Here’s the final list of propositions that made the cut for the November election. On the list are proposals to slash the gas tax, split the state in three, re-introduce rent control, absolve major corporations of their legal debt, and borrow billions to fund houses, hospitals, and water canals. Take a look. You have four months to decide.

Read More: https://calmatters.org/articles/california-ballot-measures-2018-election/

Backers of the Affordable Housing Act, a ballot initiative to repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act of 1995, select Joe Trippi and Trippi Norton Rossmeissl Campaigns as lead strategist and media consultant on the California campaign for a November initiative to return control on rent regulation to local communities.

Anticipating a fierce, well-funded campaign by mega-corporate landlords and Wall Street real estate investors, backers secure a battle-tested, powerhouse strategist.

Read More: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180627006373/en/Joe-Trippi-Americas-Top-Democratic-Strategist-Joins

June 27, 2018 -- Scaling back a request to explore two far-reaching rental ballot measures, the Santa Monica City Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to draft a Charter Amendment setting a 2018 base rent if California voters repeal vacancy decontrol.

Council members were hesitant to explore the two measures proposed by Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights (SMRR) that would have expanded local rent control and set a tax to build affordable housing.

Read More:  http://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2018/June-2018/06_27_2018_Santa_Monica_Council_Votes_to_Explore_Scaled_Down_Rental_Ballot_Measure.html

The City of Santa Monica is gearing up for a showdown next month, as Malibu lawyer Kevin Shenkman prepares to take them to trial July 30 over City Council elections. Santa Monica is the first California city to challenge Shenkman regarding the California Voting Rights Act since Palmdale was forced to change to district elections in 2015. The settlement in that case required the city to pay $4.5 million in attorney’s fees for the plaintiffs.

Read More: http://smdp.com/elections-lawsuit-headed-toward-trial/167133

Documents confirm Neil Shekhter, the owner of NMS Properties, is the owner of the 1238 and 1242 Tenth Street apartment complex. The complex has been the subject of a multitude of complaints and audits in multiple City departments since renovations began in early 2016.

Plans for the building changed significantly during construction, according to an August 2017 Rent Control Board Report that awarded the four long-term tenants a total of $100,000 in combined rent decreases after finding “the owner’s failure to adequately test for asbestos and to consistently use safe work practices put the tenants at risk of significant health conditions.”

Read More: http://smdp.com/city-opens-investigation-into-shekhter-development/167091

IT’S ALMOST ALWAYS ALL ABOUT THE $$$

Why is the City allowing a four-story early childhood learning center on our civic center property? A pre-school, basically, on the edge of downtown, across from a parking garage, a Hilton hotel, the courthouse, our Civic Auditorium, a high school, maybe an athletic field for big kids, and oh yes the Rand Corporation? Doesn’t that seem odd? Would you pick that location, to gather toddlers? Wonder why that location was chosen? (“A done deal,” we’ve been told for at least a decade when we questioned it.) Why are we charging this Santa Monica College enterprise only $1 a year rent on the land instead of market rate, a $25,000,000 giveaway?

Read More: http://smdp.com/whos-benefiting-from-all-this/167088

June 26, 2018 -- The request by two Santa Monica City Council members was a short 46 words and it provided no details.

But by the time the item -- which could impact the future of rent control in Santa Monica -- is taken up Tuesday niight the battle lines will have been clearly drawn and the arguments laid out in detail.

Councilmembers McKeown and Himmelrich's request would "authorize staff to explore appropriate local responses to the possible statewide repeal of the 1994 Costa-Hawkins Act," which allows landlords to raise rents to market rates on most vacated units.

Shortly after the item was first placed on the ballot earlier this month, memo began circulating from Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights (SMRR) that spelled out proposals for two SMRR-sponsored measures for the November ballot.

Read More:  http://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2018/June-2018/06_26_2018_Council_to_Discuss_Ballot_Measures_That_Could_Dictate_Future_of_Santa_Monica_Rent_Control.html

The federal government is well aware of the steep prices Bay Area residents pay when it comes to just getting by.

For four-person households in San Mateo, Marin and San Francisco counties, the threshold for “low” income housing bumped up to $117,400 per year according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s latest definition, the East Bay Times reports. That’s just below the median family income of $118,400, reports HUD.

Read More:  https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2018/06/25/sf-households-six-figures-low-income.html

Is paying more getting us better results?

See the comparison: Armen Speaks 6-25-18.jpg

The rent control board has capped rent increases $60 a month following a brief hearing last week.

Increases for rent-controlled units are subject to two caps: a percentage and a fixed dollar amount. The percentage is mandated by the city’s rent control rules and is determined by a fixed formula that yielded at 2.9 percent increase for this year. The board is not required to establish a dollar limit but can do so utilizing a separate formula that yields a $60 cap this year.

Under the City’s rules, rent-controlled tenants will pay either a 2.9 percent increase or $60, whichever is lower.

Read More: http://smdp.com/rent-control-increase-capped-at-60/167036