow

The Revised City Budget NOW includes $1 million for a new Task Force to speed economic recovery in Santa Monica. $1 million to a committee that has had no public process or public vetting.

The Santa Monica Transparency Project was formed in 2010 to assure openness and accountability in City government. We are concerned about the pro-developer bias on this committee as announced.

Virus Proving How Disastrous SB 50 Could Have Been

05/05/2020 7:14 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

As Californians shelter at home, eagerly awaiting the eventual reopening of myriad businesses and hoping for the quick rehire of millions of the virally unemployed, at least they can be thankful state legislators had the good sense early this year to bury a proposed law called SB 50.

That was the effort by San Francisco’s Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener to make most of this state as densely populated as the Castro District he has long called home, filled with aged wooden walk-up apartment buildings.

Over 400 SM City Jobs, Services set to be Eliminated

05/04/2020 6:08 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

On Tuesday, Santa Monica City Council will vote on eliminating over 400 positions and a reduction in services as part of budget cuts brought on by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Using a combination of one-time funds and ongoing budget reductions, the city is proposing reductions totaling $86.2 million, including 337.2 permanent full-time positions and around 150 as-needed full-time positions. In the General Fund, the staff has identified $60.6 million, 159 permanent, and 125 as-needed full-time positions for elimination.

City Hall cuts 481 staff with large program reductions

05/04/2020 9:56 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The city of Santa Monica is planning to cut $203.2 million from its budget and about 337 permanent and 144 temporary jobs as the coronavirus shutdown devastates the sectors of Santa Monica’s

economy that sustain city revenues. With a projected general fund deficit of $224 million through June 2022, City Council will vote Tuesday on a budget plan that proposes freeing up $117 million in one-time funds and cutting $86.2 million in ongoing costs through radical cuts to city programs, services and

staffing. Many in-person services would be shifted to a redesigned city website, both to facilitate physical distancing and to save money.

1,400 apartments coming to Lincoln

05/04/2020 9:51 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

With 14 mixed-use developments planned or under construction, the stretches of Lincoln Boulevard and Colorado Avenue on the edge of downtown Santa Monica will soon be home to nearly 1,400 new households.

Santa Monica’s Land Use and Circulation Element directs taller and denser multifamily development downtown, along major corridors and near transit. All three conditions apply to the stretches of Lincoln and Colorado bordered by Santa Monica Boulevard, the 10 Freeway and the terminus of the Metro E Line. For developers looking to build in Santa Monica, the area that until recently was mostly home to older, low-rise buildings has become a go-to location for ambitious projects.

#CancelRent Is New Rallying Cry

05/03/2020 10:11 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

From New York to Los Angeles, tenant groups are encouraging millions of renters to withhold May rent, which landlords warn would be devastating.