ACTION Apartment Association

Time to throw in the towel?

12/05/2018 8:39 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

DISAPPOINTED BUT NOT SURPRISED

That so few showed up at City Hall last week, to protest our City government’s enthusiasm to throw tons more good money after bad in their appeal of the lawsuit they lost to maintain at-large voting instead of districts, which the court found to be discriminatory.

Only one city of 24 in California chose to fight that challenge in court. Palmdale lost, like us, new elections were ordered.

LA Inches Closer To Regulating Airbnb-Like Rentals

12/05/2018 7:52 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

A City Council committee approved a draft ordinance Tuesday regulating Airbnb and other home-sharing platforms in Los Angeles, moving the issue close to the finish line after three years of debate.

Allowing some low-income residents who live in rent-stabilized units to be home-sharing hosts has been one of the final outstanding issues, but it was not discussed in detail during Tuesday's meeting of the Planning and Land Use Management Committee, since a separate committee raised the issue.

New affordable housing complex ‘Arroyo’ opens in Santa Monica

12/04/2018 10:00 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica has a new housing complex that will aid in making living in the City viable for low-income residents. A ribbon cutting event was held Saturday, December 1 to officially to welcome The Arroyo, an affordable housing complex located off of Lincoln and Colorado.

Santa Monica will stop using imported water by 2023

12/04/2018 9:50 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica is three years behind schedule for water independence due to delays in obtaining permits for some of the proposed plans.

The city is using about 20 percent less imported water than it did in 2011, when City Council set a goal of achieving water self-sufficiency by 2020. At a recent Council meeting, staff said changes to state laws have also presented a challenge.

Staff has redesigned parts of the plan because new state regulations require the removal of certain chemicals from drinking water making treatment more difficult and expensive, said Alex Navarchuk, the City’s principal engineer.

Volunteer Registration Opens for the 2019 Santa Monica Homeless Count

12/04/2018 9:47 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Registration for the 2019 Santa Monica Homeless Count is now open online. Santa Monica Human Services needs over 250 volunteers to assist the night of the event.

WHEN: Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019, from 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.

City Says No Remedy Needed in Voting Rights Case

12/04/2018 9:37 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

There is no appropriate remedy in the voting rights lawsuit against the City and no need for the judge to impose one before a planned appeal becomes final, according to a brief filed by the City Friday.

In the brief, the City argues that the plaintiffs failed to present evidence at trial demonstrating that Santa Monica's current at-large election system has led to polarized voting or diluted Latino votes.

Kevin Shenkman, the lead attorney for plaintiffs Maria Loya and the Pico Neighborhood Association, said the City is stalling.

The judge has set a hearing to propose an appropriate remedy for December 7.

Santa Monica Voters Backed Statewide Housing Measure, Opposed Water Bond

12/04/2018 9:34 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica voters defied a statewide trend and handily voted to support Proposition 10, which would have allowed local governments to regulate rents on any type of housing.

Local voters also overwhelmingly supported Propositions 1 and 2 which will create new funding for affordable housing after the measures were approved by California voters November 6.

But they opposed a nearly $9 billion water bond by a larger margin than did voters statewide.

While the Los Angeles County Registrars Office is still counting vote-by-mail and provisional ballots during the 30-day post-election canvass period, the results are not expected to significantly change.

Santa Monica Files Answering Brief Regarding Remedies in CVRA Trial

12/03/2018 8:39 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

On November 30, 2018, the City of Santa Monica filed its answering brief regarding remedies in Pico Neighborhood Association, et al. v. City of Santa Monica.

“The City believes that the evidence presented at trial shows that the City’s election system is fair, inclusive and fully complies with California law,” City Attorney Lane Dilg said. “If, however, an ultimate determination is made that the City’s longstanding at-large system is unlawful, the Court should not just adopt the district map presented by plaintiffs at trial without public input, but instead should order the City to undertake a democratic process -- open to the public -- to determine, subject to judicial review, where district lines should be drawn.”

The Court will hold a hearing on remedies on December 7, 2018.

City considers emergency housing for fire survivors

12/03/2018 8:38 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica may be taking in some Woolsey fire evacuees.

About 10 to 15 Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District families who qualify for free or reduced lunch could be moving into vacant affordable housing in Santa Monica after their houses were destroyed in the Woolsey fire. The families are currently couch-surfing, said Tara Barauskas, executive director of the Community Corporation of Santa Monica (CCSM).

On Nov. 27, CCSM requested City Council consider moving some families displaced by the fire to the top of various waiting lists for affordable housing. The council asked staff to develop a plan to house income-qualified families with children in SMMUSD as quickly as possible.

New rules tighten restrictions on water use for new development

12/03/2018 8:30 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Council has passed an amendment to a Santa Monica’s water neutrality ordinance that will close loopholes used by developers to bypass water restrictions. The original ordinance, which went into effect last July, prevents new development from adding to the overall demand for water in Santa Monica. The rules mandate new projects use the same amount of water as the original development, on average, based on the five years before new construction or renovation.

However, the original ordinance only applied to projects that demolished more than 50 percent of a building and some developers were demolishing slightly less than half of a building to get around it.

Read More on pg. 1: http://backissues.smdp.com/120118.pdf