ACTION Apartment Association

Elections lawsuit headed toward trial

06/28/2018 7:40 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The City of Santa Monica is gearing up for a showdown next month, as Malibu lawyer Kevin Shenkman prepares to take them to trial July 30 over City Council elections. Santa Monica is the first California city to challenge Shenkman regarding the California Voting Rights Act since Palmdale was forced to change to district elections in 2015. The settlement in that case required the city to pay $4.5 million in attorney’s fees for the plaintiffs.

City opens investigation into Shekhter development

06/27/2018 11:40 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Documents confirm Neil Shekhter, the owner of NMS Properties, is the owner of the 1238 and 1242 Tenth Street apartment complex. The complex has been the subject of a multitude of complaints and audits in multiple City departments since renovations began in early 2016.

Plans for the building changed significantly during construction, according to an August 2017 Rent Control Board Report that awarded the four long-term tenants a total of $100,000 in combined rent decreases after finding “the owner’s failure to adequately test for asbestos and to consistently use safe work practices put the tenants at risk of significant health conditions.”

Who’s benefiting from all this? by Charles Andrews

06/27/2018 11:36 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

IT’S ALMOST ALWAYS ALL ABOUT THE $$$

Why is the City allowing a four-story early childhood learning center on our civic center property? A pre-school, basically, on the edge of downtown, across from a parking garage, a Hilton hotel, the courthouse, our Civic Auditorium, a high school, maybe an athletic field for big kids, and oh yes the Rand Corporation? Doesn’t that seem odd? Would you pick that location, to gather toddlers? Wonder why that location was chosen? (“A done deal,” we’ve been told for at least a decade when we questioned it.) Why are we charging this Santa Monica College enterprise only $1 a year rent on the land instead of market rate, a $25,000,000 giveaway?

Council to Discuss Ballot Measures That Could Dictate Future of Santa Monica Rent Control

06/26/2018 1:58 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

June 26, 2018 -- The request by two Santa Monica City Council members was a short 46 words and it provided no details.

But by the time the item -- which could impact the future of rent control in Santa Monica -- is taken up Tuesday niight the battle lines will have been clearly drawn and the arguments laid out in detail.

Councilmembers McKeown and Himmelrich's request would "authorize staff to explore appropriate local responses to the possible statewide repeal of the 1994 Costa-Hawkins Act," which allows landlords to raise rents to market rates on most vacated units.

Shortly after the item was first placed on the ballot earlier this month, memo began circulating from Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights (SMRR) that spelled out proposals for two SMRR-sponsored measures for the November ballot.

If you make $117,400 a year, you qualify for low-income housing in San Francisco

06/26/2018 8:00 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The federal government is well aware of the steep prices Bay Area residents pay when it comes to just getting by.

For four-person households in San Mateo, Marin and San Francisco counties, the threshold for “low” income housing bumped up to $117,400 per year according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s latest definition, the East Bay Times reports. That’s just below the median family income of $118,400, reports HUD.

Armen Speaks re: city salaries 2017 vs 2016

06/26/2018 7:55 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Is paying more getting us better results?

See the comparison: Armen Speaks 6-25-18.jpg

Rent control increase capped at $60

06/23/2018 9:35 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The rent control board has capped rent increases $60 a month following a brief hearing last week.

Increases for rent-controlled units are subject to two caps: a percentage and a fixed dollar amount. The percentage is mandated by the city’s rent control rules and is determined by a fixed formula that yielded at 2.9 percent increase for this year. The board is not required to establish a dollar limit but can do so utilizing a separate formula that yields a $60 cap this year.

Under the City’s rules, rent-controlled tenants will pay either a 2.9 percent increase or $60, whichever is lower.

Judge Tosses City of Santa Monica's Motion to Dismiss Voting Rights Lawsuit

06/23/2018 9:29 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

June 18, 2018 -- A motion to dismiss a voting rights lawsuit against the City of Santa Monica was denied in Superior Court Tuesday after the high-powered law firm hired to defend the City failed to meet a filing deadline.

Santa Monica is the only City in California still fighting litigation seeking to replace the at-large voting method used by most small to mid-sized municipalities with district systems ("City of Santa Monica the “One Hold Out” in Voting Rights Litigation, Lawyer says," May 18, 2017).

Rent control measures fall short in Inglewood, Long Beach, and Pasadena

06/23/2018 9:25 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Voters in Pasadena, Long Beach, and Inglewood won’t get a chance to vote in November on whether to adopt rent control policies in those cities.

Supporters of ballot initiatives calling for rent control in all three cities did not garner enough valid signatures to qualify the measures for the fall election.

'Super-Majority' Ballot Measure Would Have No Impact on Proposed Developments

06/22/2018 10:33 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

June 21, 2018 -- A proposed ballot measure to require a "super-majority" vote by the City Council for developments that exceed zoning limits will have no impact on projects currently in the planning pipeline, according to City planning officials.

"It's a bait and switch to get voters to think they are being responsive, said Armen Melkonians, who heads Residocracy.com, an online slow-growth group.

However, it would have no impact on a proposed development in the Bergamot Area, staff said in its report.

It also would likely not affect future developments guided by the Hospital Area Specific Plan (HASP) and the Civic Center Specific Plan (CCSP), according to staff.

In addition, amendments that allow additional height or density for 100 percent affordable housing projects "could be approved with a simple majority Council vote," staff wrote.