ACTION Apartment Association

Emergency Order on Planning Deadlines

04/28/2020 7:55 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Today, April 27, 2020, Interim City Manager and Director of Emergency Services Lane Dilg issued the 12^th supplemental order to the City of Santa Monica’s novel coronavirus (COVID-19) emergency. The order pauses planning deadlines, extends the length of allowable hotel stays, and allows City first responders and disaster service workers to take advantage of discounts and specials offered to those on the front lines of the response to the public health emergency.

Council Poised to Change Public Input Rules for Remote Meetings

04/28/2020 7:52 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The City Council is expected to vote Tuesday to allow the public to call in during meetings held via teleconferencing during the coronavirus emergency.

To date, public comments have only been accepted in writing -- by noon for distribution online on the date of the meeting and in writing during the meeting to be read into the public record.

If approved, the changes would go into effect at the next regularly scheduled Council meeting May 5.

A Plan for a Bright Future

04/27/2020 8:48 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

by Lane Dilg, City Manager

COVID-19. In light of these difficult realities, on April 14th, the City Council directed staff to develop a plan to restructure the City government and to balance the City budget, which is currently projected to face deficits of $72 million in the General Fund for the current fiscal year (ending June 30th) and $154 million in the next.

We will publish a staff report with staff’s proposal for restructuring by May 1st on the City Council website at smgov.net/council. If you would like to share your views with staff during this process, please email info@smgov.net. On May 5th, the City Council will hold a City Council meeting to review and act on the proposal. Information about that City Council meeting, which will be held by teleconference, is available at smgov.net/council. If you would like to share your views with the City Council before the meeting, please email council.mailbox@smgov.net.

Former City Manager to Receive 7 Months Pay After Resigning During Coronavirus Emergency

04/25/2020 9:17 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Former City Manager Rick Cole is poised to collect his $343,000 annual salary over the next seven months after he stepped down from the City's top post last week during the coronavirus emergency.

Under the agreement the City Council is expected to approve Tuesday, Cole -- who took a 20 percent pay cut during the emergency -- will remain on paid administrative leave through July 4, then separate from City employment.

AND: https://smmirror.com/2020/04/former-city-manager-rick-cole-set-to-recieve-7-months-pay/

City projects nearing completion

04/24/2020 8:06 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Although the city of Santa Monica is delaying, scaling back or canceling $40.4 million in capital projects through next June as municipal revenues dry up during the coronavirus shutdown, several major projects that predate the crisis are finished or nearing completion.

The city will cut its budget for capital improvement projects by 75%, eliminating or suspending projects that were in the bidding process, said city spokesperson Constance Farrell. Projects that will continue are either funded through grants or self-sustaining funds separate from the city’s general fund, which is projected to see a shortfall of $72 million this fiscal year and an additional gap of $154 million next fiscal year due to a steep drop in sales, hotel and parking tax revenues.

Former Santa Monica City Manager Still Being Paid

04/24/2020 8:03 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Rick Cole, Santa Monica’s former City Manager who stepped down over the weekend facing a massive budget deficit, remains on paid administrative leave.

“Council accepted Rick Cole’s offer to step aside as city manager and as a result he was placed on paid administrative leave. On April 28, Council is expected to review the separation agreement that has been negotiated with Rick Cole,” the City told the Santa Monica Mirror.

In 2018, Cole made $462,172 in total pay and benefits.

Across The Bridge! SM a.r.t.

04/24/2020 7:59 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

While our lives have slowed, the wheels of city government accelerate towards a cataclysmic collision with the 2020-2021 Santa Monica city budget on June 30, 2020. Our general revenue shows a steep decline during this time of international crisis. The vast majority of our sales and bed tax revenues are gone. The projected shortfall through the end of the budget year is $72 Million. The city’s chief finance officer predicts a $154 Million shortfall during the following fiscal year, which begins on July 1. Massive cuts are needed and will affect the services you receive from the City of Santa Monica.

Whether the budget cuts are temporary or permanent will depend upon soul searching by the city council, the interim city manager and department heads, the unions that represent municipal workers, and each of you.

Santa Monica hasn’t built enough apartments

04/23/2020 9:53 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica is short on housing for individuals and families earning between $50,000 and $90,000, according to an annual report on the city’s affordable housing production.

Under a state law that requires cities to set targets for new development every eight years, Santa Monica is supposed to approve 700 market-rate units and 671 affordable units between 2013 and 2021. Developers of new apartment buildings are required to contribute to affordable housing in Santa Monica by constructing affordable units, paying a fee to the city to subsidize affordable development, or donating or selling land for affordable housing.

A City Council Moves Forward With Plan To Freeze Rent Hikes

04/23/2020 9:13 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to move forward with a plan to freeze rent increases for a period of about one year due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The city council voted to have the city attorney’s office draft an ordinance which would halt rent increases for 360 days for apartments that are protected by the city’s rent stabilization ordinance (RSO).

Curious City – THESE SQUIRRELLY TIMES

04/22/2020 9:12 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

ANOTHER PERSON WHO LOVED BILL

And his writing was Elaine Golden-Gealer. How can I not call her a local character? She’s a former folk singer (the Womenfolk) who has to look skyward to see the 5-foot marker, dresses razor sharp but unlike anyone else you’ve ever seen, and is an apartment building owner who ran for Rent Control Board. She told me she met Bill after she first read every one of his columns from 2004 – 2015, and that they agreed completely about local politics.