December 8, 2017 -- The City Council on Tuesday voted to join Los Angeles Community Choice Energy (LACCE), a move City officials say will shift all Santa Monica electricity customers to competitive electricity and help boost similar efforts in the region.

The new agency allows cities to purchase electricity in the wholesale power market and sell it to their residents and businesses, according to LACCE.

The agency employs a strategy known as community choice aggregation to provide energy sourced from up to 100 percent renewable sources, compared to less than 30 percent of for Southern California Edison, the City's existing utility.

Read More:   https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2017/December-2017/12_09_2017_Santa_Monica_Joins_Los_Angeles_Community_Choice_Energy.html

AND

http://smdp.com/santa-monica-promises-to-be-a-leader-in-new-regional-energy-partnership/163565

It’s important to ask the question before WeHo loses too much ground – ground that cities like Santa Monica are quickly occupying.

What’s Happening In Santa Monica

By 2020, Santa Monica plans to complete construction on a 50,000-square-foot city services building that will meet the requirements of the “Living Building Challenge” — the strictest green building standard in the world and a goal that has never before been reached in California.

Read More: http://www.wehoville.com/2017/12/07/analysis-how-wehos-decade-old-green-building-codes-compare-to-santa-monica/

Neighbors fighting plans for a 20-student preschool near Gandara Park scored their first political victory Tuesday, when four City Council members voted to postpone the debate over a Conditional Use Permit needed to open the school.

The dozens of residents who are fighting the City over the proposed school at 2953 Delaware Avenue still need to convince four out of seven councilmembers to deny the CUP.  However, with only five elected leaders present for Tuesday’s meeting, they were facing an uphill battle.  The debate is rescheduled for Jan. 23.

Read More: http://smdp.com/city-council-punts-consideration-of-controversial-preschool/163520

As California’s housing supply has stagnated while demand has risen for years, legislators in Sacramento passed fifteen bills — signed by Gov. Brown in October — designed to fund and facilitate the development of housing statewide. Targeting both market-rate and subsidized housing, the bills collectively provide funding while requiring cities to speed approvals for many types of developments. Given that Los Angeles is the epicenter of the housing crisis, developers and housing advocates are eagerly waiting to see if these new laws bear fruit. Will they usher in a new era of building, or will they make only a marginal difference?

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2017/12/sacramentos-possible-solution-californias-housing-crisis/

A five-story mixed-use apartment building, one of a string of new multi-family projects set for construction on Santa Monica’s Lincoln Boulevard Downtown, is poised for approval next week by the City’s Planning Commission.

“The developer will be seeking a Removal Permit from the Rent Control Board for the 11 rent-controlled units that are registered on the project site,” a report to commissioners said.

“One resident currently remains on the property and has been in ongoing discussions with the developer pertaining to a potential relocation agreement,” it said.

The report also says the project “complies with both the City’s Affordable Housing Production Program and ability to satisfy the Removal Permit condition that requires that at least 15 percent of the controlled rental units built on the site be at rents affordable by persons of low-income.”

Read More:   https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2017/December-2017/12_06_2017_Five_Story_Mixed_Use_Apartment_Building_on_Lincoln_in_Santa_Monica_Poised_for_Approval.html

Santa Monica’s beloved Busy Bee Hardware is closing its doors.

Here is a letter that Laura Kidson Hausladen sent out…

Thus, we will be closing our doors very soon, so that the building can be vacated in advance of its sale early in the new year. So, if you need any items in the next week or so, or just wish to get some bargains on useful Christmas items, please stop by. The more you buy the more you’ll save with deductions taken before tax of 20-40% on every purchase of $25 or more. (Note this is for cash or credit card sales only.)

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2017/12/bye-bye-busy-bee/

Who? Me? Jessica S. Weisman, Managing Partner of Client Education Kimball, Tirey & St. John LLP 

Many landlords often make the mistake of thinking that they do not need to worry about being up to date when it comes to fair housing law. “I’m an individual landlord” “I run a small operation” “I’m not a big fish” are common misconceptions. Regardless of property/company size, any lawsuit.

Read More: Fair Housing Introductory Article.pdf

Traffic and development surrounding the Expo Line on the eastern edge of Santa Monica are fueling neighborhood opposition to a preschool on a quiet, residential street near Ishihara Park.

Tonight, the City Council will weigh the City’s objective to expand early childhood learning opportunities in the 90404 zip code with residents’ demands for a quiet street.

“Over time, this is only going to accumulate traffic and parking problems,” said Brian O’Neil, whose wife filed a 160-page appeal after the Planning Commission approved a Conditional Use Permit for 2953 Delaware Avenue, dismissing neighborhood concerns as classic NIMBYism.

Read More: http://smdp.com/fight-over-preschool-goes-before-city-council/163488

AND: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2017/December-2017/12_05_2017_Controversy_Over_Childcare_Center_in_Pico_Neighborhood_Goes_to_Santa_Monica_City_Council.html

The Consumer Protection Division of the Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office and the City’s Rent Control Agency will co-host a free forum on landlord-tenant rights and responsibilities. The event will be held December 12, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Martin Luther King Auditorium at the Main Library, 601 Santa Monica Blvd. in Santa Monica. 

Pre-registration is required. Call 310-458-8691. 

Read More on pg. 6: http://backissues.smdp.com/120417.pdf

A recent study commissioned by City staff has some of Santa Monica’s elected officials echoing the words of City Hall’s staunchest critics - alleging incompetence, wasted tax dollars and suspicious back-room decisions. 

The concerns of Rent Control Board members over a recent Ellis Act report delivered by Keyster Marston Associates reveals how the City is still reeling from the fight over Measure LV, even as the 2016 election ebbs to make way for the politics of November 2018. RCB members are ostensibly elected to protect Santa Monica’s man-made non-renewable resource: relatively cheap housing for those who have rented in Santa Monica for decades...

Read More on page 1: http://backissues.smdp.com/120417.pdf