The City Council will decide the fate of 164 new apartments in the downtown area Tuesday night when it reviews potential Development Agreements for two plots owned by NMS Properties and its offshoot, WNMS Communities. The developments are connected – both require the Council to sign off on excess parking spaces and will contribute to the construction to affordable housing on Colorado Avenue.

Read More on page 1: http://backissues.smdp.com/112817.pdf

Nearly four months after a local hotel received one of the biggest fines in FPPC history for money it spent in Santa Monica elections, two City Councilmembers are asking for a City review of the case.

Read More on page 1: http://backissues.smdp.com/112817.pdf

WHY THIS FIGHT?

Over district vs at-large elections?

Is it an obscure bit of political infighting, a clash of personalities, that doesn’t really mean anything to residents?

Or could it possibly change the way our City is run? Take much of the big money influence out of our elections? Give minorities, and neighborhoods, a voice? End the 40-year one-party dominance of SMRR that has given us a steady stream of Council members hell bent on developing Santa Monica into a high-rise megalopolis-by-the-sea, with all the resultant problems of traffic, crime, corruption, skyrocketing rents and more, that trying to cram way too many people and big buildings into 8.4 square miles inevitably brings.

It could. It remains to be seen. But one thing you should put your money on: district voting will come. Soon. 

Read More: http://smdp.com/play-money/163408

Rent-control policies are a cause célèbre advocated by progressive politicians such as New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and U.K. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

But evidence shows that getting rid of these rules causes a reduction in crime.

Read More: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/does-rent-control-on-property-increase-or-reduce-crime-rates-these-economists-have-the-answer-2017-10-09?dist=realestate

Fifty-five percent of Orange and San Diego county voters support rent control to help middle- and lower-income people remain in their communities, according to a recent UC Berkeley online poll of registered voters released this week. Statewide, 60 percent of voters responding to the poll support rent control.

In Los Angeles County — home to four cities with rent control laws — 68 percent of poll respondents support limits on how much landlords can raise rents. Fifty-nine percent of voters support such a measure in the remaining Southern California counties of Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Imperial.

Read More: http://www.ocregister.com/2017/09/20/majority-of-orange-san-diego-county-voters-support-rent-control-poll-says/

Council will tackle homelessness with a major discussion at its Nov. 28 meeting. The council will receive its annual Homelessness Report at the meeting including dense proposals for addressing the local crisis. 

The report calls for endorsing five concepts currently contained in the city’s Strategic Goal Action Plan including proactive engagement, smart deployment of local resources, proving the effectiveness of models to connect individuals to housing, increasing the availability of housing/services in other communities, ensuring safe use of the Library and working collaboratively with other agencies to address the problem.

Read More: http://smdp.com/major-homelessness-plan-to-be-presented-to-city-council/163402

By Thomas M. Sipos

Editor:

Keyser Marston Associates’ report proves that when landlords use the Ellis Act to remove rental units from the market, Santa Monica benefits.

1. The report says that Ellis Act withdrawals create “downzoning.” Many rental units are replaced by a few condos or single family homes.

Excellent! This reduces density, traffic, water usage, school over-crowding, and strains on city services, resulting in a greener, more sustainable city. And progressives complain?

2. The report says that developers are replacing old buildings with new buildings that are sold for “a tidy profit.” Fantastic! This means that our city and schools are likewise raking in massive windfall tax profits.

Read More: http://smdp.com/go-ellis/163410

By Pete Bosen

I AM A LONG TERM SANTA MONICA resident, and can remember the days before Costa-Hawkins well. There is talk of having a ballot initiative to repeal Costa Hawkins - which would return vacancy control to Santa Monica, and so cap the price of rents to new renters, often at very low levels - and over time inflation will send those capped rents lower and lower.

 (All of what follows is not about the usual rent control, but about the extreme form of rent control called “vacancy control.”) 

It is well known that capping the price of goods below market price always leads to inefficient use of those goods and the collapse of supply. Just look at the gas crisis of the 1970’s; where price caps turned a minor price adjustment into a disastrous loss of supply: (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/200 6/may/15/20060515-122820-6110r/) . 

Apartments are no different...

Read More on page 3: http://backissues.smdp.com/112517.pdf

By Steve Lopez

Today, home ownership in California is the best investment any of us will ever make, thanks, in large part, to a scarcity of housing. The pace of construction has not kept up with population grown and demand, so those of us with houses own a staggering amount of equity wealth that grows even as those without homes pay a higher price for survival.

Read More: http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-lopez-equity-wealth-20171126-story.html

Name of product:

Kidde fire extinguishers with plastic handles

Hazard:

The fire extinguishers can become clogged or require excessive force to discharge and can fail to activate during a fire emergency. In addition, the nozzle can detach with enough force to pose an impact hazard.

Remedy: Replace

Recall date: November 2, 2017

Recall number: 18-022

Find Models and Dates at: https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2017/kidde-recalls-fire-extinguishers-with-plastic-handles-due-to-failure-to-discharge-and#