Next is continuing with a series with new coverage of the city council meetings with a series of shorts that tells the rest of the story that our larger pieces might miss. Last night’s meeting can be found on video here.

AFSCME Slams Council Budget

A representative of the AFSCME union that represents city employees spoke in public comment about the city’s double standard in negotiations. They noted that AFSCME negotiated in good faith as the city claimed a budget crisis and deficit. But once the record five year contract between AFSCME and the city was signed, negotiators turned around and offered massive raises to the police and fire departments.

Their testimony begins at the 5:56 mark of the video. You can download their full letter here.

Off-site Affordable Housing Pilot Incentive Program

Item 10b was the most controversial item on the agenda. Citing a “housing emergency,” the Council moved a motion that would allow the ordinance to become law without going through multiple votes; the Council approved a motion to allow the building of “offsite affordable housing” of up to 1000 units with expedited permitting.

This motion was politically fraught. Six of the Councilmembers, all but Mayor Lana Negrete, were backed in their elections by the city’s old-guard political party, Santa Monicans for Renters Rights, and the younger, more pro-housing Santa Monica Forward. SMRR opposed the measure while Forward supported it.

A previous version of the article had some misinformation on the final vote. Councilmember Natalya Zernitskaya wrote with a correction.

“The staff recommendation was to apply it to all projects that have already been approved under administrative or discretionary approval (about 40ish projects) which would have unlocked 3600+ market rate & 650+ deed restricted affordable).

The compromise was to allow up to 1000 market rate units to move forward subject to this pilot and have staff come back in September with more supporting data (b/c the analysis was not able to be made public due to certain confidential information used in the analysis) and consider moving forward for the remaining approved projects in the pipeline.”

Approval of the staff motion failed on a 2-5 vote, with Councilmember Jesse Zwick voting with Zernitskaya. The compromise passed 6-1 with Negrete in opposition.

Citywide Equity Ordinance

Item 8a called for the passage of the Citywide Equity Ordinance that includes the approval of the Equity Plan after years of planning that ramped up with meetings of a team of staff and volunteers in the past year. 

The proposal includes a five year work-plan that includes at least small-scale projects in every department in the city and a $33,000 additional allocation. The plan focuses on economic development for underserved communities and providing support for the city’s immigrant communities.

The motion and allocation was approved unanimously.

Changes to Car Parking Fees

The council approved changes to parking fees in city-owned lots throughout the city. The Council gave direction to increase parking revenue to $8 million from $6 million . The ordinance reduced the amount of time a driver can park for free but balanced it by reducing the costs of longer-term parking. 

In December of 2023, the city reduced the cost of parking in its downtown lots in an effort to tweak the amount of people choosing to shop in the downtown. A report by city staff after the program showed there was no change in shoppers behaviors because of the changes. DTSM Inc. supported the changes.

An amendment was approved that allows for a “free half hour” replacing the “free 90 minutes” drivers enjoy in the current system. This is to remove fees for parents doing school pickups or people that are just stopping to pick up takeout food or other pre-ordered items. Originally, the city had 11-tiers in its parking costs, but it has reduced it to just three (or four if you include “free” as a tier) under the new ordinance.

Council also directed staff to return next year for an update on the proposal. The ordinance requires approval from the California Coastal Commission, so it could be a very long time before it actually becomes law. The amended motion was approved unanimously.

Downtown Zoning Ordinance

Next published the details of this ordinance in an article by Todd Flora earlier today. The motion passed unanimously. You can read more about the ordinance at its webpage on the Council agenda, Item 10a.