ACTION Apartment Association

First challenger marks early start for City Council election

02/19/2018 9:07 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica native and local business owner Greg Morena is the first challenger to declare his intent to run for City Council.

He joins incumbents Kevin McKeown and Sue Himmelrich who have both declared their intent to run in this year’s election. The third incumbent, Pam O’Connor has yet to decide if she will run again.

Morena has lived in Santa Monica for 35 years, lives on the same street he grew up on and is married to his former next-door neighbor. The couple currently own/operate The Albright restaurant on the Pier.

Does Rent Control Do More Harm Than Good?

02/19/2018 9:06 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

A new study suggests that policies meant to keep rents down actually jack them up overall, reduce the rental stock and fuel gentrification.

by Natalie Delgadillo | February 14, 2018

As rents continue to skyrocket across the country, state and local governments (and renters themselves) are scrambling for solutions. One of the most obvious -- and most controversial -- of those is rent control, which caps rent increases in an effort to keep cities more affordable for low- and middle-income people.

Advocates have long touted the policy as a way to keep rents from growing exponentially, and support for it appears to be growing: At least three states -- California, Illinois and Washington -- have introduced legislation that would allow cities to enact more rent controls. Opponents, on the other hand, claim that rent control leads to dilapidated units, deferred maintenance and an overall reduction of the rental housing stock.

So who’s right? According to a new Stanford University study, both of them -- partially.

VA West Los Angeles draft master plan at a Town hall

02/19/2018 8:59 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

VA West Los Angeles held a town hall in Wadsworth Theatre regarding the Draft Master Plan to build 1,200 units of permanent supportive housing for homeless veterans.

Renters become the majority in Anaheim, Santa Ana, San Bernardino

02/19/2018 8:33 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Attention landlords: Your ability to grow your businesses means that three more big Southern California cities — Anaheim, Santa Ana and San Bernardino — have more renters than homeowners.

The growing renter population could translate to political muscle, nudging some cities to enact pro-tenant initiatives — from building more “affordable” apartments and first-time buyer homes to rent-control policies.

Does money grow on trees at City Hall?

02/19/2018 8:27 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

By Armen Melkonians – Author of LUVE anti-overdevelopment ballot initiative and 2016 City Council candidate
Creator of Residocracy – a Direct Action Resident Group

It must, since another $400k per year city job was filled this week. The new “Chief of Staff” hire in the Santa Monica City Attorney’s office will cost the Santa Monica taxpayer a whopping $402k per year. This includes a base salary of almost $254k per year plus expected “other pay” and “benefits” which will add an additional $148k per year to the total. The position is the #2 top spot in the office and the new “Chief of Staff” will assist the top dog, the City Attorney, in “office management and high-priority legal matters” in an office which employs a total of 24 attorneys and 18 support staff.

In contrast, the absolute top dog in the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office, Mike Feuer, costs the Los Angeles tax payer only $240k per year (base salary of $227k per year plus other pay and benefits of only $13k per year.) The top dog in Los Angeles leads the third largest government legal office in California and the Los Angeles City Attorney oversees more than 500 attorneys.

Our elected officials say that if we want to hire the best, then we must pay the best. So, they end up paying $162k more per year for the #2 person in Santa Monica than the residents of Los Angeles pay for their #1 top dog who leads an office at least 20 times larger than ours and prosecutes more than 50,000 cases per year.

I don’t trust our elected official’s judgement any longer - they just don’t make any sense - and it’s at yours’ and my expense.

Somethings got to change this November, and I’m going to work hard to make that change. We deserve better.

Boyle Heights mariachis agree to 14 percent rent hike but win new leases ending months-long strike

02/19/2018 8:11 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The deal could be a model for other LA renters to follow

After a months-long struggle, renters living in a Boyle Heights apartment complex close to Mariachi Plaza have reached an agreement with the building’s owner and property management company allowing them to remain in their residences.

On Thursday, a coalition of community groups that had attached themselves to the tenants’ cause celebrated a unique deal with the building’s landlord, resolving a rent strike that began nearly one year ago in April.

Tenant groups are collecting signatures to repeal Costa Hawkins rent control law

02/19/2018 8:06 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Signature gatherers are headed to neighborhoods “heavily hit by... rapidly rising rents”

Signature-gathering will pick up steam this weekend in an effort put a measure on the state ballot asking California voters to repeal Costa Hawkins, a law that limits cities’ abilities to expand rent control.

The campaign kicked off last month with paid signature gatherers, but will expand this weekend with “hundreds, hopefully, eventually, thousands of volunteers,” says Walt Senterfitt, a spokesperson for the LA Tenants Union.

Lawmakers Introduce Bills to Protect California Tenants from Eviction

02/16/2018 12:34 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Assemblymembers David Chiu (D-San Francisco), Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), and Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) today announced new proposals to protect California tenants from evictions and extend the timelines for tenants who do face evictions.

AB 2364, authored by Assemblymember Richard Bloom, will close a loophole in the state’s Ellis Act that allows landlords to evict all of their tenants while still remaining in the rental business.

Assemblymember David Chiu introduced AB 2343 to give tenants more time to respond to eviction proceedings and correct several imbalances in the tenant notice and eviction process. This bill will extend the time tenants have to pay rent or comply with other terms of a lease, increase the time tenants have to respond to an eviction lawsuit, and make it easier to defend against eviction cases with legitimate defenses.

Read More on page 11: http://backissues.smdp.com/021618.pdf

SM ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW BOARD SPECIAL MEETING

02/16/2018 12:27 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

PRELIMINARY REVIEW(S):
• 101 Santa Monica Boulevard (Development Agreement Application No. 13DEV-004). Preliminary review of the updated design concept for a new 115 room hotel; 40,000 SF museum; 79 for-rent residential apartments comprised of 19 replacement rent-controlled units, 18 affordable units, and 42 market-rate units;

Read More on page 5: http://backissues.smdp.com/021618.pdf

Santa Monica Hires Former U.S. Prosecutor as 'Chief of Staff'

02/16/2018 11:59 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

February 16, 2018 -- Santa Monica City Attorney Lane Dilg announced Thursday the hiring of a top former U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecutor to act as Special Counsel/Chief of Staff for her office.

George Cardona, who was a Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, will start in his new job on February 20th, Dilg said.

His salary will be $253,872 annually, or $21,156 a month.