A. All residents are entitled to stability, safety, privacy, dignity and peace in their homes. A primary goal of Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights is to support, defend and enhance rent control and tenant protections locally, regionally and statewide.

  1. The protections tenants should be afforded include: fair and reasonable rent controls; freedom from harassment and unfair evictions; well-enforced habitability standards; continuation of established services and amenities; the right to reasonable guest visitation; maintenance of roommate privileges; strong anti-discrimination enforcement, including family protection laws and domestic partnerships; and the right to communicate with other tenants about conditions or circumstances in their buildings.
  2. SMRR advocates the repeal or major amendments of the Ellis Act and the return of local control in deciding conditions by which landlords can remove buildings from the rental market. The City should stop abuse of Ellis and protect the community from unbridled condo-redevelopment.
  3. Ballot initiatives such as Prop 98 to destroy all limits on an owner’s use of property must be stopped. Destabilizing households and communities through vacancy decontrol, even with recontrol as it exists under the Costa-Hawkins Act incentivizes harassment and unfair evictions. SMRR will work for repeal or an amendment to limit the amount of rent-increase upon vacancy. The City should continue to adopt and enforce laws to stop harassment and unfair evictions.
  4. Counseling and legal assistance for all renters is necessary, including by continued City-funded legal services for low-income tenants, and by nonprofits and private attorneys. SMRR’s tenant assistance hotline is 310-394-0848.
  5. SMRR will work with tenant groups and other allies around the state to protect and enhance renters’ rights.

B. SMRR strongly supports programs that seek to preserve and expand the supply of affordable housing and maintain the historic ethnic and economic diversity in Santa Monica.

  1. Housing policies should encourage the preservation of existing affordable housing and protect the tenure of existing tenants, including Section 8 and mobile home tenants.
  2. Encourage the City to promote public and private development of affordable housing, emphasizing nonprofit housing, including senior housing and temporary and transitional housing for the homeless.
  3. To preserve the character of residential neighborhoods and to reduce the loss of existing housing, Santa Monica needs to keep current development height and density limits in multifamily zones with appropriate exemptions for 100% affordable projects.
  4. Most new multifamily building activity should be shifted to mixed-use projects in commercial and industrial areas where pedestrian access to retail and transit services can be provided.
  5. Santa Monica should focus on affordable housing to meet and exceed its regional responsibility for housing production. Emphasis should be on nonprofit-provided deed-restricted housing, plus temporary, transitional, and permanent housing for the homeless. Santa Monica must adopt policies that ensure the achievement of the goals of Proposition R, which requires 30% of all new multifamily housing each year be affordable to low- and moderate-income households. The City and Redevelopment Agency should maximize funding for preserving, buying land for, and building affordable housing for low- and moderate-income households.
  6. The City should facilitate affordable homeownership and rental opportunities for moderate-income households who live or work in Santa Monica. SMRR opposes condo-conversion schemes that create displacement and harassment risks for existing residents.
  7. Workforce housing should allow current residents to remain in Santa Monica, as well as allow first-responders and government line staff, and school and hospital workers with moderate incomes, to live here, provided land acquisition and funding packages do not compete against government and nonprofit purchases of land for low-income households.
  8. Housing policies should protect residents from the adverse effects of residential and commercial development by managing the rate of construction, and should preserve existing buildings, such as courtyard apartments and cottage bungalows, that add history, charm, and/or character to the community.
  9. The City and Rent Control Board should continue to enforce all owners' obligations under the Ellis Act. The City must improve, monitor and strictly enforce all agreements to keep deed-restricted units affordable in an ongoing and systematic manner.
  10. Support the enactment of a "visitability" ordinance for new and/or substantially remodeled homes to (1) meet the housing needs of those with disabilities or who "age in place" and (2) to ensure that people with disabilities have basic visitation access to all new housing, where such an ordinance can be implemented in a fair and reasonable manner and without imposing unduly excessive costs on homeowners.

C. SMRR supports Santa Monica as a Lifelong Learning Community committed to strengthening educational planning for all ages and stages of life. SMRR supports breadth, diversity, and equity in educational programming and facilities to achieve social and economic justice for all students.

  1. SMRR reaffirms its strongest commitment to our public schools and college, including their teachers and support staffs. A well-educated community is in the best interests of all Santa Monicans. SMRR is committed to both vocational/career and academic programs to meet the needs of our diverse community and that assist in Santa Monicans’ personal, social, and professional development. We support high-quality, affordable early-childhood education; childcare; and recreational and youth services for our community.
  2. The City, School District, and College should develop an ongoing partnership and joint use facility projects that recognize and serve the full community’s interest in maintaining excellent public schools.
  3. The City, in order to ensure high-quality public education for all students in core curriculum and bilingual education, special education, music, fine arts, and PE, should continue ongoing financial support for our schools and help develop ongoing sustainable funding from a number of sources. SMRR recognizes that it is the responsibility of the School District to determine the best use of such funds.
  4. The City, School District, and College should implement programs that focus on ages 0 to 5 and ensure every child is born healthy, enjoys learning, and enters school ready and eager to succeed.
  5. Santa Monica College should promote and provide appropriate workforce and economic development programs in support of residents, workers, and businesses in Santa Monica.
  6. The City, in cooperation with the School District and College, should ensure that high-quality, affordable childcare is available to every Santa Monica family who seeks it.
  7. The City should ensure meaningful opportunities for advocacy, empowerment, and participation in community affairs for all youth and establish a Youth Commission.
  8. SMRR considers it a high priority in community, college, and school affairs to maintain and expand programs that reach out to and address the needs of young people so as to help them achieve success.
  9. Expand employment programs, including programs for youth in public and private jobs emphasizing internships, service learning, apprenticeships, and mentoring, that lead to meaningful and long-term employment.
  10. SMRR will work with groups locally and throughout the State and nation to support policies that promote and protect high-quality public education.

D. SMRR supports ensuring the continued prosperity of our local economy while protecting the community from excessive development and the traffic it generates. SMRR is committed to protecting residential neighborhoods from intensification of nearby commercial development

  1. SMRR opposes increasing commercial heights and densities in any commercial district in Santa Monica.
  2. Santa Monica should maintain or reduce current height and density standards on commercial boulevards. Since comercial development generates much more traffic than housing, land-use policy should favor housing over commercial uses above the first floor on these boulevards.
  3. Commercial development should not exceed the capacity of the City’s infrastructure, nor be permitted where it adversely affects residential neighborhoods. The City should limit total commercial development permitted in Santa Monica based on infrastructure capacity.
  4. Land-use policy, zoning decisions, project reviews, and development agreements should ensure that neighborhoods burdened by development participate in deliberations and gain tangible benefits from development.
  5. Regional and international visitors are important to Santa Monica’s fiscal success and add important multicultural dimensions to our community life. However, greater emphasis should be placed on development of services and activities that primarily seek to serve and attract local Santa Monica residents.
  6. Small, locally-owned businesses should be protected, encouraged, and facilitated.

E. SMRR is committed to keeping Santa Monica at the forefront of enlightened environmental policy. We strive to make our community and environment better than the way we found them and are determined to improve and strengthen our world-renowned sustainability programs.

  1. The “Sustainable City Program” should be the guiding principle in policies and decisions made by the City Council, City departments, and all City boards and commissions.
  2. Both public and private entities should reduce their ecological footprint by increasing use of clean, renewable energy; implementing aggressive energy-conservation measures; and promoting land-use and infrastructure policies that encourage walking, biking, and public transportation.
  3. The City, School District, and College should continue to improve and expand their recycling, waste-reduction, and toxic-recovery programs.
  4. Santa Monica should strongly support water-conservation and urban-runoff-reduction programs and encourage other cities to fulfill their obligation to take the steps needed to reduce pollution in Santa Monica Bay, and the City should continue to integrate cleaner alternative-fuel and zero-emission vehicles into its fleets.
  5. Santa Monica should strive to develop a transit-, pedestrian-, bicycle-oriented community. We should support the development of the Wilshire subway to the sea and the Exposition LRT; expand local bus service; promote free transit; and provide convenient, efficient, and economical shuttle systems to serve and connect our neighborhoods, schools, commercial areas, beaches, and parks.
  6. Developers of new commercial and housing projects should be required to provide transit passes at no cost to their employees and residents of their projects. Hotels should provide free transit passes to guests.

F. SMRR believes in the right of all community members to feel safe and secure. Reducing crime requires the commitment of the entire community and partnerships between the people and the Police Department. SMRR is committed to working with the SMPD to achieve a comprehensive community-based approach to law enforcement.

  1. SMRR supports community-based policing. Community policing is a philosophy, a management style, and an organizational strategy, which promotes problem solving and police/community partnerships that jointly identify safety issues, determine resources, and apply innovative strategies to create and sustain healthy, vital neighborhoods.
  2. Public safety departments should develop collaborative relationships with our community, including neighborhood-based organizations, and include community members in advisory and decision-making processes.
  3. Police and Fire Departments should have the appropriate resources to address the safety needs of our community.
  4. Traffic management and pedestrian protection should be critical components of a public safety program.
  5. Checks and balances should be promoted to assure an ethical Police Department that does not tolerate such untoward actions as selective enforcement, racial profiling, and violations of constitutional protections.
  6. SMRR believes our police policies must ensure sensitivity to issues that impact families and relationships (e.g., domestic violence, concerns with/for juveniles).

G.SMRR is committed to the restoration and expansion of our parks and our public open space and their recreational facilities and programs. Santa Monica parks should be the pride of our community.

  1. The City should improve and expand open spaces and public parks and ensure effective maintenance and safety.
  2. We support the goals of and urge aggressive implementation of the City’s Open Space Element and Parks & Recreation Master Plan for the creation of more parks and the greening of the City.
  3. We support non-aviation recreational uses at Santa Monica Airport, including the development of active recreational facilities to meet the broad range of needs in our community on residual land not needed for airport purposes.
  4. We support the continued expansion and cultivation of a generous urban forest in every neighborhood.

H. SMRR is committed to sustaining the broad array of social service programs for seniors, for persons with disabilities, for families, for youth, and for the poor in Santa Monica, including a continued local commitment to humane efforts to meet the needs of the homeless.

  1. SMRR supports the right to full enjoyment of and a sense of security in all public places. The civil rights of the housed and the unhoused are, and should be, equally protected in the eyes of the law and the community.
  2. Homelessness is a national disgrace that can only be solved when we act as one nation in facing its challenge. The Council should consistently speak out to the political community and business leaders of our region, our state, and our nation about this.
  3. The community should be consulted on a regular basis regarding social service needs in Santa Monica through surveys, focus groups, and/or public hearings.
  4. Funding for homeless-serving programs should maintain a continuum-of-care model, in which emergency assistance programs are supported, as well as a “housing first” model.
  5. SMRR supports the full inclusion of people with disabilities as a basic right and responsibility of the community.

I. SMRR is committed to assuring a vital artistic and cultural life in our community.

  1. The arts are a part of the success of our local economy as well as a vital part of our community and cultural life and should be nurtured.
  2. We urge the City to expand our arts and cultural programs to increase support for the performing arts and public art, assist and facilitate the development of effective arts programs in our schools, give priority to supporting local artists in its arts programs, and encourage live-work spaces and the retention of the local artist community.
  3. The City should create a professional cultural center in the Civic Center.
  4. We support the City’s Creative Capital plan for the arts.
  5. The City, the College, and the School District should collaborate to preserve, provide, and enhance accessible recreational and cultural activities and facilities for all people in our community.

J. SMRR is committed to public participation in all aspects of community life, including its political life.

  1. We support affirmative action for full and equal access to community leadership positions, membership on boards and commissions, jobs, contracts, housing, and educational opportunities to all people without regard for race, gender, ethnicity, national origin, religion, age, disability, or sexual orientation.
  2. Voter participation should be increased, by facilitating voter registration and finding convenient voting locations.
  3. We support campaign contribution limitations as adopted by City law, and urge consideration of measures that ensure that campaign money for local candidates is principally raised from local residents.
  4. CityTV’s non-partisan programming of local-issue forums and candidates debates should be enhanced.
  5. Resources should be provided to ensure the vitality of neighborhood organizations and include them in policy debates, and community members should be notified early and broadly about issues of concern.
  6. SMRR supports community connectivity and inclusive public involvement through telecommunications technology, with a commitment to universal access.
  7. Residents should have cost-effective access to the highest quality of cable and other information services, including local public education and government programming.

K. SMRR is committed to workers’ rights.

  1. SMRR supports a living wage and fair benefits including respecting and defending the rights of workers in Santa Monica to organize to achieve these conditions, without harassment or intimidation.
  2. The City, School District, College, and the business community should guarantee these rights, promote decent working conditions, and give employees a voice on the job and on boards and commissions that affect the industries, institutions, and organizations in which they work.

L. SMRR is committed to maintaining and enhancing the security and quality of life for senior citizens.

  1. Access to the community must be ensured for seniors through transportation options.
  2. An aging population requires protection of and access to affordable healthcare, housing, and specialized care facilities.
  3. Education options must extend throughout one’s life. SMRR re-states its support for lifelong learning for seniors.