ACTION Apartment Association

I'm So Ashamed of My City Council

08/31/2018 1:06 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Armen Melkonians

Read his letter to Residocracy: Armen Melkonians.pdf

Court Declares that Landlords Can’t Circumvent Rent Limits by Charging Extra for Water

08/30/2018 11:46 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Santa Monica Rent Control Board has definitively established that landlords can’t exceed rent limits by engaging in Ratio Utility Billing Systems, or “RUBS.” Unlike those who use individual meters or submeters, landlords who use RUBS don’t charge tenants for their actual utility use. Instead, they divide a building’s master-metered water bill by the number of units. These landlords then pass that bill on to their tenants on a pro rata basis—resulting in a charge that may bear no relation at all to the amount of the utility that any individual tenant actually uses.

Action Apartment Association sued the Board, asking the court to rule that landlords may charge tenants as much as they like using RUBS because, the Association argued, a RUBS charge isn’t “rent,” and is therefore not subject to rent limits.

Top Voting Demographics Expert Advised City, Activists on Santa Monica Redistricting

08/29/2018 11:25 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

August 28, 2018 -- An expert in California voting demographics authored a report for Santa Monica officials and also advised neighborhood activists on redistricting during a voting rights lawsui against the City.

The City Attorney's chief of staff George Cardona testified Tuesday that Karin MacDonald, a census expert at UC Berkeley, conducted a study for the City after the lawsuit was filed, according to plaintiff attorney Kevin Shenkman.

MacDonald would later advise two neighborhood activists who support the cause of the Latino plaintiffs on how Santa Monica could be redistricted, according to a document filed with the court.

Plaintiffs in the voting rights lawsuit claim MacDonald's report warned the City Council before it embarked on the expensive lawsuit that there was a pattern of polarized voting in Santa Monica

Santa Monica Offers Cash To Seniors To Help With Rent

08/28/2018 8:10 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Rumors of seniors straining to pay their rent started making the rounds at Santa Monica City Hall two years ago so officials surveyed its elderly residents.

Aging in California is becoming less about cruises, the pursuit of hobbies and time with the grandkids under the sun and more about survival. One in five seniors in the state lives in poverty, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Half of the state’s single seniors don’t have enough money to cover basic expenses. And regions like Los Angeles County are seeing a spike in homelessness among seniors.

Santa Monica hopes to stem that trend.

In November, it launched a 14-month experiment by giving cash to nearly two dozen senior men and women struggling to pay their rent

Housing’s corporate takeover is an open secret

08/27/2018 8:22 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Officials say it’s no coincidence that hundreds of apartments in Santa Monica sound more like hotel rooms, as landlords realize corporate rentals get around the city’s strict anti-AirBnb ordinance while taking advantage of incentives meant to build housing to solve a statewide shortage of affordable places to live.

“It’s really amazing. The blatant abuse of these residential units for use, really, as a hotel,” said Chair Amy Anderson at a recent Planning Commission meeting.

The trend is pervasive, with approximately 39 apartment buildings in downtown Santa Monica advertising at least some units for corporate or vacation travelers looking to rent here for just over 31 days – the threshold for a “short-term rental.”

A ‘low-profile’ revolution’ helps change the face of local governments

08/27/2018 8:03 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica, one of the state’s most left-leaning cities, would seem to be an unlikely arena for a court battle over racial discrimination.

However, in a trial this month, the city defends electing city council members “at large” by all voters, rather than from districts. A lawsuit contends that the system discriminates against Latinos and other nonwhite residents.

It’s the latest of many legal challenges to local governments under the California Voting Rights Act, a 2002 law that makes it easier to overturn at-large voting.

Read more here: https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/op-ed/article217294180.html#storylink=cpy

Editorial: Prop. 10 would exacerbate California’s housing crisis

08/27/2018 7:59 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Rents in California, especially the Bay Area, are soaring. Decent housing is unaffordable for far too many.

But the solution is to build more housing, not restrict rents. That’s why voters should reject Proposition 10 on the Nov. 6 ballot.

The initiative would lift state limitations on local rent control laws, allowing cities to impose restrictions on more housing. That’s the last thing we need. It would only make the situation worse.

Rent control is a feel-good idea. A quick fix to a complicated problem. But it is not very effective at protecting poor or vulnerable tenants. And, more significantly, rent control discourages new rental home construction, the very thing we need to ease the state’s housing crisis.

Affordable Housing Topped Out in Santa Monica

08/27/2018 7:52 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The wood frame of the Arroyo development is now complete in Santa Monica, and exterior finishes are currently being applied to the affordable housing complex.

Located at 1626 Lincoln Boulevard, the project will be owned and operated by the nonprofit Community Corp. of Santa Monica. The five-story building will feature 64 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, which will be made affordable to households earning between 30 and 60 percent of the area median income.

Short Term Rental Goes Back to Malibu City Council September 11th

08/27/2018 7:49 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Malibu’s Short Term Rental ordinance finally went through a fine tooth comb with Malibu City Council July 9th addressing many issues brought forward by residents who packed City Hall presenting arguments on both sides of the issue.

After hours of deliberation, it was decided that the STR ordinance will pass a final council vote on September 11th, and will commence in March 2019.

After 2 years, City Council instructed Staff with 4-0 vote to revise the STR Ordinance at Monday night’s hearing. Some of the new inclusions are, Mandatory Permitting, Limiting to Primary Residences, and some Platform Accountability rules for the online platforms like Airbnb to follow.

A City Crying for Change

08/24/2018 12:27 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

SM.a.r.t. Column

In the waning days of summer, SMa.r.t. (Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow) turns its thoughts to the fall which means the upcoming elections where residents will elect a City Council that might actually try to help solve the important issues confronting the residents of our City.

If we were to make a list of those issues, number one might be personal safety. With crime up about 18% since the last election, with seniors being mugged and assaulted in broad daylight downtown, and the Ocean Park library vandalized, the crime reduction prognosis is not good.