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City Council Approves $6.4 Million in Restoration of High Value Programs

05/27/2020 5:14 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

At its meeting last night, May 26, 2020, the Santa Monica City Council unanimously approved restoring a number of key services into the City budget as the City restructures its operations to respond to the impacts of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The restorations include programs and services that City Council prioritized and hundreds of community members have expressed a desire to preserve – from access to playground and fields to expanded Swim Center hours and resources for seniors. The restorations reflect the needs of young children to our oldest residents and include foundational needs like housing and food assistance as well as program dollars for sustainability and mobility initiatives.

Santa Monica Mayor Appears on CNN Asking for Federal Bailout

05/26/2020 5:12 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica Mayor Kevin McKeown appeared on CNN over the weekend and made the case for a bailout for the city from the federal government.

“Things are financially pretty grim. We want to get the city reopened as quickly as we can, but we need to protect people not only from each other, but from themselves. Our local economy has tanked. We are a tourism town. People have been coming here for over 100 years. Tourism has ended, for the time being, our hotels are empty, our restaurants are doing just pickup and delivery, the City revenue there has, therefore, cratered and we have done an estimate that over the next two years, we are down by $224 million in this city,” McKeown told CNN.

U.S. Supreme Court Denies Petition to Hear Voting Rights Appeal

05/26/2020 5:05 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a petition to take up a case challenging the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) at the center of a districting lawsuit against Santa Monica.

Kevin Shenkman, who represents the Latino plaintiff's in the Santa Monica case, which the City appealed after a Superior Court found it had violated the CVRA, greeted the Supreme Court's quick denial of the petition.

"This is good for all of California," Shenkman said. "It is yet another confirmation that the CVRA is a constitutional exercise of the State's authority to ensure that minority votes are not diluted."

Shenkman, however, does not believe the Court's decision would have impacted the districting lawsuit against the City, which a California Appeals Court is expected to decide by July.

Got Medicare? Get a no-cost test for COVID-19

05/23/2020 10:00 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

By Seema Verma

Administrator, U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

If you have Medicare and want to be tested for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the Trump Administration has good news.

Medicare covers tests with no out-of-pocket costs. You can get tested in your home, doctor’s office, a local pharmacy or hospital, a nursing home, or a drive-through site. Medicare does not require a doctor’s order for you to get tested.

City Council to restore $6.4 million in funding for some programs

05/23/2020 9:41 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica City Council will vote Tuesday whether to allocate $6.4 million in funding to programs that would otherwise be on the chopping block as the city seeks to bridge a $224 million budget deficit.

The city would expand its Preserving Our Diversity (POD) rent subsidy program for low-income seniors to anywhere from 250 to 450 households. Two as-needed staff would support the program.

An additional 307 eligible households — not just elderly residents — would receive rental assistance for three months through a $1.6 million fund made available in the CARES Act and $250,000 in city funding.

City Releases Plan to Restore Programs

05/23/2020 9:40 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Two major afterschool programs will be up and running, park recreational facilities restored and vulnerable renters will be assured of staying in their homes under City programs the Council is expected to restore Tuesday.

The biggest portion of the funding would ensure that residents are fed and housed after the shutdown dealt an economic blow to already vulnerable tenants and the poor.

A total of $2 million in one-time funding from the Housing Trust Fund would help between 250 and 450 senior households struggling to pay their rent stay in their rent-controlled apartments.

Landmarks Commission Dead or Alive? SMa.r.t.

05/22/2020 10:59 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

As undoubtedly you’ve heard, the City of Santa Monica and therefore its residents have entered a disastrous multi-year dive because the coronavirus crushed our sales tax, parking income (including parking tickets), hotel tax, tourist income and dozens of other sources of City income. These multi million dollar downward trends had already started before the virus, but now they have accelerated to terminal velocity making a “soft landing” impossible. Naturally massive City staff layoffs are being considered, along with deferred capital improvements, and now the consolidation and or elimination of the 18 public City Boards, Commissions, Task Forces, and Committees is being considered.

Tackling Tough Times

05/22/2020 8:00 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Last month, with Santa Monica facing a devastating economic crisis, Lane Dilg — a Yale Law School graduate and the city’s previous City Attorney — was unanimously voted Interim City Manager by Santa Monica’s City Council, on the same day the council accepted the resignation of longtime City Manager Rick Cole. She is now tasked with navigating the city through perhaps the most challenging era in its history.

Her colleagues believe she is up to it.

“Santa Monica is fortunate indeed to have as Interim City Manager someone as qualified and prepared to lead as Lane Dilg,” said Santa Monica Mayor Kevin McKeown in a statement, adding that the job “might be impossible” for someone else.

Planning Commission supports eliminating downtown development agreements

05/21/2020 2:24 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Development agreements for housing projects in downtown Santa Monica could soon be a thing of the past.

The Planning Commission voted 5-2 Wednesday to recommend that City Council to eliminate development agreements for downtown housing projects larger than 90,000 square feet and process such projects through a simpler development review permit.

Large housing projects would still go through public planning and design review hearings, Lambert added. Although the future of the Architectural Review Board is up in the air because of the city’s budget crisis, the Planning Commission will recommend that City Council maintain a public design review process for major projects.

Community Corp. to build 48 affordable apartments

05/20/2020 10:40 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica’s largest affordable housing developer is planning to construct 48 apartments on Pico Boulevard across the street from Santa Monica College.

Community Corporation of Santa Monica plans to demolish a church at 1819 Pico Blvd. to construct a four-story building for low-income renters. In addition to apartments, the 46-foot-tall building will house a food hall and community room on its ground floor, according to an Architectural Review Board report. Community Corp. plans to include 49 underground parking spaces and 109 bicycle stalls in the project.