Don't Sign Their Petition if You Oppose Giving Benefits to Wealthy Real Estate Developers

If you've been to the grocery store recently you've been approached, as I have, by well-meaning appearing individuals who want you to 'help apartment owners.' The message below from the Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City (not to be confused with the Santa Monica Coalition) explains why you should not sign and allow this to be put on the ballot.

Alyssa Erdley

Houses owned by individuals, like this one, would have to pay the GS tax

April 23, 2024

Dear Friends of SMCLC,

Paid signature gatherers will soon be asking Santa Monica residents to help qualify an initiative that will carve out special tax savings for developers.

In 2022 Santa Monica voters passed Measure GS which added a new transfer tax to Santa Monica properties sold for over eight million dollars. This tax provides funding for homeless services, affordable housing and schools.

Whether you voted for Measure GS or not, we can all agree it should be applied equally.

Developers are sponsoring an initiative that would give them an exemption so they won't have to pay this transfer fee on their multi-million dollar projects.

Developers are already running wild over Santa Monica. Statewide laws have largely overridden local zoning, allowing them to build their projects without meaningful input from local residents or City Council. The neighborhood-busting project on the Gelson's site at Ocean Park and Lincoln Blvds is an example of their arrogance.

Alyssa Erdley

While owners of apartment buildings would be exempt from the very same tax.

Now they not only want to build without constraints, they don't even want to pay their fair share.

Their chutzpah knows no bounds.

Please do not sign their petition.

Victor, Diana, Sherrill and Jeff