ACTION Apartment Association

Council Calls Special Meeting to 'Clarify' Neighborhood Grant Program Rules

03/25/2026 2:03 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Tricia Crane, a leader of Northeast Neighbors, said the group does not plan to apply after the clarifications are made.

"I don't know what the real goal of this is," Crane said. "It's not going to bring anyone back in the fold.

"Are they so shocked people said, 'No, thanks' to the money?" Crane said. "I don't think they were anticipating how independent we are."

NOMA Declines to Take Part in Grant Program

03/23/2026 4:05 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

A third neighborhood group on Thursday declined to participate in a new City grant program that bans them from using funding to communicate directly with residents or recruit members.

SM.a.r.t Column: Two = Three – Possible Scenarios For SMO

03/20/2026 5:11 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

A Comparative Environmental, Financial, and Regulatory Analysis

Bold Proposal Gives City Control of Affordable Housing

03/20/2026 5:07 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The City Council on Tuesday will discuss a groundbreaking proposal to create a "City-aligned nonprofit" that would build, own and operate affordable housing in Santa Monica.

SM.a.r.t. Column: Have Housing Mandates Ignored State Water Shortages?

03/13/2026 4:41 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Adding 8,000 units to a city of 93,000 represents roughly an 8-10% population increase. Even with aggressive conservation, that translates to a meaningful increase in baseline water demand — on top of infrastructure that is already running a structural deficit, four reservoirs needing rehabilitation, decades-old pipelines and pump stations requiring modernization, the City of Santa Monica, and a groundwater basin operating near its sustainable yield.

City Attorney’s Office obtains judgments and injunctions against landlords in tenant relocation cases

03/13/2026 4:35 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office has obtained final judgments in two cases filed against landlords who failed to pay mandatory temporary relocation benefits to tenants who were displaced from their homes.

AND: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2026/March-2026/03_13_2026_Landlords_Ordered_to_Pay_Relocation_Fees.html

Santa Monica rents plunge 7.5% as coastal market cools faster than nation

03/09/2026 1:03 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

ental prices in Santa Monica fell sharply in March, dropping 2.3% in a single month as the city recorded the steepest annual rent decline in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

The median rent in the city now stands at $2,318, according to the latest Apartment List data. One-bedroom units have a median rent of $2,194, while two-bedroom apartments average $2,630.

SM.a.r.t Column: A Goal in Search of a Question

03/09/2026 12:58 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Santa Monica Planning Commission is being asked to scope an “affordability study” for single-family neighborhoods – who could object to studying affordability? But before anyone agrees, it’s worth asking: What, exactly, are we studying, and why?

Second Neighborhood Group Pulls Out of City Grants Program

03/09/2026 12:54 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Friends of Sunset Park (FSOP) informed City officials Friday it would not participate in the City's new grant program, making it the second neighborhood group to reject the new restrictions.

The letter from the Board of the 37-year-old organization said it was "outraged" by new demands to participate that are "unreasonable, unwarranted, and unwelcome."

Pro-Housing Group Opposes Building on Airport Land

03/02/2026 10:27 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Forward last week joined the Santa Monica Democratic Club, whose members overwhelmingly voted in June to create a Great Park "that would not trigger a ballot measure before airport closure" and "with no sale or other privatization of the land” ("Dem Club Rejects Housing on Airport Land," June 27, 2025).