ACTION Apartment Association

City invites residents to help with Housing Element

11/02/2020 9:50 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The State of California is requiring Santa Monica to build more than 6,000 affordable housing units in the coming years, and city leaders are calling on local residents to help in the effort.

Santa Monica has been asked to build 9,000 new units between 2021 and 2029, almost double what the city would have been required to accommodate prior to last year’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment, which called on the Southern California region to plan for more than 1.3 million housing units.

Officials Warn of LA County Property Tax Scam

11/02/2020 9:42 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector Keith Knox and County Assessor Jeffrey Prang are alerting the public to an alleged property tax scam perpetrated under the guise of COVID-19 building closures.

According to the County, it’s being reported that unknown people are attempting to fraudulently collect in-person property tax payments at taxpayers’ homes because of COVID-19, often with fake identification as well as the tax bill for the specific homeowner in question.

Rent Index for Santa Monica Down 13 Percent Since Start of Pandemic

11/02/2020 9:37 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

A recent report shows the average rent in Santa Monica has decreased 13 percent since the start of the pandemic in March, a steeper drop than experienced in any Southern California city.

SMa.r.t. Column: The Opportunity to Re-unite the Residents with their City”

10/30/2020 8:56 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Two factors have created the residents’ unprecedented concern about our future. What should we as residents expect from our city? As Livablecities.org describes it,

“The essential character of the city, “its urban character,” evolves through a confrontation of the public and private domains; a constant exchange, a separation and coming together of these two domains. Only when inhabitants live in both domains, can the city meet its full potential for enhancing the life of each, and serve its social and cultural functions.”

Applying this definition of a successful city to Santa Monica over the past 20 years of the residents’ lived experience, it’s clear that the instances of the essential synergistic coming together of the public and private domains has been in inexorable decline. Compounding this decline at every step has been the complete absence of clarity about what the future holds.

City to Help Up to 200 More Tenants Pay Rent

10/30/2020 8:51 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The City Council on Tuesday amended its contract with St. Joseph Center by more than $1 million to help between 150 and 200 additional tenants pay rent during the coronavirus emergency.

Funding Gap Narrows as Council Closes Out Budget

10/29/2020 8:34 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

With City revenues "marginally better than anticipated," the City Council on Tuesday closed out the 2019-20 Fiscal Year budget by using $12 million less in reserves than expected.

Santa Monica City Council Reviews Year-End Financial Health

10/28/2020 11:42 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Last night, the Santa Monica City Council reviewed and closed out the fiscal year 2019-20 budget and modified the fiscal year 2020-21 budget based on updated financial projections.

Are PACs Buying the City Council Election?

10/28/2020 11:37 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Political Action Committees (PACs) involved in the Santa Monica City Council race have raised almost $1 million and are quickly spending it to elect their choice of candidates as voters cast early ballots at a record rate.

LETTERS - Shooting the Messenger on Crime

10/27/2020 9:58 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Lookout recently asked sitting City Councilmembers to respond to a poll released by Eyes on Local 11 ("Is Crime Really Down? Incumbents Weigh In," October 21, 2020).

The poll found that half of Santa Monica voters feel less safe in the city now than they did two years ago.

SMa.r.t. Column: Santa Monica’s Divine Comedy

10/26/2020 10:00 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

[SMa.r.t. originally published this article four years ago. We believe it remains current, with slight alterations. The elections, in the next few days, make it especially relevant. We urge our readers to vote as if our city, and our home, depends on it].

SMa.r.t. and others in our city have identified many continuous problems with planning oversight in Santa Monica. It is appropriate to look at some of our civic problems in relation to the sins set out in the Divine Comedy. Gluttony has been suggested. There seems to be no other way to describe the “carpetbaggers” and “robber barons” intent on taking control of our city’s most precious resources. Our land, our proximity to the Pacific Ocean, our climate and our skyline all scream profit to those who want to exploit them.