ACTION Apartment Association

City Council approves water rate hike

01/31/2020 10:01 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Santa Monica City Council approved a water self-sufficiency plan Tuesday that will double the price of water and wastewater removal by 2024.

The rate increases will finance about $42 million in infrastructure projects that will allow Santa Monica to stop importing water from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California by 2023. Officials said relying on local groundwater and recycled water will shield residents from the impacts of climate change, such as higher rate hikes and water rationing, that Metropolitan Water District customers may bear throughout the next decade and beyond.

Serious crime falls 16% in Santa Monica

01/31/2020 10:00 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Serious crime was down 16% last year in Santa Monica, local officials said this week.

After reaching a historically low level in 2014, the rate of Part 1 crimes, which include murder, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, theft, grand theft auto and arson, rose 29% between 2015 and 2018. But in 2019, 16% fewer Part 1 crimes were reported than in 2018.

Three people were murdered in 2019, a decrease from seven people in 2018. The number of rapes fell from 47 to 35.

After failure, California leaders vow to pass housing bill

01/31/2020 9:59 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Desperate for more housing in the nation’s most populous state, the leader of the California Senate committed Thursday to passing a law this year to boost production in a state facing a shortage of 3.5 million homes.

Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins’ comments came moments after the Senate failed to pass the most ambitious housing bill in memory: One that would have forced local governments to let developers build small apartment buildings in some neighborhoods reserved for single family homes.

Calling All Residents: Attend State of the City Free of Charge

01/31/2020 9:58 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

When: Wednesday, February 12, 4:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Where: SGI Auditorium, 525 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, 90401

Controversial housing bill SB 50 falls short in Senate vote

01/30/2020 7:24 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

A controversial zoning reform bill supporters hoped would help ease the state’s housing crisis failed in the Senate on Wednesday, following a two-hour debate and two excruciatingly close votes.

City Council Approves New Water and Wastewater Rates

01/29/2020 2:31 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Last night, the Santa Monica City Council held two public hearings and approved new rates for water and wastewater in order to continue to offer high-quality and reliable drinking water to Santa Monica’s 93,000 residents and 2,700 businesses. The rates will nearly eliminate costly imported water over the next five years and continue essential water pipe replacement projects.

Under the new rate structure, Santa Monica water customers will see an average 17 percent increase, each year, in water and sewer bills over the next five years.

Primer: Zoning

01/29/2020 2:30 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Editor’s note: The Daily Press is launching a new weekly series, Primer. Each Saturday, our reporters will explain an institution, law, issue or trend that impacts Santa Monica.

Most residents zone out when they are forced to discuss zoning. It’s an arcane topic with its own language of acronyms and abbreviations that can make discussions of even simple concepts mind-boggling.

But zoning decides where and how you can live, what you can buy and do, and how you get around your city...

Response to Linda Lancaster's Letter to the Editor

01/28/2020 10:43 AM | Angelica Jue (Administrator)

Thanks to Linda Lancaster for her letter printed in this past weekend’s edition (January 25-26), pointing out the very substantial increases in water use rates and new usage fees being imposed on Santa Monica residents by our City Council. The proposed increases (109% over 5 years) come after water rate increases passed just a few years ago that drove our family and many other city residents to cut back on water use to a point where there is little room left to cut back any further. The new rate hikes undoubtedly will mean increased costs that force us to make sacrifices elsewhere.

Looking at Santa Monica with 20/20 Vision (SM.a.r.t.)

01/27/2020 2:47 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

It’s a new year, and as most people have already made and broken their 2020 resolutions, it’s time to take a look at Santa Monica and what our recommendations are for our town.

~Use public land for public purposes. The city-owned area stretching from 4th to 5th Street and bordering Arizona cannot become another high rise. The greater good is the deciding factor. In our town with too little park space, it means public space, now and forever.

City Council to Consider Doubling Water Rates by 2024

01/27/2020 2:42 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica residents could see water rates double over the next five years under hikes the City Council will consider Tuesday.

Under the proposed rates, starting this year the bi-monthly water and wastewater bill for a single family home would increase by $36 every year over the next five years.

An 8-unit multi-family building would see bimonthly rates increase by $48 over the same period -- or about $6 per unit--, while the average commercial bimonthly bill would jump by $87.

AND: https://www.smdp.com/water-rates-could-double-in-five-years/185255