As proponents of a statewide voter-initiative gather signatures to put rent control reform on the November ballot, the Santa Monica Rent Control Board is considering a ballot measure of its own. If both measures are successful, the RCB would regain control over the monthly rate of thousands of apartments in Santa Monica.

The Affordable Housing Act would put Costa-Hawkins up for repeal, potentially upending the law that allows landlords to lease rent-controlled apartments at market rate after a tenant moves out. If passed, the ballot measure would allow cities to decide whether to control rental rates. So far, signature gatherers for the Affordable Housing Act have gathered about 25 percent of the 365,880 signatures they need to have by June in order to put the initiative on the ballot.

To not miss a beat, the Rent Control Board Thursday will debate a tandem local measure which, if approved, would immediately give the RCB power to dictate rents in thousands of units across the city.

Read More: http://smdp.com/local-leaders-to-consider-rent-control-reform/165039

March 21, 2018 -- Santa Monica property owners are warning the City's Rent Control Board that eliminating pass-throughs to tenants in the form of surcharges could jeopardize the future passage of funding measures.

The city's landlords and their organizations have traditionally stayed on the sidelines when local voters have approved bonds and parcel taxes to fund capital projects, primarily for the School District and College.

So far that has been the case -- with the approval of six bonds totaling more than $1.5 billion since 2012 -- because the Rent Board has allowed property owners to pass the surcharges on to tenants, usually in the form of small rent increases.

But with those surcharges rising in buildings that are reassessed when they sell, the Board is considering eliminating the pass-throughs, a hotly debated issue it will take up at its meeting Thursday ("Santa Monica Rent Board to Discuss Eliminating Surcharges for Existing Tenants," March 20, 2018).

Read More: http://surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2018/March-2018/03_21_2018_Future_Bonds_in_Jeopardy_if_Rent_Board_Nixes_Pass_Throughs_Santa_Monica_Property_Owners_Warn.html

The film editor told me, “I was sick of feeling like we residents had no voice or power,and I was sick of feeling unsafe in our own city. I wanted to make something that wouldn’t divide the city ideologically or politically... just rely on bare bone FACTS!!!

Read More on page 4: http://backissues.smdp.com/032118.pdf

Renters, property owners, and other stakeholders will have a chance to argue who should have to pay tax-based surcharges on rent-controlled apartment buildings on Thursday when the board holds a hearing on the subject. The Rent Control Board will deliberate at the hearing and likely move staff to come back with a proposed regulation in April.

The RCB is specifically looking to hear from the public on solutions to an unintended consequence of Proposition 13: large tax increases on renters when Santa Monica’s multi-million dollar real estate changes hands. This city is one of the few rent control jurisdictions that allows building owners to pass through certain taxes approved by voters. Tens of thousands of renters currently pay surcharges on Measures X, S, BB, and AA. Landlords can also pass along a stormwater management user fee, the clean beaches and ocean parcel tax and a 2008 school district special tax.

Read More: http://smdp.com/rent-control-board-will-hold-public-hearing-on-surcharges-thursday/165027

ALSO on the agenda: The Santa Monica Rent Control Board will consider whether it should recommend that the City Council place on the ballot for the 2018 municipal general election a measure that would restore vacancy control (also known informally as strict rent control) in the City of Santa Monica. Even if approved by Santa Monica voters, the measure would go into effect only if California voters, at the statewide general election, approve The Affordable Housing Act, a voter initiative that would repeal provisions in state law that limit local rent-control laws. 
 Read More:  https://www.smgov.net/uploadedFiles/Departments/Rent_Control/About_the_Rent_Control_Board/Staff_Reports/2018/Item%2012B%20Affordable%20Housing%20Act.pdf

AND: http://surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2018/March-2018/03_20_2018_Santa_Monica_%20Rent_Board_Could_Eliminate_Surcharges_for_Existing_Tenants.html

AND

https://smmirror.com/2018/03/santa-monica-rent-control-board-consider-changes-property-tax-related-surcharges/

Item on the Rent Control Board agenda for March 22, 2018

B. Consideration of whether to recommend that the City Council place on the ballot for the 2018 municipal general election a measure to amend the City Charter to reestablish vacancy control in the City of Santa Monica if statewide voters approve The Affordable Housing Act (Costa-Hawkins Repeal) at the November 2018 California general election.

See agenda and items 11-14:  https://www.smgov.net/uploadedFiles/Departments/Rent_Control/About_the_Rent_Control_Board/Agendas_and_Minutes/2018/RcB032218.pdf

A U.S. District Court judge ruled in the city of Santa Monica’s favor this week, writing websites HomeAway and Airbnb did not demonstrate they are likely to prevail on claims Santa Monica’s short-term rental ordinance violates the Coastal Act, the Communications Decency Act or the First Amendment.

“In the midst of a statewide housing crisis, (the) decision affirms that the City of Santa Monica can take reasonable steps to protect residential units from conversion into de facto hotels, while also allowing individuals to share their homes with guests for compensation in authorized circumstances,” said City Attorney Lane Dilg. “We applaud this important ruling.”

Read More: https://www.actiontakesaction.com/admin/website/system-pages/?pageId=1837908

A Santa Monica City Councilmember and the leader of Santa Monica’s Transparency project are circulating a petition to put the brakes on perennial City Council members. The initiative proposed by Sue Himmelrich and Mary Marlow holds the ability to be transformative in a city that rarely sees new faces on its City Council. The Santa Monica City Council has refused to limit how long a council member can hold office, and it often appears that members of that august body are “homesteading” their city council seats.

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2018/03/sma-r-t-term-limits-heart-democracy/

March 14, 2018 -- Santa Monica can continue enforcing its "home-sharing" law after a U.S. District Court last week denied a motion by AirBnB and HomeAway for a preliminary injunction.

The Court's ruling Friday in the the Central District of California held that the platforms are "not likely to prevail on their claims that the City’s ordinance is unlawful" under the federal Communications Decency Act (“CDA”), the First Amendment and the California Coastal Act, City officials said.

“In the midst of a statewide housing crisis, (the) decision affirms that the City of Santa Monica can take reasonable steps to protect residential units from conversion into de facto hotels," City Attorney Lane Dilg said in a statement.

The decision still allows individuals to "share their homes with guests for compensation in authorized circumstances,” Dilg said. “We applaud this important ruling.”

Read More: http://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2018/March-2018/03_14_2018_Efforts_to_Temporarily_Halt_Santa_Monicas_Home_Sharing_Law_Fails.html

The Rent Control Board wants to hear from you.

Attend the public hearing March 22nd at 7:00pm at City Hall

Read More on page 7: http://backissues.smdp.com/031418.pdf

March 13, 2018 -- Folsom Police Chief Cynthia Renaud -- who is credited with helping lower property and violent crime in the Sacramento County city -- has been tapped to head the Santa Monica Police Department, City officials announced Tuesday.

Renaud will go from a department of 105 workers and a $22 million budget she led for seven years to one in Santa Monica that is four times as large, with 460 employees and an operating budget of $86.6 million.

She will start the job at the end of April with an annual salary of $265,440, officials said.

Read More: http://surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2018/March-2018/03_13_2018_Santa_Monica_Taps_Highly_Touted_Folsom_Police_Chief_for_Top_Post.html

AND

http://smdp.com/santa-monica-names-new-police-chief/164888