A new study, released recently by the Southern California Association of Governments, reports positive effects of implementing a $4 congestion fee to enter or travel through a specified area of the Westside of Los Angeles. The report, the first of its kind for the area, says LA commuters lose over 100 hours a year while sitting in traffic and that this fee can help reduce that time by up to 24 percent.

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2019/04/congestion-fee/

Beginning May 1, 2019, Santa Monica businesses will begin receiving 100 percent green power.

The City of Santa Monica through the Clean Power Alliance introduced Santa Monica residents to green power in February 2019.

Through the change, electricity delivery and billing will remain with Southern California Edison (SCE), but business customers will have a choice of three Clean Power Alliance energy plans derived from 100 percent carbon-free energy sources.

The plans can be adjusted freely without restriction. Energy plans range from 100 percent, 50 percent and 36 percent renewable power. Santa Monica selected the “100 percent green power” plan as the default for all businesses. This means that businesses will automatically be enrolled in 100 percent renewable unless they select a different plan.

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2019/04/sm-businesses-transition-to-green-power/

AND: https://patch.com/california/santamonica/santa-monica-businesses-transition-100-green-power

The site of a public parking structure Downtown will be used to provide affordable housing for Santa Monica's homeless and live-work spaces for artists.

The City Council on Tuesday voted to issue a request for proposals (RFP) to develop affordable housing on City-owned property at 1318 Fourth Street but left the tenant mix in flux.

The 100 percent affordable housing project would replace the aging structure behind the Third Street Promenade with between 100 and 150 units that could potentially also house seniors and low-wage workers.

Read More: http://surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2019/April-2019/04_10_2019_Santa_Monica_to_Replace_Downtown_Parking_Structure_with_Affordable_Housing.html

AND: https://www.smdp.com/city-approves-plans-to-replace-parking-structure-with-housing/174205

Scroll to the bottom of listings for apartments in Los Angeles, and you'll often find a list of things landlords won't accept: No pets. No smoking. And no Section 8.

Section 8 is a federally funded program that provides housing assistance vouchers to low-income renters. But most landlords in the city are turning away people who use those vouchers.

It's not a new problem. But it has been getting worse in Los Angeles. Today, nearly half of the people who get a Section 8 voucher in L.A. will end up losing it because they can't find anyone who will rent to them. Now, local officials want to prohibit landlords from rejecting those vouchers.

Read More: https://laist.com/2019/04/10/la_wants_to_stop_landlords_from_rejecting_low-income_housing_vouchers.php

On April 5th 2019, Diana Hayek, a persistent and flagrant violator of the City’s Home-Sharing laws, was convicted of five separate criminal misdemeanors consisting of: one count of operating an unlawful business in the City, two counts of violating the City’s Home-Sharing Ordinance, and two counts of failing to comply with City administrative citations. These convictions were a result of a multi-year investigation undertaken by the City’s Vacation Rental Enforcement Task Force, a unit of the City’s Code Enforcement Division trained to target illegal vacation rental businesses operating in Santa Monica.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/santa-monica-city-prosecutors-obtain-conviction-against-flagrant-and-persistent-violator-of-the-citys-home/174163

The City of Santa Monica launched a website Tuesday that provides data on crime, income levels, college readiness and more than 40 other metrics grouped under seven priorities.

The City organizes its work around seven outcomes: community, learning, place and planet, safety, economic opportunity, health and governance. The website connects the outcomes to metrics that show the successes or failures of different programs.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/new-website-groups-city-data-into-budget-priorities/174170

This past year was the fourth-hottest on record globally, and another near-record year for U.S. weather and climate disasters. All of the years on record that were hotter or more disaster-filled came in the past decade. Climate change impacts, like drought, heat waves and wildfire, are happening now and there is no end in sight to the disruption of Earth’s ecosystems. So what can Santa Monica do?

Cities are taking the lead by reducing carbon emissions and leading with strategies that protect our communities, build resilience and emphasize social equity. Santa Monica’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan proposes to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also preparing for climate change impacts. City Council directed staff to develop a plan to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 or sooner.

Read More: https://www.santamonica.gov/blog/santa-monica-s-plan-for-reducing-emissions-by-80-before-2030

California has launched few government projects with higher stakes than its ambitious 2018 program for registering millions of new voters at the Department of Motor Vehicles, an effort with the potential to shape elections for years to come.

Yet six days before the scheduled launch of the DMV’s new “motor voter” system last April, state computer security officials noticed something ominous: The department’s computer network was trying to connect to internet servers in Croatia.

Read More: https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-california-motor-voter-problems-investigation-20190409-story.html

My apartment door won’t close and lock. This leaves me concerned for my safety and the security of my belongings.

I have made many attempts to have my landlord fix this issue. No luck. Perplexing, as a landlord, isn’t there some responsibility to resolve this issue in some timely fashion? I was sure he would be concerned about my safety and security.

A month later, I am losing my faith in his commitment to my safety.

Read More: https://www.actiontakesaction.com/admin/website/system-pages/?pageId=1837908

On February 5, 2008, the voters of Santa Monica and Malibu approved by 73.03% the Measure R parcel tax, which combines and replaces the previous Measures Y and S parcel taxes, contains a CPI-U adjustment, and allows those senior citizens who meet the following criteria to be exempted from the tax:

• Senior property owner must be at least 65 years of age by June 30th for the year the exemption application is submitted
• Senior must own and be residing in their property as their primary residence

Read More: http://www.smmusd.org/fiscal/senior_exempt.html