ACTION Apartment Association

SMa.r.t. Column: What Are They Thinking?

04/26/2019 9:57 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

At the April 9 Santa Monica City Council meeting approval was given to order the staff to publish an RFP to developers for the demolition of Parking Lot #3 at 1318 Fourth Street and the design and construction of a new structure with over one hundred affordable housing units. Further, this new structure would also house a replacement to the Samoshel facility at 505 Olympic Boulevard, which I am told currently provides transitional housing for some 70 homeless adults as well as other forms of assistance.

Bloom's Rent Control Bill Likely Delayed Until Next Year

04/26/2019 9:46 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

A bill sponsored by Santa Monica Assemblymember Richard Bloom to expand rent control to buildings that are more than 10 years old will have to wait until next year.

Blooom announced Wednesday night that he had pulled AB 36, which would have made "modest reforms" to a statewide law that allows owners of most vacant rent controlled units to raise the rent to market rates.

AND: https://www.smdp.com/blooms-rent-control-bill-stalls-in-sacramento/174897

Santa Monica College Symposium Focuses on Pico Neighborhood

04/26/2019 9:06 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

With rental prices soaring, Santa Monica's Pico Neighborhood is rapidly changes, a topic that will be explored during a symposium at Santa Monica College (SMC) next month.

Presented by the college's Public Policy Institute (PPI), the 2019 Spring Symposium explores how "policy approaches prevent displacement in neighborhoods affected by gentrification,” organizers said.

Proposal to cap rent hikes statewide moves forward

04/26/2019 8:13 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

AB 1482 would restrict rent increases to 7.5 percent

With almost unanimous support, a proposal to place a limit on rent hikes statewide is advancing in the California Assembly.

State-mandated caps on annual rent increases would be tied to the consumer price index (CPI), a common measure of inflation, plus 5 percent, under AB 1482, which passed the assembly’s committee on housing and community development Thursday.

Hundreds of Officers and Others Attend Funeral of Rashad Riley

04/26/2019 8:10 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The entire Santa Monica Police Department, and officers from the CHP, Torrance Police Department, and other jurisdictions attended the funeral of officer Rashad Riley. Riley drowned on Friday April 12, while swimming in the waters of Kauai.

Council rejects appeal of Ocean Front housing

04/25/2019 10:28 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Two developments that have sparked protests from Ocean Park residents are moving forward.

City Council voted Tuesday to deny appeals filed by South Ocean Avenue Residents (SOAR) and UNITE HERE Local 11 against multi-story, mixed-use buildings at 1828 Ocean Ave. and 1921 Ocean Front Walk. The groups claimed the developers will the buildings as an extension of their two adjacent hotels, Shutters on the Beach and Hotel Casa Del Mar. SOAR also contends that the five-story Ocean Avenue building will box in the low-slung homes along Vicente Terrace.

Green Power Goes Commercial in Santa Monica on May 1

04/25/2019 10:20 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Beginning Wednesday, May 1, Santa Monica businesses will receive 100 percent green power from the Clean Power Alliance, the energy provider designated by the City of Santa Monica and 31 other jurisdictions in Los Angeles and Ventura counties to provide clean energy to three million new customers.

Customers can switch freely between the tiers without restriction.

New Budget Strategy to Result in Better Government at Lower Cost, Officials Say

04/25/2019 10:00 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica's municipal workforce will shrink by nearly 30 full-time employees and voters could be asked to approve new taxes in an effort to rein in a rising pension debt, City officials said Wednesday.

That is part of a strategy for the proposed 2019-21 Biennial Budget that will help pay down the City's estimated $448 million in unfunded pension liability, top City officials said at a morning media briefing.

Officials, however, did not reveal the bottom line that will be presented to the City Council May 23, which they said finance officials are still reviewing and tweaking.

AND: https://www.smdp.com/city-hall-will-cut-about-29-jobs-and-save-17-million-in-spending-by-mid-2021-to-prepare-for-its-coming-financial-shortfalls-as-it-pays-down-its-448-million-unfunded-pension-liability-over-the-next-1/174865

L.A. renters deserve a ‘right to counsel’ for evictions

04/23/2019 2:05 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Here’s one way to help ease Los Angeles’ homeless crisis: Give poor, vulnerable tenants lawyers to help them fight unjust evictions. Why? Because it’s often easier, cheaper and more humane to help people stay in their homes than it is to get them back on their feet after they have become homeless.

The Los Angeles City Council is considering a proposal to create a “right to counsel” program to fund legal advice, emergency payments and attorneys to help keep struggling renters in their homes.

City Attorney’s Office Commemorates Fair Housing Month

04/23/2019 9:08 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Consumer Protection Division of the Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office (CAO) is commemorating the 51st anniversary of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 (also known as the Civil Rights Act of 1968) with several activities in April. The fair housing laws prohibit housing discrimination that is based on race, national origin, religion, gender, disability, familial status, sexual orientation, marital status and other protected classes.