ACTION Apartment Association

OpEd: SMa.r.t: Reinforcing the Future

01/20/2017 7:50 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Some time soon, new rules will require many older apartment buildings to be inspected, and then reinforced to make them less vulnerable to earthquakes. The city’s new list of about 2,400 vulnerable buildings will be released this month, and about half of those are two- and three-story apartment buildings with parking on the ground floor.

How can the City help? City Hall should appoint a liaison that will help guide these folks slowly and patiently through the permit process.

Santa Monica Landlords Could Be Required to Provide Rent-Control Information Sheet

01/19/2017 9:53 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

January 19, 2017 -- Rent Control Board members say Santa Monica tenants need more information about their rights and want to make it a requirement that they get this information upon signing a lease and annually through the mail.

The board discussed at its meeting last Thursday how to provide that information to tenants.

They determined the best option was to require landlords to provide an information sheet during the lease signing and to include it in one of the three mailings the rent board sends out each year (two newsletters and a summer mailing).

Two landlord attorneys told the board they opposed this plan.

Appeal of City Hall Addition Approval Goes to Santa Monica Council

01/19/2017 9:49 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

January 19, 2017 -- The Santa Monica City Council will vote on something Tuesday that is close to home -- a 50,000-square-foot addition to City Hall.

The addition was approved by the Planning Commission in November, although not too enthusiastically (“Commission Approves Santa Monica City Hall Addition, but with Dissenters,” November 22, 2016).

That decision was appealed by resident David Garden, who although he does not say he is representing a group uses the word “we” throughout the appeal statement.

and

Also, let’s not forget that this $86 million will be financed with municipal bonds at 3.25 percent, which will add an additional $55 million of interest over the next 20 years. This brings the total project cost up to $141 million.

http://smmirror.com/2017/01/letter-to-the-editor-city-services-building/

Rent Out Your Parking Space

01/19/2017 7:57 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Ad in local paper for:

RENTERS

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Oaks Finally Enforced; Terry O’Day Found to Have Twice Violated Oaks, Fined

01/19/2017 7:55 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

After a 16-year City campaign against Santa Monica’s anti-corruption law known as Oaks, the City has finally enforced it. Based upon Complaints filed by the Transparency Project, the City has fined Council member Terry O’Day for having twice violated Oaks. Council member O’Day was found to have illegally accepted contributions from two well-known individuals after having approved contracts in their favor, including one related to the notorious Village Trailer Park development that led to evictions of low income, elderly people.

Small City Set to Build The Most Expensive Public Building

01/17/2017 8:58 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Presently, the new City Services Building is budgeted at $86 million for 50,000 square feet of office space. Plans include financing the project with lease revenue bonds. With the City's "AAA" credit / bond rating, the current interest rate is at 3.25% for twenty years. This will add an additional $55 million of interest to the projected cost for a total amount of $141 million dollars.

[ Final cost $1,720 per square foot ($86 million / 50,000 square feet)

[ Final cost $360,000 per building worker ($86 million / 239 workers)

[ Final cost $915 per Santa Monica resident ($86 million / 94,000)

Presently, the City leases office space for these 239 workers at various locations around the City at a yearly lease rate of $2 to $3 million dollars per year. Using the $3 million figure, it will take 47 years to break even on the proposed City Services Building considering the project's budget combined with the debt obligation.

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http://www.smobserved.com/story/2017/01/17/news/astonishing-figure-city-will-spend-141000000-to-build-a-50000-sft-building/2493.html

Santa Monica Hires Chief Resilience Officer

01/17/2017 8:41 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

January 17, 2017 -- Following the lead of vulnerable cities from Los Angeles and New Orleans to mega-metropolises on the other side of the globe, Santa Monica has created a new post to develop a “resilience strategy” in the event of a major earthquake, tsunami, pandemics, terrorism and “chronic stressors” such as climate change.

City Manager Rick Cole announced Friday he had hired Lindsay M. Barker for his executive team as the City’s Chief Resilience Officer (CRO). She began her job January 9 at a salary of $125,496 a year.

Resolution still out of reach for tenant displaced by asbestos

01/16/2017 9:42 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Rent Control Board is looking to sharpen the teeth behind laws that regulate construction at rent-controlled apartment buildings, as the economy continues to improve and remodels surge in the city.

But the same bureaucratic problems that have frustrated rent-controlled tenants and stymied resolutions for those who need help now push back conversations on how to improve the process.

Proposed amendment would require landlords to provide tenants with information about the rent-control law

01/14/2017 9:04 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Santa Monica Rent Control Board will discuss whether to hold a public hearing to consider amending Regulation 13002, respecting registration of controlled units. The proposed amendment to the regulation would be a new subdivision (g), which would require landlords to provide tenants with information about the rent-control law in conformity with Charter Section 1803(g) and a new subdivision (h), which would specify that a landlord who fails to comply with registration requirements cannot impose annual general adjustments.

Santa Monica Gets Even Tougher on Short-Term Vacation Rental 'Hosts'

01/12/2017 10:56 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

January 12, 2017 -- The City Council on Tuesday modified Santa Monica's law on short-term vacation rentals -- already among the nation’s toughest -- to help prevent scofflaw hosts, as well as to try to shield the City from more legal attacks from industry giants like Airbnb.

The City Council voted 4-0 to require all “home sharing” hosts to not only register with the City but have their information published on a special registry compiled by the City. Santa Monica’s “Home-Sharing Registry” amended law will also prohibit hosting platforms, like Airbnb and Home Away, from completing business with short-term rental hosts who are not listed.

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http://smdp.com/home-share-rules/159275