ACTION Apartment Association

Nearly 2,000 Buildings in Santa Monica at Risk in Earthquake

12/01/2016 8:32 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

December 1, 2016 -- Nearly 2,000 buildings are at risk of major damage in Santa Monica when the next big earthquake hits, and as many as 80 percent of them are apartment buildings constructed in the 1950s and 1960s, a City report released Tuesday found.

No Politics at the Movies

11/30/2016 8:31 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

By Charles Andrews

Locally, was LV defeated because $1,300,000 buys an avalanche of big fliers, a heap of lies and the opposition endorsements of an impressive list of formerly reputable organizations whose boards, not their rank and file membership, line up with big money developer interests? Were four City Council incumbents re-elected because their campaigns have access to those same vaults? No one can say for sure. But I’ve got a feelin’.

Real Estate Developer Nailed For Evidence Tampering by LA Superior Court

11/30/2016 8:26 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

In a civil case involving NMS Family Living Trust, and Margot and Neil Shekhter, Superior Court Judge Suzanne Bruguera found that NMS Properties and its owners, destroyed and hid electronic evidence from the Court and the opposing parties.

The conduct concerned buildings owned and operated by NMS in Los Angeles, not Santa Monica, ...

It is unclear what, if any impact the decision will have on Santa Monica's properties, or on NMS' status at City hall as the City of Santa Monica's unofficial favorite developer.

Water rates to increase by 5 percent

11/29/2016 11:33 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Water rates will increase by five percent in 2017 resulting in an average increase of about $2 per month for the average residential user.

The increase is less than the 9 percent initially scheduled for the year and Council chose to adjust the cost at their Nov. 22 meeting after hearing revenues increased this year while costs were below expectations.

Cost of Rent Subsidies for Poor Elderly Tenants Delays Santa Monica Program

11/28/2016 6:53 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

November 28,2016 -- A small but ground-breaking pilot program to save impoverished Santa Monica tenants, most of them elderly, from eviction by using City rent subsidies has been delayed again as City officials grapple with a rattling new finding:

Some cases in the proposed “Preserving our Diversity” program are all but hopeless -- and would drain money for subsidies from others who also badly need the help, a new analysis of the program found.

New Santa Monica Downtown Development Plan Spurs More Worries

11/27/2016 9:52 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

November 22, 2016 -- After eight months of trying to gage public sentiment, Santa Monica City planners face claims of discrimination against Hispanics, worries about long-term tenants losing their rent-controlled units and lingering questions about the biggest downtown projects in the development pipeline.

Commission Approves Santa Monica City Hall Addition, but with Dissenters

11/27/2016 9:49 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

November 22, 2016 -- Enough planning commissioners supported the proposed 50,000-square-foot addition to Santa Monica City Hall last Wednesday to approve the project. But there were plenty of critics on the dais.

Live in Santa Monica, West Hollywood, or Beverly Hills? Quake retrofits for apartments may be coming to you

11/25/2016 2:47 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The movement to retrofit buildings at risk of collapse in a large earthquake could take a major step forward in the coming months as three prominent Westside cities — Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and West Hollywood — consider sweeping laws mandating that thousands of structures be strengthened.

The move is part of a larger political movement that began in San Francisco and Los Angeles to tackle seismic retrofitting that is slowly spreading to smaller communities around the state.

Next Logical Step after LV is RCV

11/21/2016 2:38 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

By Michael Feinstein

RCV stands for ranked-choice voting. Ranked-choice voting is a voting system that empowers voters to rank candidates in the order of their preference. If used for Santa Monica City Council elections, RCV would preserve the best of our current system and improve it, by giving residents even more voice, and by rendering election results more proportional of the electorate.

RCV is the next logical step after LV because at its core, Measure LV was about radically altering the City’s development approval process.

Santa Monica City Staff Recommends Lower Water Rate Increase

11/21/2016 10:21 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica residents and businesses will likely see a hike in their water bill next year, but not as high as previously proposed.

With more money coming into the so-called water fund than expected, City staff has recommended that the rate hike for 2017 be decreased from the previously approved 9 percent to 5 percent.