His $278,00 a year annual salary will be about half of what Santa Monica pays its police chief, Jacqueline Seabrooks. No, seriously--Santa Monica pays her $478,000 a year. That's over twice as much. The City of San Francisco is seven times larger as Santa Monica. Think about it.

Read More: http://www.smobserved.com/story/2016/12/21/news/lapd-deputy-chief-william-scott-52-appointed-san-francisco-police-chief/2407.html

The Santa Monica Non-profit pays college grads to sift through trash for answers to the questions: What do LA County residents discard? Could it be composted, recycled or better disposed of? They are performing a statistical analysis.

"This is a pilot program, through which we are refining a model for multi-family food scrap collection programs. As a part of each pilot, we conduct a pre-pilot waste audit and a post-pilot waste audit," Gittlen wrote. She, Charlotte Will and Eleni Petrow were conducting research for http://www.Globalgreen.org Multi-Family Food Waste Organics Program.

Read More: http://www.smobserved.com/story/2016/12/21/news/global-green-goes-dumpster-diving-in-westside-alleys-seeking-to-improve-trash/2401.html

 I am astounded that our City pays a salary and benefits to a Police Chief equal to what this Country pays our President! 

Read More: http://smmirror.com/2016/12/letter-to-the-editor-salaries-of-the-city/

Hundreds of new apartment units are poised to appear along Lincoln Boulevard in the coming years, as the city green-lights developments near the new Expo Light Rail Station.

Read More: http://smdp.com/big-changes-coming-to-lincoln-boulevard/159032

AND

http://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2016/December-2016/12_19_2016_Commission_Grants_Further_Approvals_for_Lincoln_Mixed_Use_Development.html

The City Council recently voted to accelerate Santa Monica’s adoption of the State’s new “Net Zero Energy” policy (NZE.)

The path to get there, however, should not be focused on the residents that are already doing their part and do not have as large an impact due to their smaller energy “footprint”.

Read More: http://smmirror.com/2016/12/oped-sm-a-r-t-santa-monicas-path-to-net-zero/

The housing issue directly plays into development challenges the city will face while finalizing the Downtown Community Plan, or DCP. Right now, strategic planners with the city are crunching the numbers, trying to figure out how high new apartment buildings need to go in order to reach goals for increasing the city’s housing stock. The Planning Commission is still divided over how to balance affordability and live-ability in the city, as residents complain traffic congestion is at an all-time high.

Read More: http://smdp.com/new-mayor-sees-divided-city/158990

City planners are hammering out the final draft of the Downtown Community Plan, or DCP: the comprehensive document that will guide development in downtown Santa Monica for the next 20 years.

While most new development in the district will stay relatively low, the Commission is still split on just how high to allow three major development projects: The Miramar Hotel, the Frank Gehry hotel at Ocean Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard and the city-owned development at 4th Street and Arizona.

Read More: http://smdp.com/downtown-community-plan-approaches-final-stage/158977

By ANDREA CAVANAUGH, a Consumer Specialist with the City Attorney’s office.

Cristina rented her Santa Monica apartment about ten years ago. A new owner recently bought the building. She started getting a lot of three-day notices to correct problems, even though the prior owner never had any issues with her. 

Read More: http://smdp.com/help-im-being-evicted/158979

At its special meeting Tuesday, December 13, Santa Monica City Council unanimously voted to select Ted Winterer as Santa Monica’s next mayor and Gleam Davis as mayor pro tempore.

Read More: http://smmirror.com/2016/12/meet-your-new-mayor-ted-winterer/

AND

http://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2016/December-2016/12_14_2016_Council_Member_Ted_Winterer_Chosen_as_Santa_Monica_Mayor.html

Following the defeat of Measure LV in November, the City Council is continuing to look into ways to abate large development projects in Santa Monica, either by requiring voter approval or a City Council super-majority vote for projects that exceed the general plan or zoning code.

“I’ve been at this a long time and development has always been a contentious issue in Santa Monica,” Councilmember Kevin McKeown said, who introduced a motion Tuesday for staff to look into the two options. “Some people think that they won the battle but I want to end the war.

Read More: http://smdp.com/city-council-exploring-new-hurdles-for-big-developments/158943