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I’m certain that we have all enjoyed or continue to
enjoy the beaches, pier and restaurants in Santa
Monica. The best part about Santa Monica is that it’s
so close to all of us and that one does not need a
visa or passport to visit. One of the other benefits
is that the currency used in Santa Monica is our own
U.S. dollar and we don’t have to convert our
currency.
Santa Monica is one of a handful of cities in this
state that just doesn’t seem to belong in this state
or, for that matter, the United States. The concept of
private ownership of residential income property seems
to be a concept that is totally foreign to Santa
Monica’s city officials. The city seems to be on the
wrong side of almost EVERY issue just like a
particular woman attorney that I love to hate.
Unfortunately, the city officials don’t PERSONALLY
feel the cost of endless court fights that they lose
time after time.
Santa Monica constantly institutes and then
litigates ultra-liberal policies that sound good to
the masses, but eventually cost business and property
owners hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney
fees to overturn a policy that shouldn’t have been
enacted in the first place. It’s truly unfortunate
that the city does not learn anything from its defeats
and ultimately ignores or tries to evade a court
order, necessitating new expensive litigation to force
the city to accept a previous defeat.
If you’re an income property owner and follow
Santa Monica’s legal jousts, you will probably
remember the issue of the right of a property owner to
GO OUT OF BUSINESS. It would make sense to almost any
citizen of this country that a property owner with an
empty building should have the right to demolish it.
As you will remember, many years ago Santa Monica
denied such a permit on the communistic belief that it
would be a hardship on the “people” to reduce
scarce rental housing in the City of Santa Monica. As
I said earlier, city officials don’t REALLY believe
that you have rights to your own property. Though I
have long ago forgotten the dates and courageous names
involved, the right to go out of business was fought
by the city, at GREAT expense, all the way through the
State Supreme Court. The CITY LOST. As I said above,
it should be obvious to most citizens that a property
owner has a right to demolish his or her VACANT |
building. This case spurred the Ellis Act, which further
stated that an owner had an absolute right to go out of
business. UNFORTUNATELY, Santa Monica still wouldn’t
behave and PUNISHED property owners by enacting “relocation”
fees aimed at apartment owners with empty buildings who
merely wanted to “go out of business”. A recent court
case “Apartment Association etc. v. City of West Hollywood”
forced West Hollywood to drop this fee and further convinced
the People’s Republic and Beverly Hills to drop similar
fees.
Many years ago Santa Monica enacted one of the toughest
rent control laws in the state. This was again in the
mistaken belief, like New York City, that rent control would
protect the poor and the elderly. I hope most of us know by
now that WAGE AND PRICE CONTROLS don’t work. Fortunately,
the state legislature enacted statewide rent control
legislation designed to curb rent control abuses in cities
like Santa Monica. UNFORTUNATELY, a local apartment owner
had to sue Santa Monica to get final approval for a large
rent increase which was originally found JUSTIFIED by Santa
Monica’s own examiner. As you can see, even though
justified, the city tried to block the result: i.e. another
expensive lawsuit.
Is there a solution to this ongoing expensive, ultra left
wing crap? Unfortunately not. Employees who work in Santa
Monica would obviously love a doubling or tripling of the
minimum wage law. Credit card holders would obviously love
to be able to use a Bank of America ATM at no cost to take
money out of their account with another bank. The homeless
certainly love the ability to “sun themselves” on the
beautiful beaches of hospitable Santa Monica. If the
government of Santa Monica really believes in power of the
proletariat at the expense of individual property rights and
the entire capitalist system, nothing will change;
especially if the populous itself is decidedly WAY LEFT of
center. It’s a shame that people in the 21st century
still believe in a free lunch, i.e. artificial wages, rent
control, free (mandated) bank services, etc. etc. In the
mean time, let’s enjoy the beaches and attractions of this
foreign government.
I’m not usually this bitter, however writing this month’s
article sure “felt good”.
Peter Rosenthal
VIP Trust Deed Company |