1 Xavier Mota
From: Lonnie Guinn <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, October 8, 2023 8:38 AM
To: councilmtgitems; Gleam Davis; Lana Negrete; Phil Brock; Oscar de la Torre; Christine Parra; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick
Subject: Please Support Measure 16C and 16F
EXTERNAL
Mayor Davis, Mayor Pro Tempore Negrete, Councilmembers Brock, Parra, de la Torre, Torosis, and Zwick, The 2024 general election gives the State of California another chance to repeal the legislation (Costa Hawkins) that not only gutted valuable assets of rent control jurisdictions but, in combination with the Ellis Act, allowed situations like the current one at Barrington Plaza in West LA to take place. That repeal can happen with the passage of the Justice for Renters Act ballot measure.
Using their monied supporters, opponents will try to inundate voters with disinformation so it is very important that our City Council take action on Agenda Item 16C to support the Justice for Renters Act. Santa Monica was and is a leader in rent control but that leadership is nothing without clear support from those elected to lead us. This Council can send a message that we continue to advocate for lower rents so that we allow tenants to remain in their homes for as long as they wish, move within our City when life changes make it necessary, and be able to spend time enhancing their lives without an overextended rent burden.
Of course, the proactive measure to addressing homelessness begins with making sure people remain housed. It's interesting that housing providers rail about the homeless situation making Santa Monica less appealing and, yet, they continue to support policies that push more people to homelessness.
Repeal of Costa Hawkins doesn't automatically give California rent control. It doesn't threaten single family homes. It doesn't return rent control laws to pre‐Costa Hawkins levels. Instead, it offers jurisdictions across the state an opportunity, if they desire, to implement rent stabilization rules that best suit their needs.
Please vote YES to endorse the Justice for Renters Act.
And vote YES on Item 16F to support the Barrington Plaza tenants who are in a fight not only for their homes but in a fight for all renters against what happens when Costa Hawkins is used in conjunction with the Ellis Act.
Lonnie Guinn
Commissioner
Santa Monica Rent Control Board
ITEM 16.F.
October 10, 2023
ITEM 16.F.
October 10, 2023
1 Xavier Mota
From: Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, October 9, 2023 5:35 PM
To: Gleam Davis; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Phil Brock; Lana Negrete; Oscar de la Torre; [email protected]; councilmtgitems
Subject: Item 16F, Agenda 10-10-23; Barrington Plaza Resolution
EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor and Councilmembers:
Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights (SMRR) urges you to adopt a resolution in support of the tenants of Barrington Plaza, as they fight mass eviction by the building's owner, Douglas Emmett Inc.
Corporate landlord Douglas Emmett Inc. is attempting to evict more than 500 rent-controlled tenants from the Barrington Plaza Apartments in West Los Angeles. Douglas Emmett Inc. also owns large rent-controlled apartment complexes in Santa Monica totalling 940 units, and has a corporate headquarters in our City.
Douglas Emmett Inc is using the Ellis Act (which allows owners to "go out of the rental housing business") to evict everyone, however they do not appear to be going out of the rental housing business at all -- just emptying the buildings to remodel them to add sprinkler systems, and, ultimately, higher income renters.
While the Barrington Plaza tenants have filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the evictions, we urge Councilmembers to act today in support of the tenants and against these threatened evictions, and issue a resolution. Once adopted, please direct staff to send copies of the resolution to the Barrington Plaza Tenants Association, LA Mayor Karen Bass, the LA Councilmember that represents the tenants of Barrington Plaza, and to Douglas Emmett Inc., headquartered in Santa Monica as well as any other parties deemed appropriate.
Thank you.
ITEM 16.F.
October 10, 2023
ITEM 16.F.
October 10, 2023
1 Xavier Mota
From: Jon Katz <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2023 11:39 AM
To: councilmtgitems
Cc: Gleam Davis; Lana Negrete; Phil Brock; Oscar de la Torre; Christine Parra; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick
Subject: Item 16F - SUPPORT
EXTERNAL
Mayor Davis, Mayor Pro Tempore Negrete, and Councilmembers:
Please support the resolution supporting tenants of Barrington Plaza who are facing the threat of mass eviction from their homes. This building sits just on the other side of our city line, meaning that the potential mass displacement could have a major effect on our City, including a likely increase to our unhoused population.
I joined a protest of this eviction on Ocean Avenue in front of the headquarters of Douglas Emmett, Inc. which owns this property. During the protest, I witnessed about a dozen individuals from the company management come out to the street level to mock the protesters, including making lewd hand gestures, eye rolls, and over the top cynical laughter.
Their callous indifference to the fate of their own tenants redoubled my own commitment to making sure this eviction does not take place.
There is no real reason to evict all of these tenants for the reasons stated. The needed repairs can happen while the tenants remain in their units. The true reason for this eviction is so that Douglas Emmett Inc can bring in new tenants at higher rates of rent. These potential increased profits should not dictate the fates of hundreds of tenants whose housing security is on the line.
Thank you for your consideration. Please do the right thing by supporting our neighbors. ‐‐
Jon Katz
[email protected]
cell: (215) 962‐4357
ITEM 16.F.
October 10, 2023
ITEM 16.F.
October 10, 2023
1 Xavier Mota
From: Anastasia Foster <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2023 11:40 AM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: 16 f Support
EXTERNAL
Please support the tenants of Barrington Plaza with this Resolution. This move to empty the building just to renovate it is a clear threat to the stability of our own housing stock in Santa Monica and throughout California.
Thank you
‐‐
Anastasia Foster
Chair, Santa Monica Rent Control Board
Organizer, Schiff for Senate Campaign
Board of Directors, Meals on Wheels West
CADEM Credentials Committee Co‐Chair & Delegate ‐ AD51
CEPS Steering Committee
Franklin PTA Executive Committee
Facebook
Instagram
ITEM 16.F.
October 10, 2023
ITEM 16.F.
October 10, 2023
1 Xavier Mota
From: Ellis Raskin <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2023 11:42 AM
To: councilmtgitems; Gleam Davis; Lana Negrete; Phil Brock; Oscar de la Torre; Christine Parra; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick
Cc: Clerk Mailbox; David White; Douglas Sloan; Denise Anderson-Warren Subject: Comments for Oct. 10, 2023 City Council Meeting Attachments: 2023-10-10 Ltr re Agenda Item 16-F.pdf; 2023-10-10 Ltr re Agenda Item 16-C.pdf; 2023-10-10 Ltr re Agenda Item 4-E.pdf
EXTERNAL
Dear Hon. Councilmembers:
Please find attached comment letters regarding agenda items 4‐E, 16‐C, and 16‐F.
Best,
Ellis Raskin
ITEM 16.F.
October 10, 2023
ITEM 16.F.
October 10, 2023
October 10, 2023
Santa Monica City Council
c/o City Clerk
1685 Main St., Room 250
Santa Monica, CA 90401
RE: Agenda item 16-F (Support for Barrington Plaza Residents) Dear Hon. Councilmembers,
I urge you to vote in favor of the proposed resolution in support of the residents of Barrington Plaza. As you know, this would be the largest mass eviction in the City of Los Angeles since the Chavez Ravine evictions in the 1950s.
Evicting the residents of Barrington Plaza would be a catastrophe. It is important to remember that these evictions will not only have impacts on the housing market – there will be human health impacts. Public health experts, sociological experts, and other public policy experts have published numerous articles, studies, and reports documenting the adverse environmental and human health effects caused by (and associated with) housing displacement.1 Please support this item.
Best,
Ellis Raskin
1 See, e.g.:
• Community-level Effects of Displacement:
http://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/52311/900936-Community-level-Effects-ofDisplacement.pdf • Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative Analysis of Displacement Impacts: http://barhii.org/wpcontent/uploads/2016/02/BARHII-displacement-brief.pdf • Homelessness and its Effects on Children: http://www.fhfund.org/wpcontent/uploads/2014/10/Homlessness_Effects_Children.pdf • Housing Displacement and Health: http://www.rph.org.nz/content/72b908b8-f8d7-4a17-ad8a6e25a97f4876.cmr • Can Curbing Gentrification Help Stop Climate Change?: http://theweek.com/articles/680154/curbinggentrification-help-stop-climate-change • Homelessness and Housing Instability: The Impact on Education Outcomes:
https://www.tacomahousing.net/sites/default/files/print_pdf/Education/Urban%20Institute%20THA%20Ho melessness%20and%20Education%202014-12-22.pdf
• Serial Forced Displacement in American Cities:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51161188_Serial_Forced_Displacement_in_American_Cities_19 16-2010
ITEM 16.F.
October 10, 2023
ITEM 16.F.
October 10, 2023
1 Xavier Mota
From: Natalya Zernitskaya <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2023 11:48 AM
To: councilmtgitems
Cc: Gleam Davis; Lana Negrete; Christine Parra; Oscar de la Torre; Phil Brock; Caroline Torosis; David White; Jesse Zwick; [email protected]
Subject: 10/10/23 City Council Agenda Items 16C and 16F
EXTERNAL
Re: Santa Monica City Council Agenda 10/10/2023 - Items 16C & 16F Dear Mayor Davis, Mayor Pro Tem Negrete, and City Councilmembers, I urge you to please support both Item 16C (for the City to formally support the Justice for Renters Act) and 16F (to adopt a resolution in support of the tenants of Barrington Plaza as they fight mass eviction). The reason I include both items in one email is because they are both about protecting tenants.
With regards to Item 16C, the “Request of Mayor Davis and Councilmembers Torosis and Zwick that the City Council support the Justice for Renters Act. The California Secretary of State has verified that the Justice for Renters Act has qualified for the November 2024 state ballot. The Justice for Renters Action is an initiative which will expand local control over rent laws by replacing The Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act. Costa Hawkins prohibits rent control on single-family homes, condominiums and rental units that were built after 1995. The Justice for Renters Act removes this ban on rent control in California, giving local communities the right to stabilize rents and make apartments more affordable for low-income and middle-income renters.
Repealing Costa Hawkins will help local government address one of the root causes of homelessness-- skyrocketing rents and unaffordable housing. Mayor Davis and Councilmembers Torosis and Zwick also request that the City Manager issue a press release indicating the City Council’s support for the proposed ballot initiative and send a letter of support from the City to the Governor, Senator Ben Allen, Assemblymember Rick Zbur, and to the proponents of the Justice For Renters Act.”, support of this ballot measure should be an easy yes vote given Santa Monica’s strong support of our rent control tenant protections and our limitations in expanding rent control protections for tenants due to the Costa-Hawkins Act of 1995.
With regards to Item 16F, the “Request of Councilmember Torosis, Mayor Davis and Councilmember Zwick that the City Council adopt a resolution in support of the tenants of Barrington Plaza as they fight mass eviction, and direct staff to send copies of the adopted resolution to the Barrington Plaza tenants' association, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, the Los Angeles City Councilmember that represents the tenants of Barrington Plaza, and to Douglas Emmett Inc. headquartered in Santa Monica, and other parties as deemed appropriate.” , it is important for our City to show solidarity with the tenants of Barrington Plaza and send a strong signal that we oppose these types of actions not only in our own city borders but in our larger community as well. We support the fair and equitable treatment of all renters and we should not be afraid to voice that support.
Additionally both of items are supported by our City’s legislative priorities including:
Support legislation that amends or repeals the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act. Support legislation that increases tenant protections and eliminates the incentive for property owners to remove rent control eligible properties from the rental market through the Ellis Act or other means Please vote yes on both Item 16-C and 16F.
ITEM 16.F.
October 10, 2023
ITEM 16.F.
October 10, 2023
2 Sincerely,
Natalya Zernitskaya
Natalya Zernitskaya (she/her)
[email protected]
ITEM 16.F.
October 10, 2023
ITEM 16.F.
October 10, 2023
1 Xavier Mota
From: Dan Hall <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2023 11:57 AM
To: councilmtgitems
Cc: Caroline Torosis; Christine Parra; Gleam Davis; Lana Negrete; Oscar de la Torre; Phil Brock; Jesse Zwick
Subject: Item 16F - SUPPORT
EXTERNAL
Mayor Davis, Mayor Pro Tempore Negrete, and Council:
Please support Item 16F to add our community’s collective voice in support of the tenants at Barrington Plaza who are being wrongfully evicted.
This is in line with your stated legislative priorities, specifically supporting legislation that eliminates the incentive for property owners to remove rent control properties through the Ellis Act.
Thank you,
Dan Hall
ITEM 16.F.
October 10, 2023
ITEM 16.F.
October 10, 2023