Editor:
Well isn't this just great. The city council is concerned about short-term rentals and "seeks" to do something about them once again. I'll be shocked if there's any change in the existing ease in which people in Santa Monica rent their apartments and homes out for short term rentals.
In 2013 and 2014 code compliance manager Joe Trujillo was creating a "task force" to deal with illegal short-term rentals. Whatever happened to that? Seems that they had a difficult time actually finding the exact addresses of these properties. Funny ... since between the photos of the property, and the exact location on a map, I've managed to find the property in question quite easily. Joe complained that it was very "time-consuming." Really?
Terms like "actively investigating" and "taking a proactive approach" run rampant without anything actually taking place.
So now there is a cry for the city attorneys to draw up an ordinance to deal with a crisis on housing." What exactly does that mean? Licensing short term rentals as commercial property is one of the recommendations. Big deal. So they do that ... pay taxes ... report their rentals ... and everyone is happy? Not really. What kind of solution is that to the loss of rental stock in Santa Monica?
And even if a new requirement is established … I don't expect there to be any enforcement of violations. After all … if Joe Trujillo and his "task force" can't figure out an address of a short term rental property … I don't expect that anyone else can either.
Looking forward to seeing what the draft from the city attorneys produces. I guess we'll all find out next week since that's what the Mayor requested.
Judith Avery
Santa Monica
Growth out of control
Editor:
I am a life long Santa Monica resident, and the "Bounded social justice" column is an example of a city that lost its charm and soul. The article cites social philosophy that side steps environmental issues. More density puts even more strain on our scarce resources, over capacity roads, and city services. In addition, the residents pay the highest sales taxes, property taxes, water rate increases due to the states water crisis, our residents spend extra time and money navigating through our roads that were not designed for the city's capacity.
Our city is controlled by Santa Monica Renters Rights; the political base supports and elects city representatives that support more affordable housing. As a result, the elected officials make deals for monster projects for affordable housing. The cities past and present liberal officials ride on the backs of tax-paying residents; they approve projects that change the make up of our city.
Residents see through this smoke screen, and we're saying big is bad. The city's out-of-control policy of growth needs to be stopped. We want a city that brings balance back to all residents, and looks at quality of life for residents before quantity.
Robert Gomez
Santa Monica
