ACTION Apartment Association

Coronavirus Shutdown Forced Inevitable Cuts

05/14/2020 10:09 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The sudden and drastic budget cuts the Santa Monica City Council is making were inevitable, even without a coronavirus shutdown, according to a prominent member of a disbanded citizen's budget advisory committee.

The dramatic impact of the pandemic only accelerated the layoffs and service cuts needed to address years of unbridled spending and a ballooning pension debt, said Dominic Gomez, a former member of the Community Compensation Advisory Committee. [and ACTION Vice-President]

"At the end of the day, the City was headed for a fiscal reckoning absent this pandemic," Gomez told the Lookout. "What the pandemic did was accelerate what the City had to entertain.

"We've been sounding alarm bells for not weeks or months but years, while the City is spending money at a rate that is breathtaking," said Gomez, the former CEO of Movius Interactive.

California Senate proposal tackles rents

05/13/2020 11:39 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

ADAM BEAM

Associated Press

The government would cover rent payments for some low-income Californians impacted by the coronavirus under a proposal backed by state Senate leaders.

The Senate wants to forgive rents for low-income tenants, giving landlords tax credits equal to the value of their missed payments, which they can keep or sell for cash. Tenants would then have up to 10 years to pay back their missed rents to the state, with some not having to pay the full amount because of an unspecified “hardship exemption.”

“This is not a giveaway to anyone,” Democratic Sen. Steven Bradford said. “Our goal is to keep tenants housed and keep landlords out of foreclosure.”

Is it time to say Goodbye? - Rosario Perry

05/12/2020 10:45 AM | Angelica Jue (Administrator)

IS IT TIME TO SAY GOODBYE?

What Should Housing Providers Do in Response to the Current Crisis.

So we are sitting here resting, and thinking about what every other Housing Provider in Santa Monica is thinking about: The current crisis. But this crisis is more than the virus. It is many things, the top three being: (1) the COVID19 virus; (2) inflation and the high national debt; and (3) the onslaught of new and oppressive governmental regulations which are being pressed down upon the brow of owners, like a crown of thorns. Our crisis is full.

California considers rental relief

05/12/2020 8:14 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Two unprecedented proposals to help Californians weather the fiscal storm unleashed by the coronavirus crisis are expected to be unveiled Tuesday by Democrats in the state Senate — one to help struggling renters, the other to create a $25-billion economic recovery fund by issuing long-term vouchers to those willing to prepay their future state income taxes.

The unconventional effort to help renters would ask landlords to forgive rent payments in exchange for equally sized tax credits spread out over a 10-year period starting in 2024. The tax credits would be transferable, meaning the property owner could sell them to an outside investor and get cash immediately.

Are Council Members Willing to Give Up Their Salaries?

05/12/2020 8:13 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

As the City sent 30-day layoff notices to 156 Santa Monica employees Monday, the Lookout asked Council members if they would be willing to give up their salaries.

The latest figures obtained by the Lookout show that Council members received an annual salary of $15,696, while the mayor made $18,282 (The numbers have since increased by about $2,000.)

All seven Council members also received $29,012 a year in benefits and a budgeted car allowance of $4,416.

An Open Letter to the Santa Monica City Council from Kevin Shenkman, Attorney for the Pico Neighborhood Association

05/11/2020 9:58 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Drop the ill-conceived appeal now, and we will work with you on implementation of the district elections ordered by the Los Angeles Superior Court, and we will be reasonable in accommodating the City’s payment of our attorneys’ fees.

City Issues Emergency Order

05/09/2020 9:35 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

A separate order adds specific language that expressly prohibits landlords from collecting interest on accrued rent for tenants impacted by COVID-19.

In addition, the order extends eligibility for affordable housing programs to individuals who were working in Santa Monica prior to March 1 "but lost employment due to COVID-19 related reasons."

A Fourth Revised First Supplement issued by the City Friday bars landlords from charging residential tenants "interest on unpaid rent for a period of 12 months following the expiration of the order."

New Emergency Orders Prevent Interest on Rent

05/08/2020 2:40 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Today, the City of Santa Monica issued a fourth revised first supplement adding greater specificity to the prohibition on landlords collecting interest on accrued rent for tenants impacted by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

The Supplement also specifies that with respect to rent unpaid due to financial impacts related to COVID-19, landlords may not charge residential tenants interest on that unpaid rent for a period of 12 months following the expiration of the Order.

SMa.r.t. Column: Honey, We Shrunk the City!

05/08/2020 10:09 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica is shrinking. The city has felt more intimate to our residents over the past seven weeks. Streets that feel safer and walkable sidewalks are the norm. Traffic is now a distant purr instead of a constant cacophony of congestion and noise. The silence between sirens much longer. The roses are blooming, and the poppies open. Yet we are unsettled. The pandemic brings constant uneasiness to each of us.

The final budget adoption will be in mid-June. There are some in the city who are happy a day of reckoning is here. Santa Monica has overspent and overreached for decades. Can the same people who got us into this pickle be trusted to get us out?

SMRR Proposes Business Tax Hikes

05/08/2020 10:05 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights (SMRR) on Monday proposed hiking taxes on select businesses to help the city recover from the steepest and swiftest economic downturn in its 145-year history.

Representatives of Santa Monica's crippled business sector, which already faces a daunting path to recovery, called the proposal "mystifying" and "unreal."