ACTION Apartment Association

Politics is like a knife in the back [Bill Bauer]

09/05/2016 9:36 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

You find out who your friends really are when you decide to run of office. Ask Phil Brock.

He ran for City Council in 2014 and lost by a few hundred votes. He competed against Kevin McKeown, Terry O’Day and Sue Himmelrich, and Pam O’Connor. O’Connor nudged Brock into fifth place and out of the running thanks to last minute support from deep-pocketed developers who mounted a “do or die” campaign blitz.

SMa.r.t. OpEd: A Sense of Place

09/03/2016 10:01 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Throughout Southern California, residents are using voter initiatives to push back against the trend to overbuild in their communities.

Affordable Housing Bills Passed

09/03/2016 9:57 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The California State Assembly passed two affordable housing bills Wednesday authored by Assembly member Richard Bloom, which will help remove barriers to the creation of affordable housing.These two bills, AB 2501 and AB 2299, were both passed with bipartisan support ...

Former Mayor Opposes Santa Monica College Bond Measure

09/01/2016 1:08 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

September 1, 2016 -- Opponents of Measure V, the $395 million Santa Monica College (SMC) bond measure that would fund facilities improvements, picked up a major name for their campaign -- former Mayor Bob Holbrook.

The bond debt would be paid off through a property tax -- $8.56 per month for the average Santa Monica homeowner and $1.59 per month for the average renter, SMC officials say.

Bully Politics [Charles Andrews]

08/31/2016 12:48 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

With four incumbents running from a City Council that hasn’t yet seen a big development they didn’t like, and no one save Armen Melkonians (with any chance to win) pushing for reasonable development, we need Phil Brock. We’re about to be deluged with overdevelopment, with what has already been put in the pipeline. In two more years of the same, many of you won’t like it here anymore.

POLITICAL ENDORSEMENTS: The Give and The Get [The Transparency Project]

08/30/2016 7:12 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

If politics were a commercial market, endorsements would be a product whose value and cost depended on the producer and consumer. What is the endorser’s worth (the ‘give’) and what are candidates willing to buy, or say (the ‘get)? Put simply, how do endorsements affect an election? How do voters respond?

Read More on page 5: http://backissues.smdp.com/083016.pdf

A crock by any other name [Bill Bauer]

08/29/2016 7:46 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

I don’t remember a time when traffic congestion (and homelessness) weren’t “Number One” or “Number Two” on my list of community problems that never get fixed.

Read More on page 4: http://backissues.smdp.com/082916.pdf

By the numbers, a look at a bustling Santa Monica district

08/29/2016 7:36 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The annual report encapsulates many of Downtowns’ accomplishments over the past year and is accompanied by financial data. Downtown Santa Monica continues to keep its focus on making improvements to the services it offers for the residents, businesses and visitors.

Residents living Downtown have increased since last year, according to U.S. Census projections. There are 2,677 housing units in Downtown; 92.8 percent are rented, 5.1 percent are owned and 2.1 percent are vacant.

Rivals Argue About Santa Monica College’s Bond Measure Needs

08/26/2016 1:20 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

If approved, the bond will be funded through a property tax costing $8.56 per month for the average Santa Monica homeowner and $1.59 per month for the average renter, SMC officials said.

SMART [Phil Brock]

08/26/2016 11:50 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

SMart has previously called for proper planning. Residents have repeatedly protested plans for mega projects in our 227-acre downtown core because they have seen the effects of traffic on their lives. Admitting the problem is worse than our City Council and administration could have conceived is a good first step. However, as in a 12-step program, more transgressions need to be admitted in order to take corrective steps. First, we cannot “build our way” out of this mess.