Several large states and cities have exhausted their federal rental assistance, the Treasury Department said Monday, in a sign that spending on a massive program aimed at averting evictions has picked up speed.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/states-cities-running-out-of-rental-assistance-monies/210916

City Council is uniformly opposed to the draft Congressional District map that would divide Santa Monica from much of the Westside and lump it into a district with large portions of the San Fernando Valley.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/council-protests-being-grouped-with-valley-cities-in-draft-congressional-district-map/210910

There is a general, and growing, discomfort in the relationship between the residents and their city. People who live here are asking themselves and each other – who does the city work for? Those few residents who tuned in to the meetings of Oct 12 and Oct. 26 saw plainly what is driving the city’s priorities – and what is not. The clear takeaway was that the concept of a balanced city that works for all, is fading.  

Changing this trajectory is critical. The stakes are enormous. 

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2021/11/sma-r-t-column-santa-monica-who-does-the-city-work-for/

To help hold the line against that feared wave of eviction and to stay ahead of the pandemic’s effects, the Public Rights Division of the Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office (PRD) has increased its already considerable efforts in community outreach, enforcement, and proactive projects.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/focus-on-housing-rights-and-resources-continues-at-city-attorneys-office/210656

On Tuesday, December 14, 2021 from 4 to 6 pm, the Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office Public Rights Division and the Rent Control Board will host their annual Landlord/Tenant Forum. This year’s event will be virtual. 

Read More: https://www.santamonica.gov/press/2021/11/22/landlord-tenant-forum-held-december-14

A third of Los Angeles area renters planning to move are looking elsewhere, although they are choosing to stay within driving distance, according to a report released by Apartment List last week.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2021/November-2021/11_22_2021_LA_Area_Renters_Planning_Move_Look_in_Metro_Region.html

To help hold the line against that feared wave of eviction and to stay ahead of the pandemic’s effects, the Public Rights Division of the Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office (PRD) has increased its already considerable efforts in community outreach, enforcement, and proactive projects. Community Outreach.

Read More on page 4: https://s3.amazonaws.com/smdp_backissues/112221.pdf

The State and a number of cities and groups have begun organizing to deal with the looming threat of coastal flooding. The State of California now has a very informative resource website (linked at the bottom of this article). Our own city has prepared an initial set of “Adaptive Management” goals related to sea-level rise in its Climate Action and Adaptation Plan from May, 2019.  It has also prepared a hair-raising assessment of financial costs related to sea level rise that is worth close examination. It seems, however, that many of the proposals listed in Santa Monica’s action plan remain mired in inaction. Of the five major recommendations listed in the plan, besides the financial assessment, only one–Beach Nourishment & Dune Creation–has been started, and that with the leadership of The Bay Foundation, a non-profit group that helped create a beach restoration pilot project near the Annenberg about four years before it was included in the city’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan.

Read More https://smmirror.com/2021/11/sma-r-t-column-a-flooding-prospect/

Now their opponents aim to nullify these two measures that would take almost all zoning decisions away from city councils and county boards and essentially place them in the hands of Wall Street investors and developers with big bankrolls.

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2021/11/opinion-sb-9-10-the-rebellion-begins/

Two commercial buildings are being redeveloped into a small new mixed use building at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Harvard Street in Santa Monica. 

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2021/11/mixed-use-development-with-possible-bank-coming-to-wilshire-boulevard/