The biggest federal housing program for low-income renters is failing to help many Californians because there aren’t enough landlords who accept Section 8 vouchers for rent. State lawmakers are considering two solutions, a carrot and a stick.

Read More: https://calmatters.org/poverty/california-divide/2019/08/section-8-voucher-discrimination-california-housing-crisis/

The Santa Monica City Council adopted an ordinance to strengthen workplace safety and compensation protections for Santa Monica’s 2,100 hotel housekeepers. The ordinance was recommended by the City’s Commission on the Status of Women in a letter to Council in September 2018.

Read More: https://www.santamonica.gov/press/2019/08/28/hotel-worker-protection-ordinance-passed-by-santa-monica-city-council

Take rent control, an idea that has strong local support in the 12 California cities where it is now law in some form. One bill by Democratic Assemblyman David Chiu, Wiener’s fellow San Franciscan, would prohibit rent gouging by limiting what it calls “extreme or unreasonable rent increases.” This one, moving steadily toward passage, would limit rent increases to the level of rises in the local Consumer Price Index, plus 5 percent, with the total annual increase capped at 10 percent regardless of what the CPI might do.

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2019/08/big-housing-action-imminent-despite-past-votes/

The City Council could strengthen Santa Monica’s home-sharing ordinance after a five-bedroom home was converted to an Airbnb housing up to 36 people.

Councilmember Ted Winterer has asked city staff to tighten the part of the ordinance that requires home-share hosts to be permanent residents. He has also proposed limiting the number of home shares that a property owner can operate in the city and how many guests can stay in one room or dwelling.

Council will consider Winterer’s request at its Tuesday meeting and if approved, staff will come back with a detailed proposal at a future meeting.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/council-to-consider-additional-restrictions-on-home-sharing/178946

The City is divided into four patrol areas (beats), each with a dedicated officer assigned to the beat to address community livability issues.

Read More: https://www.santamonica.gov/blog/get-to-know-your-neighborhood-resource-officer

Santa Monica Downtown Ambassadors vow that they will clean up Santa Monica's parks, one by one.

They are already present by the bathrooms in Reed Park and Tongva Park. We spoke to George Caragea, the General Manager of the Ambassadors in Reed Park Thursday morning.

He says they arrive at 7 am and are sometimes there as late as 9 pm. The Ambassador program is ten years old, but their familiar umbrellas and kiosks have been parked near the bathrooms at Reed Park since August 1.

Read More:  https://www.smobserved.com/story/2019/08/22/news/ambassadors-of-reed-park-vow-to-clean-up-the-park-and-the-restrooms/4165.html

As Santa Monica City Council approves $2 million to expand a program to keep low-income seniors housed, questions remain surrounding implementation and readjustments for recipients. 

Santa Monica City Council originally approved the Preserving Our Diversity (POD) Pilot 1 program in July 2017, a cash assistance program to help low-income seniors meet their basic needs. 

Pilot 1 began providing direct assistance in November 2017 and concluded in January 2019. According to Andy Agle, Director of Housing and Economic Development for Santa Monica’s Housing Division, during the 14 months, 22 participants were enrolled. After Pilot 1, 17 participants remained enrolled and 5 participants exited the program. Three participants remain housed in the City and are now assisted through voucher programs, one participant moved to another city and one participant passed away. 

Council’s action last week expands Pilot 1 from a $300,000 one-time budget item to an expanded program with an annual budget of $2 million to serve up to 400 participants. 

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2019/08/program-to-help-low-income-seniors-expanded/

Growth is something everyone can aspire to, and that's no different for America's most successful new companies. Inc., a magazine which publishes weekly content about small businesses and startups in the United States, recently released their annual report outlining the 5,000 fastest-growing privately owned companies in the nation.

Read More: https://patch.com/california/santamonica/here-are-fastest-growing-companies-santa-monica

No brand in California politics has ever had the staying power of Proposition 13, the 1978 tax cut that served as a primal scream from angry voters and became a symbol of their reluctance to pay more money for more government services.

But four decades later, it is critics of the landmark ballot measure who are angry. Their demand to downsize Proposition 13 by excluding most commercial property from the law’s strict tax limits is all but certain to win a spot on the November 2020 ballot, an epic campaign clash that could alter California’s political landscape for years to come.

Read More: https://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=d4da0a84-acbe-4a63-8434-8dab83902381

AB 1482: Would cap rent increases in California at 7% plus inflation, up to a maximum of 10% a year, on all rental housing that’s at least 10 years old, including single-family homes if the owner owns more than 10 rentals.

Rental Affordability Act: This proposed 2020 state ballot initiative seeks to narrow limits on local rent control laws contained in the Costa-Hawkins Act. It would allow cities and counties to impose rent control on all housing more than 15 years old, including single-family homes if the landlord owns three or more rentals. Rent increases on vacant units could be restricted to 15% over the next three years.

Read More: https://www.dailynews.com/2019/08/18/tenant-protection-proposals-and-ordinances-in-southern-california/