One major problem we face, for which the City is completely unprepared, are absorbing the negative impacts of the 9000 units the state requires us to build by 2028. These include water shortages, traffic overload (including significant parking problems), and the damage to the City’s historic fabric among other significant problems.

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2024/12/sm-a-r-t-column-preserving-santa-monica/

The newly seated City Council is proposing rule changes that range from limiting the time Councilmembers can speak to allowing the Council majority to formally censure one of its members.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2024/December-2024/12_13_2024_New_Council_Proposes_Rule_Changes.html

According to the November rental report by Apartment List, Santa Monica median rent grew by 1.3% in the month, with the median one-bedroom apartment now going for $2,338 and the median two-bedroom listed at $2,803.

Read More: https://smdp.com/business/santa-monica-rent-grows-in-november-amidst-year-of-sharp-drops/

Discussions of the voting rights case against the City -- which will include four newly seated Councilmembers -- will resume after last-ditch efforts to settle the lawsuit failed ("Push to settle Voting Rights Case Fail," December 2, 2024).

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2024/December-2024/12_12_2024_Hot_Topics_on_New_Councils_First_Agenda.html

According to Apartment List, Santa Monica rents dropped by 0.2% in October, down to $2,310 for a one-bedroom apartment and $2,769 for a two-bedroom. Overall, rents in the city have decreased for 10 straight months per the website, with the overall 5.5% drop year-to-year being the largest among the 25 Los Angeles metro area cities listed in the report.

Read More: https://smdp.com/news/santa-monica-rent-prices-fall-once-more-as-la-surges-in-demand/

The newly constituted City Council appointed Lana Negrete as mayor for a one-year term. Caroline Torosis will serve as mayor pro tem for 2025, followed by Jesse Zwick in 2026. 

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2024/12/lana-negrete-named-mayor-as-santa-monica-swears-in-new-city-council-members/

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