Join Santa Monica community members, members of the Public Safety Reform Advisory Committee, and members of City of Santa Monica staff on Thursday, July 30, at 7 p.m. for a community listening session.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/public-safety-reform-committee-listening-session/194713

After several weeks of council agendas filled with Covid emergencies, budget cuts and administrative items, the gears of local government are moving into high gear this week with an agenda heavy on substance.

Council will debate the future of a controversial development project downtown, a potential revenue ballot measure for the November election and a host of changes to local transportation rules.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/council-to-debate-plaza-ballot-measure-and-parking-restrictions/194705

A bill co-sponsored by a Santa Monica lawmaker that would allow housing developments with affordable units to be built on commercially zoned land is making its way through the Senate.

AB 3107, sponsored by Assemblymember Richard Bloom, was approved by the Assembly on June 10 and is currently in the Senate Housing Committee.

The bill, which is co-sponsored by San Francisco Assembleymember Phil Ting, is scheduled for a hearing next week, according to Bloom's office.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2020/July-2020/07_24_2020_Santa_Monica_Lawmakers_Bill_Would_Allow_Housing.html

The City Council on Tuesday will consider placing a measure on the November ballot that would diversity the City's workforce by making it easier to hire minorities and women.

The proposed measure would amend and repeal sections of the City Charter that guide civil service appointments and promotions, according to a staff report to the Council.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2020/July-2020/07_24_2020_Council_to_Consider_Ballot_Measure_Changing_Hiring_Rules.html

The State Legislature has been working hard to attempt to squeeze 1.8 million more units of housing into the state before 2029 by producing at least nine land-use proposals this year, each of which either enable, incentivize, or require cities to build more densely. Specifically, these bills end single-family-home neighborhoods. 

Read More: https://www.smobserved.com/story/2020/07/24/news/the-illusion-of-a-california-housing-crisis-versus-the-true-need-for-more-infrastructure-including-water/4795.html

Between the State Senate and the State Assembly, nine bills are under consideration that would drastically change the balance of power regarding land use and zoning in California. Each bill seeks to solve the state's "housing crisis" with attacks against local zoning ordinances, in particular those that restrict some areas to single-family homes.

Read More: https://www.smobserved.com/story/2020/07/24/news/goodbye-california-zoning-laws-as-legislature-makes-authoritarian-grab-for-land-control-with-9-proposals/4792.html

 Twenty-two people as of Wednesday have pulled papers for potential campaigns for five open council seats. They have until August 7 to gather 30 signatures from Santa Monica residents to make their campaigns official.

Read More: https://www.smobserved.com/story/2020/07/24/news/phil-brock-and-20-other-residents-pull-papers-for-santa-monica-city-council-seats/4793.html?fbclid=IwAR2H2_i_XSHyRmZYk6Fg6e8pXOAP47nlmZ2BzI4BPio-Jk6y1cLmT_9mgRE

Join Santa Monica community members, members of the Public Safety Reform Advisory Committee, and members of City of Santa Monica staff on Thursday, July 30, 2020, at 7 p.m. for a community listening session. 

Read More: https://www.santamonica.gov/press/2020/07/24/public-safety-reform-advisory-committee-community-listening-session

Six new resources are available today to support community members on our road to recovery.  Resources include:

• Expanded access to personal protective equipment
• Online job resources
• Local retail, dining and hotel specials
• New outdoor dining, retail and services
• Below market housing options

Read More: https://www.santamonica.gov/blog/city-expands-resources-to-support-residents-and-businesses-during-economic-recovery

The members of SMart wrote a credo for Santa Monica in late 2013. The majority of the original members were architects, a profession whose purpose is to facilitate development. As long-term residents of Santa Monica, the architects were dismayed by the direction our city’s sunlit image had taken. Their city’s future had always seemed bright, but there was a dark turn on the horizon. An enormous prospective development loomed at 26th at Olympic (Hines) that would upend thousands of lives. Seven thousand car trips a day; intersections jammed from Brentwood to Mar Vista and no benefits for existing residents. Citizens pulled together to mobilize and beat back this unwanted development. 

As they beamed with pride over their victory, SMart realized that Hines wasn’t the only pending project of alarming density. 

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2020/07/you-are-the-heart-of-the-city/