Public Comment Draft: February 13, 2018
 
INTRODUCTION
City Council adoption of revisions to the Housing Trust Fund Guidelines in July 2017 included a provision that staff prepare an “initial proposed plan” (Plan) regarding the use of Housing Trust Funds (HTF), to cover the remaining period of the Housing Element (through 2021).  The proposed Plan should be made available for a 45-day public comment period, during which a public meeting is also held.  Subsequently, the Housing Commission will review the proposed Plan and public comments received, and make a recommendation to the City Council, for final consideration and approval. The following discussion considers opportunities to target City-funded housing based on income levels, as well as population to be served by proposed housing.

Read More:  https://www.smgov.net/uploadedFiles/Departments/HED/Housing_and_Redevelopment/Housing/Housing_Trust_Funds/Proposed%20HTF%20Plan%20-%20public%20review%20draft.pdf

April 26, 2018 -- Residents lost a bid on Tuesday to stop a four-story mixed-use development on Lincoln Boulevard they said will rise up, without a buffer, next to single family homes and pour more traffic onto streets already mostly gridlocked.

The council voted unanimously against the appeal filed by neighbors of the City Planning Commission’s January 10 approval of the 59,319-square-foot project at 2903 Lincoln Boulevard, between Ashland Avenue and Wilson Place.

Developed by the CIM Group, the project, which abides by the City's zoning code, includes 47 apartments in the upper stories, ground-floor businesses and a two-level underground garage for 151 vehicles and 98 bicycles.

Read More: http://surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2018/April-2018/04_26_2018_Neighbors_Lose_Bid_to_Stop_Apartment_Complex_on_Santa_Monicas_Lincoln_Boulevard.html

AND

http://abc7.com/realestate/4-story-development-gets-green-light-in-santa-monica/3404744/

California's housing crisis needs real solutions that provide more affordable housing options for working Californians. But the Affordable Housing Freeze is the wrong approach.

Read More: Affordable Housing Fact Sheet.pdf

Sign Up Sheet: CRH Sign-up Form.pdf

State and Local Revenue Impact: Housing Freeze - State and Local Revenue Impacts.pdf

No on Housing Freeze Fact Sheet: No on Housing Freeze Fact Sheet.pdf

Californians. But the Affordable Housing Freeze is the wrong approach.

I DON’T KNOW… THAT’S NOT MY JOB…

I lost track of how many times those and similar refrains were the responses of City Council member and four-time Mayor Pam O’Connor, in her marathon deposition Monday for the lawsuit to change our voting for City Council and School Board from at-large to district-based.

It was followed in numbers by how many times O’Connor asked to have the question repeated (looked up and read back by the court reporter), with the next closest tally being the number of times the deposing attorney, R. Rex Parris, had one of his assistants mark down what he considered “frivolous objections” from the lawyer from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, the expensive international law firm representing the City’s protracted and very slim-odds fight against this lawsuit.

Read More: http://smdp.com/dont-remember-cant-recall/165715

Drawing from 26 Data Sources, Researchers Find that Lack of Early Exits from Homelessness is the Main Driver of Rising Numbers

According to a first-of-its-kind analysis of the homeless population in Los Angeles County, nearly half of the population that experiences homelessness in a year is homeless for less than a month, underscoring just how precarious housing and employment are in Southern California.

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2018/04/report-early-intervention-jobs-key-stemming-chronic-homelessness-los-angeles/

Aren’t all hospitals safe? Sadly, no. 
The Hospital Safety Grade scores hospitals on how safe they keep their patients from errors, injuries, accidents, and infections.

Read More: http://www.hospitalsafetygrade.org/

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson on Wednesday will propose tripling the amount the poorest households are expected to pay for rent as well as encourage those receiving housing subsidies to work, according to the administration’s legislative proposal obtained by The Washington Post.

The move to overhaul how low-income rental subsidies are calculated would affect more than 4.5 million families relying on federal housing assistance. The proposed legislation would require congressional approval.

Read More: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/hud-secretary-ben-carson-to-propose-tripling-rent-for-some-low-income-americans-receiving-federal-housing-subsidies/ar-AAwkwNZ?ocid=spartanntp&ffid=gz

April 24, 2018 -- A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled last week that the City's Rent Control Board lacked to power to revoke a removal permit granted a quarter century ago.

The decision -- which landlords are hailing as a check on the Rent Board's authority -- allows the owner of a 13-unit apartment building at 1041 20th to continue charging tenants market rates.

Read More: http://surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2018/April-2018/04_24_2018_Judge_Rules_Against_Returning_Renovated_Santa_Monica_Apartment_Building_to_Rent_Control.html

Supporters of squashing Costa-Hawkins Act say they have enough signatures to make the vote

Backers of a ballot initiative that would repeal the 1995 Costa-Hawkins Act and expand rent control rules in California say they’ve collected enough signatures to make it onto the November ballot.

According to a press release, supporters of the Affordable Housing Act [AHA] will submit over 565,000 signatures in support of the measure to the state today. [Monday]

Read More: https://sf.curbed.com/2018/4/23/17270882/rent-control-california-costa-hawkins-repeal-ballot-sf

AND: http://smdp.com/rent-control-reform-gets-signatures-for-november-ballot/165709