ACTION Apartment Association

First candidate turns in signatures for City Council race

07/26/2018 10:50 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Five-time incumbent Kevin McKeown became the first official candidate for City Council Wednesday when he turned in paperwork and signatures to qualify for the November ballot. McKeown’s recently updated campaign website lists preserving “Santa Monica’s charm and character” as a key issue for the 2018 race.

The complete field of potential candidates has reached fifteen, including all three incumbents: McKeown, Sue Himmelrich and Pam O’Connor.

Jon Mann also pulled papers to run for Rent Control Board, along with incumbents Nicole Phillis and Steve Duron.

Santa Monica Sees 3 Months of Consecutive Rent Increases

07/25/2018 12:32 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Website apartment.com recently released their monthly report.

Here are some of this month’s highlights:

Rents in Santa Monica have increased 0.9% over the past month, and are up 0.6% year-over-year.

Compensation Study Helps Guide City Staff

07/25/2018 12:30 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica City Council approved a Compensation Philosophy for City of Santa Monica staff, Tuesday, July 24, during a regular City Council Meeting.

According to the City, council implemented a key recommendation of the Moss Adams independent review of staff compensation.

AND

https://www.santamonica.gov/press/2018/07/25/santa-monica-city-council-approves-compensation-philosophy

NO Rent Roll Back to April 1, 2018

07/25/2018 8:10 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

CITY COUNCIL VOTES DOWN

BALLOT MEASURE MODIFYING RENT CONTROL CHARTER IF COSTA-HAWKINS PASSES...

More to follow.

Curious City by Charles Andrews

07/25/2018 7:31 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Hard, complicated subject, this ruination of our once-fair City through reckless overdevelopment. But maybe not. I’ve tried to make it simpler for myself, and I pass those thoughts on to you. I hope they make you mad.

How about if we get inflamed, in our knowledge and righteous anger? There’s plenty to be mad about, right here in Santa Monica. And then GO TO THE POLLS. Local voting is pretty anemic, and just a few more taking the trouble to vote can make a big difference.

When there’s tons of money to be made — and there certainly is anywhere on a coast where the real estate is golden — tons of money will be spent on misinformation and contributions to those in office or those running who will do their bidding. They will enlist the entrenched political forces and you will get misleading phone calls and flyers and postcards in your mailbox. You have to remember that. I’ll say it again because it is so important –

DON’T VOTE WITH A POSTCARD IN YOUR HAND!!

Council to consider unprecedented Rent Control initiative to avoid catastrophe

07/24/2018 8:34 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

While most news stories lead with controversy, in order to avoid any confusion, let’s start with what city officials can actually agree on: the City Council debate tonight is not about Proposition 10, the controversial ballot measure that would undo a key rent control restriction in the State of California.

Rather, the debate is about how to stop a potential calamity here if it passes: 1978-level rent on new 2018 and 2019 leases. Officials worry the sudden collapse of Costa-Hawkins could be disastrous for rent-controlled landlords who rely on “vacancy decontrol,” the imperiled state policy that allows them to charge all new tenants market rate rent. Without the law, turnover could arguably plunge the rent on a unit to as low as $580 a month in some areas of the city.

Staff has drafted a local ballot measure that could set the base rent to 2018 levels in the event Prop 10 passes. Tonight the Council will consider whether to place it on the November ballot.

Melkonians to Run for Council Again, But Focus Shifts

07/24/2018 8:22 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

July 23, 2018 -- Armen Melkonians, a leader of the grassroots fight against development in Santa Monica, pulled papers to run for City Council last week -- but this time, his focus has changed.

Increasing crime, Melkonians says, is the key issue in the 2018 elections and the reason he decided to run two years after finishing fifth in the race for four council seats.

"Crime is the big issue," Melkonians told the Lookout. "It's rising. The City Council has forgotten safety is the number one issue."

Poll Gauges Santa Monica Voters' Take on Latino Candidates and District Elections

07/24/2018 8:15 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

July 23, 2018 -- How confident are Santa Monica voters that former Mayor Bobby Shriver is Latino? How about School Board member Oscar de la Torre? Or Councilmember Gleam Davis?

Four hundred registered voters were asked that question about 15 local public officials, former candidates and activists in a recent poll conducted for the plaintiffs in a Voting Rights lawsuit against the City.

The poll by Sextant Strategies & Research is an effort to establish if voters view Council member Gleam Davis as Latino, said the plaintiffs' attorney Kevin Shenkman.

Affordable housing: turning challenges into opportunities

07/23/2018 10:35 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Thus, Community Corp improves the neighborhoods where we operate. We preserve historically significant structures for the future and replace neglected properties with buildings at the forefront of architectural innovation. We create homes for working families who make a long-term investment in their neighborhood, bring students to Santa Monica schools, keeping them vibrant, and enable our community’s seniors to age in place.

Candidates pull papers for November election

07/23/2018 10:32 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Incumbent Pam O’Connor and Residocracy founder Armen Melkonians have both pulled papers to run for City Council, representing opposite ends of a spectrum that already includes a dozen candidates.

O’Connor had declined in the past few months to say whether she would run for reelection, raising the possibility of an open seat in play. With her decision to pull papers, all three incumbents will be asking for voters to send them to Council Chambers for four more years.

O’Connor, Melkonians and others now have until August 10 to gather at least 100 signatures in support of their candidacy. The potential candidate pool also includes Sue Himmelrich (incumbent), Kevin McKeown (incumbent), Mike Farid, Mary Marlow, Greg Morena, Linda Armstrong, Scott Bellomo, Mary Sampson, Ashley Powell and Whitney Scott Bain.