ACTION Apartment Association

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.

Council to debate development measure Tuesday

06/22/2018 10:30 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Tuesday the City Council will consider placing a measure on the Nov. 6 ballot to require a super-majority Council vote to increase density in the city’s building guidelines: the Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE) and Downtown Community Plan (DCP). The two documents set maximum height and density throughout the city.

If passed by Council, the measure would make development a key campaign issue two years after the grassroots initiative Measure LV failed to get enough votes. LV would have required a city-wide vote on all new development over two stories in Santa Monica. Instead of requiring citizen votes, the newly proposed measure would restrict the Council’s ability to tweak the rules that govern all new projects.

New York City Sues Landlords Who Refuse Government Vouchers

06/21/2018 8:02 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

For the past four years, New York City has tried to persuade landlords and real estate brokers to rent apartments to low-income people and homeless people with bonuses and pledges that rent would be guaranteed with government vouchers.

The incentives have helped thousands of people move into permanent housing throughout the city. But some landlords have still refused to accept vouchers, city officials said, which is against the law for buildings with six apartments or more.

Last year, the city created a unit to combat such violations, and on Wednesday, the unit took its first legal action, filing lawsuits against the manager of Seaview Estates, a complex on Staten Island, and a real estate broker who rented apartments in two Bronx buildings.