ACTION Apartment Association

Key witness takes the stand in Voting Rights lawsuit

08/03/2018 9:38 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The woman suing the City to change to district elections after losing her bids for the City Council and College Board took the stand Thursday in a trial that will determine the future of Santa Monica’s democracy. Attorneys from both sides grilled her for two-and-a-half hours before the court took a break for lunch. When they returned, Maria Loya returned to the witness stand, closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Loya’s 2004 campaign for the City Council is one of seven elections her team of lawyers say were racially polarized. In that election, Bobby Shriver swept the city-wide race, winning the most votes in every single neighborhood except for hers, the Pico Neighborhood.

Opening Statements begin in Voting Rights lawsuit

08/02/2018 10:49 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Famous civil rights attorney Milton Grimes painted a bleak picture of the Pico Neighborhood on the first day of the trial to determine the legality of Santa Monica’s election system. Grimes, who famously represented Rodney King, is one of three attorneys representing the plaintiffs Pico Neighborhood Association, Maria Loya and her husband, SMMUSD School Board Member Oscar de la Torre, in a California Voting Rights Act lawsuit.

Should California’s Costa Hawkins rent control act be repealed?

08/02/2018 10:43 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Urban Land Institute of San Francisco held a public forum at the Google Community Space Tuesday night debating Proposition 10, the November ballot initiative that would repeal the 1995 Costa-Hawkins Act and allow California cities to potentially expand their rent-control ordinances.

Arguing in favor of Proposition 10 and potential rent-control expansion was Amy Schur, the director of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment.

John Eudy, co-chair of the “no” campaign Californians for Responsible Housing (and also a vice president at Essex Property Trust) argued against repeal.

David Garcia, a policy director at UC Berkeley’s Terner Center For Housing Innovation, appeared as a third-way party; however, since Garcia appeared to nominally oppose Costa-Hawkins repeal, he often functioned as a second anti-Proposition 10 voice.

Santa Monica’s democracy gets its day in court

08/01/2018 12:27 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The political future of Santa Monica’s elected leaders is on the line Wednesday, as the trial to determine whether Latino voters are suppressed by the current election system begins. Up and down the state, officials will be watching as the City Attorney’s Office squares off with the Malibu lawyer responsible for upending dozens of city councils in California.

The City’s witness list for the trial reads like a whos-who of city politics spanning multiple eras. The current council, City Manager Rick Cole and other department heads, a police captain, former mayors Judy Abdo, Michael Feinstein, Dennis Zane, Nat Trives and former city councilman Kelly Olsen are among the roughly 60 witnesses slated to testify during the trial in August.

A City spokesperson declined to say how much the litigation in costing, citing an active case and attorney-client privilege.

Santa Monica Voters Faced with Four Measures on November Ballot

08/01/2018 12:15 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

August 1, 2018 -- Santa Monica voters will decide the fate of four ballot measures November 6 -- ranging from changes in requirements to serve on boards and commissions to a record bond for the School District.

Three of the four measure were placed on the ballot last week -- two by the City Council and one by the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) Board.

The first measure to make the ballot (approved on June 26) requires a super-majority vote for developments that exceed zoning limits and for changes to the Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE) and zoning code

Last week, the Council voted to place a measure on the ballot that amends the City Charter to allow non-citizens to sit on three City boards and commissions. The measure would change the eligibility requirements for service on the Library Board, Personnel Board and Airport Commission

At the meeting July 24, the Council also grudgingly placed a measure on the ballot that would limit Council members to three terms “whether consecutive or not”

One of the biggest measures before Santa Monica voters November 6 is whether to approve a $485 million bond to upgrade and replace outdated facilities in Santa Monica schools

Morena chosen over O’Connor at SMRR convention

07/31/2018 9:47 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The first major endorsement for the 2018 election season arrived this week with Santa Monicans for Renters Rights announcing their slate in several local races.

On the Rent Control Board SMRR endorsed Steven Duron, Nicole Phillis and
Naomi Sultan.

Read More on page 1: http://backissues.smdp.com/073118.pdf

SMRR Endorses McKeown, Himmelrich, Morena for City Council

07/30/2018 8:20 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

July 30, 2018 -- Two City Council incumbents and a new challenger won the endorsement of Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights (SMRR) on Sunday paving the way for what promises to be a hotly contested race in November.

Greg Morena, a restaurant owner who also has the backing of the beach city's business community, will join Councilmembers Kevin McKeown and Sue Himmelrich on the slate of the City's most powerful political organization.

Incumbent Pam O'Connor did not seek the endorsement of the tenants' group after failing to win its backing four years ago ("O’Connor Faces Tough Re-Election Bid Without SMRR Support," August 12, 2014).

In the race for Rent Control Board, Naomi Sultan will join incumbents Nicole Phillis and Steve Duron on the SMRR slate.

Incumbent Todd Flora has been termed out after serving eight years.

Santa Monica-Malibu School Board Votes to Place Record Bonds on the Ballot

07/30/2018 8:18 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

July 30, 2018 -- The School Board on Thursday placed bonds on the November ballots in Santa Monica and Malibu that together amount to $680 million, the largest ever placed before local voters.

The $485 million bond for Santa Monica and $195 million for Malibu came after the board created School Facility Improvement Districts (SFIDs) for each City in anticipation of Malibu's possible split.

A $485 million bond for Santa Monica would cost an average of $27 million annually, with estimated taxpayer levies of approximately $40 per $100,000 of assessed (not market) value, District officials said.

Santa Monica Council Grudgingly Places Term Limits Measure on Ballot

07/30/2018 8:16 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

July 30, 2018 -- The Santa Monica City Council voted grudgingly last week to place a measure on the November ballot that would limit Council members to three terms.

Because the measure received the necessary 10,620 voter signatures to qualify, the Council had little choice but to place it on the ballot.

Measure TL -- which limits terms “whether consecutive or not” -- would only apply to council terms of office that begin on, or after, the election

Self-education is the key to smart voting

07/30/2018 8:15 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Editorial

CITY COUNCIL AVOIDED A SELF-MADE controversy this week when they chose not to proceed with a ballot measure to update the City Charter in anticipation of changes to state rent control laws. There’s certainly some confusion about what will happen in November but a troublingly consistent theme throughout the local discussion was how little renters and landlords know about the rules that govern either their income source and housing respectively.

Read More on page 7: http://backissues.smdp.com/072818.pdf