ACTION Apartment Association

City Employee Unions, Special Interests Back Incumbents

10/06/2020 8:43 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica's employee unions and special interest groups are building a large financial warchest to back the status quo at City Hall, according to campaign disclosure statements posted on the City Clerk's website Monday.

No on Prop. 21

10/05/2020 7:27 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Prop 21 would allow local communities to extend Rent Control to any Single Family Homes not owned by a natural person. It will treat anyone who owns more than one or two houses as a for profit corporation. Through such provisions, Prop 21 would hit hard at small landlords, while large corporations will as usual use their lobbying might to find loopholes and buy their way out of trouble.

Prop 21 will increase bureaucracy and state control.

Voting locations

10/05/2020 7:18 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Voters for the 2020 election can vote by mail or in person this year. Mail ballots will arrive in mailboxes starting this week. All registered voters will be sent a Vote By Mail ballot and they can be returned via the USPS, to a designated ballot return box or in person at a vote center. Ballots postmarked by election day and received within 17 days will be counted in the election.

SMa.r.t. The Future of Our City Is At Stake

10/05/2020 7:09 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

So are we on a road to “nowhere”? How will this fast changing and diminishing quality of life affect our city? What will its future be? Just another piece of a larger metropolis. Recently the City Council finished constructing a 50,000 sq ft city hall annex at twice the cost of comparable municipal buildings. It then spent over $25 million fighting district elections and residents’ effort combatting the enormous benefit of development contributions to “friendly” incumbent re-election campaigns!

Poll Shows Lack of Support for Council Incumbents

10/05/2020 7:06 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

A recent poll of registered Santa Monica voters forecasts trouble for local incumbents, with less than 10 percent of the respondents saying they plan to support the current Council members.

The telephone survey of 305 likely voters conducted for Eyes on Local 11, an anti-hotel union watchdog group, found that 53.29 percent of the respondents have not decided who they will vote for.

More than a third -- 35.53 percent -- said they planned to vote for "someone new,"

Santa Monica Conservancy introduces 21st Century Task Force

10/02/2020 8:42 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Santa Monica Conservancy has sought to preserve historic buildings around town for nearly 20 years. But in an effort to adapt to the needs of the community, the conservancy recently formed a task force that has already begun drafting ideas on how to continue protecting local landmarks well into the future.

California’s Prop 21 would let cities expand rent control

10/01/2020 9:46 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

California voters overwhelmingly rejected a more expansive rent control measure two years ago known as Proposition 10. Last year, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a decade-long limit on rent increases to 5% a year plus inflation and barred landlords from evicting tenants without a reason.

City Council candidate forum

10/01/2020 9:43 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The next of the Santa Monica candidate forums co-sponsored by the Committee For Racial Justice and the Santa Monica League of Women Voters Educational Fund will be a zoom meeting on Sunday evening, October 4, which will feature candidates for City Council and will start at 6 p.m. All the candidates were invited. To date, 15 have confirmed.

Read More on page 11: https://s3.amazonaws.com/smdp_backissues/100120.pdf

California’s rent strike: Who pays and how it works

10/01/2020 9:40 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

As the pandemic stretches into its seventh month, tenants and landlords have found themselves facing the same question: Who’s going to pay the rent if unemployment continues to hover north of 11%?

City of Santa Monica Partners with the Straus Institute at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law to Offer Aide in Eviction Disputes

09/30/2020 12:25 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution will collaborate with the City of Santa Monica to provide mediation for landlords and tenants who are navigating payment of deferred rent alongside city- and state-wide eviction moratorium orders in place through the end of the year. Pro bono services will be offered through the Straus Mediation Clinic and externship program.