Former mayor Pam O’Connor is threatening to sue the City of Santa Monica over her petition to revise taxes on high-end property sales saying the City is imposing an unfair and inappropriate threshold for the number of signatures required to put the proposal before voters. 

Read More: https://smdp.com/2024/05/14/real-estate-tax-fight-escalates-into-threats-of-lawsuits/

To effectively address housing needs and ensure equitable outcomes,  Santa Monica citizens must adopt a multi-faceted, data-driven, and community-engaged approach. The process to participate would begin with establishing robust data collection and monitoring systems to track the actual outcomes of policies in Santa Monica that seem to encourage higher buildings with less attention to community impacts. By examining changes in housing costs, displacement rates, demographic shifts, impacts on low-income residents, and land purchases by foreign speculators, the city can gain a clearer understanding of the situation and make informed decisions about policy adjustments.

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2024/05/sm-a-r-t-column-a-path-forward-for-santa-monica-part-i/

An attorney for former Mayor Pam O'Connor on Wednesday threatened to sue the City if it doesn't forward the signatures gathered to amend Measure GS to the County Registrar by May 15.

The letter sent to City Attorney Doug Sloan claims the City "has wrongly decided" the measure sponsored by O'Connor "must meet a higher signature threshold" than the 4,156 signatures she submitted to the City Clerk on Monday ("O'Connor Submits Signatures to Amend Transfer Tax Hike," May 7, 2024).

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2024/May-2024/05_10_2024_Proponents_of_Ballot_Measure_to_Amend_GS_Threaten_to_Sue_City.html

Four seats will be up for election in November, all currently occupied by incumbents, namely Gleam Davis, Phil Brock, Oscar de la Torre and Christine Parra. Lesley is the second person to publicly announce an intent to run, but the formal paperwork to become a candidate won’t be available for several months. Dan Hall announced his candidacy a little under two months ago in March.

Read More: https://smdp.com/2024/05/10/rent-control-board-chair-ericka-lesley-announces-run-for-city-council/

Proposition R -- approved by local voters in 1990 -- requires that 30 percent of new multifamily housing constructed annually be affordable to low- and moderate-income households.

Santa Monica met that goal in Fiscal Year 2022-23, when 164 of the 484 units built, or 34 percent, were affordable, but fell short of the requirement in the three previous years.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2024/May-2024/05_08_2024_Santa_Monica_Struggles_to_Meet_Affordable_Housing_Targets.html

A showdown between top City officials and proponents of a ballot initiative seeking to amend Measure GS is brewing one day after former Mayor Pam O'Connor submitted signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot.

O'Connor -- who is sponsoring the initiative to exempt the sale of multi-family housing from Santa Monica's transfer tax hike -- submitted 4,156 signatures to the City Clerk on Monday, according to a press release issued Tuesday.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2024/May-2024/05_07_2024_OConnor_Submits_Signatures_to_Amend_Transfer_Tax.html

It is critical that incentives remain catalysts for affordable housing production, not just another corporate handout. 

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2024/05/sm-a-r-t-column-where-will-our-huddled-masses-sleep-navigating-californias-affordable-housing-mandates/

At the April 11 meeting of the Santa Monica Rent Control Board, legislative advocate Brian Augusta presented key bills making their way through state government pertaining to rent control and tenant protection.

Read More: https://smdp.com/2024/05/07/more-laws-proposed-in-sacramento-to-protect-renters/

In alignment with the city’s strategic priority of fostering Economic Growth & Cultural Vitality, the city of Santa Monica’s Building and Safety Division continues to update processes to allow businesses and residents to get projects permitted and built faster. 

The latest tools and resources available include: 

1. Express Permits

Read More: https://www.santamonica.gov/blog/economic-growth-cultural-vitality-five-ways-santa-monica-is-streamlining-permitting-processes-for-businesses-and-residents

Despite being ruled unconstitutional by a Superior Court judge, Santa Monica can continue implementing a State law that allows multi-family buildings on single family lots, City Attorney Doug Sloan said Friday.

While the April 22 ruling by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Curtis A. Kin applies to charter cities like Santa Monica, it "is not binding on any other party except those involved in the litigation," Sloan wrote in an update on Senate Bill 9 (SB9)

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2024/May-2024/05_03_2024_Santa_Monica_Can_Implement_Housing_Law_Ruled_Unconstitutional.html