ACTION Apartment Association

City Attorney's Contract Has a Small Catch

05/10/2022 9:02 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The proposed $320,000-a-year contract for incoming City Attorney Douglas Sloan has plenty of perks, including nine-months of severance pay, as well as 14 paid holidays and 21 vacation days a year.

But one seemingly enticing benefit -- a $3,000 per month rental housing allowance -- will do little good for the current Fresno City Manger, at least in Santa Monica.

Mayor Himmelrich's Vendetta Against Housing Commission

05/09/2022 9:01 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Amid an affordable housing and homelessness crisis, why would the City want to suspend all meetings of the Housing Commission "until City Council considers its annual appointments in June 2022" (May 10, 2022 agenda item 13C)? And why are the Mayor and Councilmembers insisting that "once the Housing Commission resumes meeting following the appointments, it shall immediately hold elections for Chair and Vice Chair"?

For the Mayor, who initiated item 13C, this is a personal vendetta for her husband, Michael Soloff, having to obey the City's new anti-nepotism policy that rendered him ineligible to remain on the Housing Commission.

Cities Fight to Maintain Distinctive Characters

05/07/2022 11:45 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Wiener’s persistence paid off for him last year, when he pushed through new laws best known by their numbers, Senate Bills 9 and 10, which ban zoning for single family houses everywhere in California. SB 9 allows six residential units on almost all lots where there is now one; SB 10 allows up to 10 units on any lot within easy reach of rapid transit.

Neither law requires builders to provide new parking or parks, mitigate added traffic, assure water supplies or any other requirement usually imposed on developers of new home subdivisions. Nor are there any controls on how much of the new housing can become short-term vacation rentals or temporary corporate housing.

SMa.r.t. Column: Gelson’s, Boxed-In

05/07/2022 11:43 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

This week we are re-visiting an article from 2018 regarding the Miramar project, by simply replacing the word “Miramar” with “Gelson’s”, and ~~striking thru~~ some of the irrelevant text. We sadly reflect on how the runaway train wreck of over-development has not been slowed or reduced by city administrators or staff policies regardless of the cries and demands of the residents over the years. Oh well…adaptive re-use is generally a positive approach to building, so why not op-ed’s too.

WHAT IS MISSING IN THIS TOWN? Charles Andrews

05/06/2022 1:38 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Now our corruption is hidden behind pious pronouncements of a compassionate, progressive Santa Monica that wants only to help… outside developers take away more bags of gold than Caesar ever dreamed of.

Significant Inaccuracy in Santa Monica Mayor Sue Himmelrich's Literature Touting her Pet Transfer Tax Ballot Initiative

05/06/2022 1:37 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

On her flyer, titled "Standing Firm with Santa Monica," Himmelrich claims the proposed initiative to provide her estimate of an additional $50 million in revenue will come from "a 5% increase in the real estate transfer tax on sales of...property worth $8 million or more...."

This is completely untrue. But only if you find the ballot measure language itself can you discover this fact - and the ballot measure is impossible to find online. Himmelrich does not seem to want people to actually read it. And for good reason.

Santa Monica Poised to Hire Fresno City Attorney

05/06/2022 1:11 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The City Council on Tuesday is expected to hire Fresno City Attorney Douglas Sloan as its top lawyer, according to an item posted on the agenda.

Sloan -- who has served as Fresno's chief counsel since 2013 -- would assume the post that has been filled on an interim basis for more than two years on June 22.

Santa Monica's Homeless Population Drops

05/06/2022 1:07 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica's homeless population dropped by 100 --from 907 to 807 -- over the past two years, but the number of those living on the streets has remained flat, according to the results of the 2022 homeless count.

AND: https://www.smdp.com/homeless-count-reports-807-individuals/217572

Two Homeless Persons a Month Die in Santa Monica

05/05/2022 8:46 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The two-page Excel spreadsheet provided by the Coroner offers a glimpse of those who never made it off the streets in a City that has arguably provided more services, shelter and help than any other in LA County.

Of those who died, 45 were men and nine were women. The youngest was 26, the oldest 71.

Inglewood residents outraged over home registration fees

05/04/2022 12:13 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Inglewood residents have taken to social media in protest of annual home registration fees that are being assessed to property owners and landlords through the Housing Protection Department (HPD) in accordance with provisions under the Housing Protection Ordinance. Residents are upset that regardless of whether they have a tenant, they are required to pay registration fees to subsidize the new department.