The amended proposal from the Hollywood Community Housing Corporation (HCHC), which was narrowly approved by the previous Council, scraps one of three proposed developments, reserving one of them for seniors.

Under the proposal, two of the three sites near the UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center would be combined into an 82-unit development for seniors at 1211 and 1217 14th Street that includes 42 parking spaces.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2024/December-2024/12_11_2024_New_Council_to_Take_Up_Amended_Projects.html

White he will leave his position in February to assume the deputy manager post in Berkeley he held before coming to Santa Monica. There was no reason given for his unexpected resignation.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2024/December-2024/12_10_2024_City_Manager_to_Leave_Post.html

AND: https://smmirror.com/2024/12/santa-monica-city-manager-david-white-announces-february-2025-departure/

After sweeping into office last month, Dan Hall, Ellis Raskin, Barry Snell and Natalya Zernitskaya gave the city's liberal establishment the commanding control it had lost nearly four years earlier.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2024/December-2024/12_10_2024_Liberal_Establishment_Back_in_Power.html

The city is seeking input from Santa Monica residents and property owners on potential municipal code updates that would increase fence, wall and hedge height limits in the front yard setback for certain multifamily zones.

Read More: https://www.santamonica.gov/press/2024/12/05/city-seeks-input-on-fence-wall-and-hedge-heights-in-multifamily-zones?mc_cid=5d607513cd&mc_eid=323f6ff6d8

It’s important to understand that the city didn’t arrive at this crisis overnight. The issues—declining tax revenues, rising employee benefit costs, aging infrastructure, and fiscal mismanagement—have been building for years. It’s like inheriting an old house where the original owner had been ignoring maintenance for decades. Now the roof is leaking, the foundation is cracking, and you’re scrambling to figure out which problem to address first.

The decisions the council makes now will shape the city’s future for decades.

Read More:https://smmirror.com/2024/12/sm-a-r-t-column-climbing-the-vertical-learning-curve/

by Maria Loya

Our residents deserve fair elections and we demand that the new City Council take their fiduciary responsibility seriously and stop wasting our tax dollars fighting the CVRA case.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/letters/Letters-2024/12_06_2024_LETTERS_Stop_Wasting_Our_Tax_Dollars.html

NOT IMMEDIATELY…

And not forever, yet. But its days are numbered. The very last one will be sometime in 2025. This is the last regularly-scheduled CURIOUS CITY, the loved and hated blast of uncomfortable truths (as I see them) that all of Santa Monica has held its collective breath for each Wednesday, for 13 years. 

Read More: https://smdp.com/2024/12/04/curious-city-2012-2025-rip/

anta Monica rents rose in November for the third time this year, bucking a nationwide trend that saw rents dip during the slow rental season, according to Apartment List's monthly report.

The median rent in Santa Monica rose 1.3 percent last month and now stands at $2,338 for a one-bedroom apartment and $2,803 for a two-bedroom, according to the popular rental site.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2024/December-2024/12_03_2024_Local_Rents_Rose_in_November.html

by Cody Green

So, without having the resources of a large research firm, I did a dive into other cities’ general funds and police budgets compared to Santa Monica’s. What I found nearly knocked me off my chair. Santa Monica is underfunding its police Department by millions of dollars each year compared to other cities.

Read More: https://smdp.com/2024/12/02/santa-monica-massively-underfunding-its-police-department/

Santa Monica residential landlords, tenants, property managers, service providers and city staff are set to discuss the latest information in landlord/tenant topics at the popular free annual Landlord/Tenant Forum on Monday, Dec. 9, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Main Public Library’s Martin Luther King Auditorium.

Read More: https://www.santamonica.gov/press/2024/12/02/workshops-for-landlords-and-tenants-to-be-held-this-december