ACTION Apartment Association

Little blue box hopes to ‘chirp’ away at crime

05/20/2024 8:38 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

You might have already seen his posts on the social media app Nextdoor, but long-time Santa Monica local Stephen McMahon has come up with an ingenious way to discourage the homeless from making camp and taking drugs in his building’s courtyard parking space and thus also preventing the inevitable repeat burglaries.

His idea is straightforward and is a testament to the axiom that necessity is the mother of invention. He combined the concept of blue flashing light — that is known to keep people awake, which is why it’s often used in warehouses and on heavy machinery — together with the extremely annoying sound of crickets and created a deterrent that he has proved to be highly successful.

SM.a.r.t. Column: A Path Forward for Santa Monica: Part II

05/20/2024 8:33 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

One of the most effective ways to influence state policy is through grassroots organizing and advocacy. This involves building a broad-based coalition of residents, community organizations, and advocacy groups who are committed to advancing affordable housing solutions. By working together to educate the public, mobilize supporters, and pressure elected officials, these coalitions can help to create the political momentum needed to secure increased funding and stop incentives for market-rate housing. Such assistance needs to be applied only to the affordable housing portion.

City’s tallest apartment building could come to 6th and Colorado

05/15/2024 12:04 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The footprint of the project is probably smaller than you might think; it only covers two lots and measures approximately 150 ft by 150 ft. It is set to be positioned between 6th Street and 6th Court, facing onto Colorado Avenue, opposite the Big Blue Bus depot. Currently there is a row of abandoned outlets in that location that are frequently used by the homeless as illegal, makeshift shelters.

More than 1,200 LA-owned homeless housing units remain vacant two years after $800 million spending spree

05/15/2024 11:57 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

An exclusive investigation by the Westside Current has uncovered more than 1,200 vacant City-owned high end apartments and motel and hotel rooms in two dozen Homekey buildings that are supposed to be providing interim or permanent supportive housing to homeless people in LA. At least five buildings have never been occupied. The properties range from low-end motels to luxury apartments HACLA acquired from for-profit developers, in many cases for record-breaking prices.

Trial over mass evictions at Barrington Plaza could hinge on meaning of "permanent"

05/15/2024 7:16 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

People who live in rent-controlled properties, such as Barrington Plaza, enjoy special protections against eviction as a way of keeping tenants from being kicked out just to raise rents. Under L.A. city law, one legally allowed reason to evict is if an owner is going to remove a rental unit “permanently from rental housing use.”

In the case of Barrington Plaza, the owners say that’s exactly their plan — while they simultaneously acknowledge they might rent the units again after some years.

“The term ‘permanently’ does not mean forever,” the company’s lawyers argued in court filings.

Rent Relief For LA County Landlords To Open Soon

05/14/2024 1:29 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Small landlords who lost rental income during the COVID-19 pandemic will soon have another opportunity for relief. Starting Monday, landlords can apply for financial support from Los Angeles County — up to $30,000 dollars per unit.

The application window will be open starting May 20 and will close at 4:59 p.m. on June 4.

Interested landlords can register to receive a link to the application when it's available on the program's website: lacountyrentrelief.com

The program also has a call center open Mon.-Fri. during business hours: (877) 849-0770.

Real estate tax fight escalates into threats of lawsuits

05/14/2024 9:20 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

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.

SM.a.r.t. Column: A Path Forward for Santa Monica: Part I

05/13/2024 7:41 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

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.

Proponents of Ballot Measure to Amend GS Threaten to Sue City

05/13/2024 7:33 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

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).

Rent Control Board Chair Ericka Lesley announces run for City Council

05/10/2024 12:45 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

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.