This week the Rent Control Board (RCB) will begin discussions to potentially change the way the city calculates rent in controlled units in anticipation of changes at the state level that would radically alter landlords’ ability to increase rents on new tenants.

No action will be taken at the Sept. 13 meeting but the Board will begin initial deliberations regarding the potential repeal of the Costa Hawkins Act, a state law that allows rent control units to be set to market rates when a new tenant moves in. While the RCB has authority over year-to-year increases, it does not have authority to set rents for new tenants that move into a unit when an old tenant leaves. Voters will be asked to repeal Costa Hawkins this November and doing so will create confusion over how to set base rents (the amount first charged when a lease begins) due to the language contained in the City Charter.

Read More: http://www.smdp.com/rent-control-board-to-begin-debate-on-new-rent-limits/169215

The decade-long ritual of serving a vegan meal to local homeless people on the Third Street Promenade each Thursday night will move to the Salvation Army’s Fourth Street location this fall, as part of a “delicate” compromise between the organizers, two nonprofits, the City and Downtown Santa Monica, Inc.

Read More: http://www.smdp.com/thursday-night-meals-for-the-homeless-will-move-off-the-promenade/169200

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District recently had their ‘AAA’ rating affirmed from Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) for the second consecutive year (the highest rating assigned by Moody’s), and received an upgraded rating from S & P Global to ‘AA+,’ on existing general obligation bonds. Taxpayers will save close to $10 million over the life of the bonds through lower borrowing costs associated with high ratings.

The SMMUSD Board of Education has approved a school improvement funding measure to be placed on November 2018 ballots, with a $485 million bond for Santa Monica schools and $195 million bond for Malibu schools. 

Read More on pg. 4: http://backissues.smdp.com/091018.pdf

By SM.a.r.t

A year ago our colleague Thane Roberts pointed out that between 2005 and 2013 the City’s commercial sector increased its water consumption enormously, while the residential sector reduced its overall use–even while the city’s population grew. Why is this important? Because Santa Monica buys part of its water–roughly a quarter of its needs–from the Metropolitan Water District. The MWD’s water is obtained from sources that are becoming increasingly scarce, and the price is going up as the sources dry up.

To reverse this problem the City has made heroic efforts to shift all of its water supply to local sources: wells and recycled water (for irrigation, for now) by 2020, in the next year or so. But Santa Monica is having trouble sticking to its goal of achieving water self-sufficiency within the next few months, despite energetic–and expensive–efforts to conserve and re-use water, and find new underground water supplies. The responsibility, as Roberts suggested, lies in part on the commercial sector and on new real-estate developments going up around town.

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2018/09/the-more-we-drink-the-thirstier-we-get/

September 10, 2018 -- The City Council on Tuesday is expected to begin seeking expert advice to help tackle "disruptive" global forces that pose both threats and opportunities for Santa Monica's economy.

These include everything from online shopping that is eroding business at brick and mortar stores to robots that could take over basic tasks and cars that don't require a driver.

Read More: http://surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2018/September-2018/09_10_2018_Santa_Monica_Council_Expected_to_Seek_Experts_to_Help_Plot_Citys_Future.html

September 7, 2018 -- Santa Monica has hired a "Chief People Officer" who will assume the post of Human Resources director and work to engage and energize the City's workforce, City officials announced Friday.

Lori Gentles -- who will assume the $216,264-a-year post on December 28 -- will replace HR director Donna Peter who will retire September 21 after ten years on the job. Christina Winting will serve on an interim basis.

Read More: http://surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2018/September-2018/09_07_2018_Santa_Monica_Hires_Chief_of_Peoples_in_Charge_of_Human_Resources.html

AND

https://www.santamonica.gov/press/2018/09/07/lori-gentles-is-selected-as-santa-monica-s-chief-people-officer-human-resources

September 6, 2018 -- Santa Monica planning officials are embarking on a long-awaited initiative this fall to preserve the Pico Neighborhood from a wave of gentrification that threatens its character and affordable housing supply, City officials announced this month.

The move comes after the City Council in January voted to make a zoning plan for Santa Monica's poorest and most diverse area its top planning priority. The Council first identified the issue in May 2015.

City planners already have embarked on "understanding the existing physical conditions and zoning analysis" of the neighborhood, said a report issued this month by Planning Director David Martin and Julie Rusk, who heads the City's Office of Civic Wellbeing.

Read More: http://surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2018/September-2018/09_06_2018_Santa_Monica_Planning_Officials_to_Embark_on_Pico_Neighborhood_Plan.html

Proposition 10, a statewide ballot initiative in the upcoming November 2018 election aims to repeal the 1995 law. If Costa-Hawkins is repealed, the rules that provided assurances for existing property owners and enabled increased levels of new construction activity will be abolished, and local jurisdictions will be free to enact more restrictive forms of rent control. A return to more rigid rent control laws could severely reduce new construction activity, lead to greater housing scarcity and further increase rents for many households in the coming years.

Read More: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9dn0n4g7

Kenneth Rosen, a UC Berkeley economist and real estate consultant, published a paper Wednesday titled The Case For Preserving Costa Hawkins, in hopes of swaying voters against Proposition 10.

Proposition 10, which will go before voters in November, would repeal the 1995 Costa-Hawkins Act, a state law that severely curtails rent control in California cities. For example, under Costa-Hawkins, only San Francisco apartments built before 1979 may be subject to rent control.

Passing Proposition 10 would not in and of itself create any new rent control housing, but it would allow cities to expand rent control stock for the first time in decades if they so choose.

Rosen, however, argues that turning the clock back to 1994 will stifle new housing and drain apartment stock.

Read More:  https://sf.curbed.com/2018/9/5/17824038/berkeley-study-rent-control-prop-10-costa-hawkins

Ordinance Number 2585 (CCS) (“the Ordinance”) amends Santa Monica Municipal Code Articles IV and VIII to enhance existing tenant protection provisions, including: requiring landlords to promptly restore uninhabitable dwelling units to habitable conditions, modifying tenant noticing requirements to take into account the scope and nature of any proposed construction work, requiring landlords to provide tenants with written notification of planned temporary tenant relocation and statutorily required relocation benefits, and authorizing meal-only per diem benefits.

Read More on pg. 4: http://backissues.smdp.com/090618.pdf