As a resident of Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, I would like to share the following facts on achievements of the Santa Monica Government.

All data are public information and all comparisons are for Southern California and west of downtown LA, unless otherwise noted. If any of my facts are incorrect or not current, I invite City Hall to inform me and I will revise the list.

1. Santa Monica is #1! Santa Monica has the highest homeless population.

Read More: http://surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/letters/Letters-2019/06_19_2019_OPINION_Santa_Monica_is_Number_1.html

Seattle is under siege. Over the past five years, the Emerald City has seen an explosion of homelessness, crime, and addiction. In its 2017 point-in-time count of the homeless, King County social-services agency All Home found 11,643 people sleeping in tents, cars, and emergency shelters. Property crime has risen to a rate two and a half times higher than Los Angeles’s and four times higher than New York City’s. Cleanup crews pick up tens of thousands of dirty needles from city streets and parks every year.

Seattle must break up its homeless-industrial complex, too. Last year, interim mayor Burgess took a first step in rebidding city contracts and cutting funding for ineffective organizations like SHARE. Mayor Durkan should build on this success, reforming the system of perverse incentives and instituting accountability for all organizations getting taxpayer funds. Outcomes, not quantity of services, should take precedence; funding should taper off as the crisis subsides, not continue in perpetuity.

Read More: https://www.city-journal.org/seattle-homelessness

There’s a new building going up in town. I know, there’s a LOT of them, but the one in particular I’m starting with is the child care facility that is being built for our city employees on the former parking lot of the Civic Center. This is a nice public benefit that we are providing to those who work so hard to keep our city running. As a family law attorney and strong advocate for both maternity and paternity leave, I think having facilities that support families is important.

I’m curious, though, as to why that development has moved seemingly so quickly through the approval and building phases. Wasn’t there supposed to be a soccer field or something built? Maybe I’m just misremembering…

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/whats-the-point-parks-parking-and-pensions/176504

They’re hoping to get rent control and just-cause eviction on the November 2020 ballot.

Advocates pushed the council to expand the city’s tenant protection ordinance, first approved in 2004 and last updated in 2017, after apartment renters at a South Roosevelt Avenue property were told to pack their bags within 60 days after the building changed hands. Those tenants were not covered by the protections, which required landlords to only provide relocation benefits to tenants in a very narrow set of circumstances.

Read More: https://www.pasadenastarnews.com/2019/06/16/pasadenas-expanded-tenant-protections-not-enough-advocates-say/

In a bold step to confront one of the root causes of the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles, City Councilmembers Mike Bonin, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Paul Koretz and David Ryu today called for the city to begin penalizing landlords who keep habitable housing units empty while tens of thousands of Angelenos are forced to live on the streets because of the high cost of housing.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/l-a-councilmembers-propose-penalty-for-vacant-housing/176334

Los Angeles is taking steps to improve the County’s severe housing crisis.

The “Source of Income Protection” ordinance was approved by the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors at Tuesday’s meeting. The new chapter prohibits landowners from discriminating against potential renters based on their income or housing assistance needs of any kind, such as Section 8 vouchers, federally-funded rental assistance programs, and the Flexible Housing Subsidy Pool.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/los-angeles-is-taking-steps-to-improve-the-countys-severe-housing-crisis/176440

1950's legislation requires a local ballot referendum to approve public housing project funded with public money.

Article 34 requires local governments to acquire a public majority to favor their construction of "affordable" housing. If Article 34 is repealed, the burden will fall on the residents who do not want to see the public housing coming to their neighborhoods. They will have to gather signatures on a petition in order to force a vote on a proposed project.

Read More: https://www.smobserved.com/story/2019/06/14/news/article-34-california-voters-to-decide-against-their-right-to-decide/4050.html

Dear Mayor, Council, City Manager,

Excuse me for being so blunt, but there is no other way to say this so I’m just going to say it…

$800 million dollars for a Climate Action Plan over ten years?

Are you serious?

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2019/06/letter-to-the-editor-regarding-the-climate-action-plan/

Now the longtime north-south animosity shows signs of bleeding over into politics. Northern California politicians are avidly pushing supposed solutions to the state’s acknowledged housing crisis against the wishes of many Southern California cities.

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2019/06/will-housing-become-a-new-north-vs-south-issue/

The failure to set reasonable limits to our civic obligations and associated subsidies means the City will always be behind and “failing” to meet its civic goals. So a consensus concept of a fair share of those obligations is essential to a successful city. 

Looking at our City’s fair share as a countywide obligation only makes sense if the other 88 cities are doing their fair share. Unfortunately, most are not.

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2019/06/so-whats-a-fair-share/