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Santa Monica City Council Set to Approve More Six-Figure Salaries

10/20/2017 1:36 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

October 20, 2017 -- The Santa Monica City Council is set to approve a slew of new white-collar employee salaries, all but a few close to, or comfortably in, six-figure earnings brackets.

At the top of the new pay chart, which goes into effect October 29, are jobs for senior advisors to the City Manager on airport matters and on the City’s homeless population, both paying $13,503 a month, or $162,036 annually.

A third job, for a “transit community and government engagement manager,” would earn the same pay, according to a report by Finance Director Gigi Decavalles-Hughes going to the council for its meeting next Tuesday.

In all, 21 positions are included in the new classifications and salary rates.

Four Santa Monica Landmarks Slated for Conservation Contracts

10/20/2017 1:34 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

October 20, 2017 -- From a turn-of-the-century home gazing at the Pacific from Palisades Park to one of the first Postmodern high-tech designs in Santa Monica, four local landmarks are likely to get preservation contracts with the City.

Staff is recommending the City negotiate “Historic Property Preservation Agreements” (of Mills Act contracts) with the property owners of 401 Ocean Avenue, 927 Ocean Avenue, 909-911 Montana Avenue and 2433 28th Street.

Tightening the leash on fake service dogs

10/20/2017 1:24 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Supporters of the new laws compare those misbehaving dog owners to people who acquire handicap signs so they can park in spaces intended for disabled people. The laws make it a misdemeanor to represent an untrained dog as a service animal, and usually come with fines of no more than $500 for an incident.

But because there is no certification or official national registry of legitimate service dogs, there is no way to verify whether a dog has undergone rigorous training to become a service animal.

The American with Disabilities Act requires all places open to the public, such as businesses, government agencies and entertainment venues, to give access to service dogs and their owners. And it permits them to ask only two questions: whether the dog is required because of a disability and what tasks the dog is trained to perform. It is illegal to request documentation for the dog or to ask the nature of the owner's disability.

Our City, The World - Explained

10/18/2017 9:48 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

By Charles Andrews
From his October 18, 2017 column on page 5

Locally, we have “representatives” who can’t get a report together in 12 years on a lousy flat playing field they promised, to submit to the Coastal Commission, but can for a complex state-of-the-art City Services Building costing $100 million (if we’re lucky), then rent a bus to take their overpaid experts to go fight for that and the multitens-of-millions of our dollars giveaway ECLS building, leaving locals to drive there, if they can, at their own expense and time off. I’m surprised they didn’t outfit the bus with a long banner reading, “LET THEM EAT CAKE!”

City Attorney’s Office Launches New Fair Housing Video

10/18/2017 8:41 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The City Attorney’s Office has invited the general public to the premiere screening of a unique animation video about fair housing on October 18, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the Martin Luther King Auditorium at the Santa Monica Public Library (601 Santa Monica Blvd.). The sixty-second video “Follow John to Learn About Fair Housing” brings to life the characters from John the wheelchair user, to his friends, family and then finally his landlord. The video will also be digitally launched that same day, minutes after its premiere, at: https://youtu.be/ttGwtZHLPH8

More mixed use projects before Planning Commission

10/17/2017 3:23 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The City’s largest housing developer will be back in front of the Planning Commission Wednesday, seeking approval for a new 67,000 square foot mixed-use building on Lincoln Boulevard that will result in 100 new apartments and nearly 300 underground parking spaces.

At the moment, 1430 Lincoln Blvd is a boarded up parking lot across from Hi De Ho Comics. The proposal from NMS Properties envisions a five-story building and nearly 6,000 square feet of retail when it is finished.

Santa Monica Considers Using Grant Funds for Homeless Apartments in Venice

10/17/2017 8:12 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

October 17, 2017 -- The City of Santa Monica is considering the one-time use of up to $500,000 in federal block-grant funds for an affordable apartment project in Venice for the homeless, according to a report from the City's housing manager.

The City’s federal Community Development Block Grant funds would be spent to rehabilitate 14 existing affordable units at 102 Navy Street, one block south of the Santa Monica border.

Threat of the “big one” looms over Rent Control Board discussions

10/16/2017 8:22 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

With the images of Mexico City’s devastating earthquake still fresh in everyone’s minds, the Rent Control Board stressed urgency during last week’s discussion of mandatory earthquake retrofit costs.

The Board is considering whether owners should be allowed to pass through the costs of retrofitting their building to rent controlled tenants.

“I think we are up against the clock when facing the big one and it’s scary because we are behind,” board member Nicole Phillis said. “There are 1,300 buildings that are vulnerable and I’m concerned with creating an incentive system that would get retrofits sooner.”

About 550 buildings owners will have received notices to inspect their buildings by the end of October, however, some buildings will not receive notices until August 2018, according to the City’s notification schedule.

The board unanimously agreed that they need to hear much more from the community and stakeholders before they make a decision.

California Coastal Commission Approves Santa Monica Civic Center Projects

10/16/2017 8:20 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

October 15, 2017 -- The California Coastal Commission last week signed off on two major public projects that will further transform Santa Monica's Civic Center.

The projects -- a three-building childcare center on the current Civic Center surface parking lot and a nearly $75 million addition to City Hall -- will not hurt access to the beach, the commission decided.

“The unanimous approval for both projects reaffirms a decade of thoughtful planning and community engagement in achieving the goals of the 2005 Civic Center Specific Plan,” said Santa Monica City Manager Rick Cole.

AND

http://smdp.com/162929/162929

Santa Monica Rent Board Weighs Hikes for Earthquake Retrofits

10/13/2017 2:42 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

October 13, 2017 -- Tenants and apartment owners wrestled Thursday over the possibility of allowing Santa Monica landlords to raise rents to help pay the cost of mandatory seismic retrofitting, including nearly 1,300 multi-family buildings under rent control.

Each side staked out opposing positions in a public hearing before the City Rent Control Board, which is looking at the impact of the law, adopted in March, that covers almost 2,000 buildings considered at risk of serious damage in the event of an earthquake.