WAM- President's Message, July 2002

President's Message, July 2002
By Gordon P. Gitlen, Esq., Action President

I had a wonderful evening at Magicopolis for the ACTION fundraiser on May 10, 2002 along with approximately 100 other ACTION members who enjoyed the dinner and show. The barbecue chicken was my particular favorite in addition to the company. Of course, the show was outstanding. However, the most rewarding portion of the evening was the conversation and social interaction shared by all participants. We look forward to planning more fun events in the future and any ideas that you may have are welcome.

At a previous ACTION general meeting, Naia Sheffield spoke to us about her eviction by the City of Santa Monica from the Boathouse Restaurant. It appeared to be rather an unfair handling of a cultural and tourist landmark on the Santa Monica Pier. Essentially, the City of Santa Monica determined that it did not want the Boathouse Restaurant on the Pier, even though it has been there for 50 years. They determined this without any input from the residents of the City of Santa Monica and without recognition that the Boathouse Restaurant has contributed to the character of the City of Santa Monica. She is pursuing her legal remedies against the City.

Also, Tom Larmore spoke to the membership about the historic landmark designation of homes in Santa Monica, the devaluation of the properties as a result of the designation and the arbitrary procedure that the City of Santa Monica proposes in order to designate property as a historic landmark. Would it not be more fair to take a vote from the people affected in the area to determine if they want historical landmark status?

As reported at the last general meeting, ACTION is marching forward with its litigation to enforce the Court of Appeal decision mandating that the City of Santa Monica's requirement to pay interest on security deposits is unlawful. We shall now seek damages as well as convincing other cities to drop their requirement of paying interest on security deposits above and beyond the amount of interest paid by the banks on the deposit accounts. Of course, all tenants should receive a 1099 for the income.

Additionally, ACTION has filed suit against the City of Santa Monica concerning the City's restrictive policies on who can occupy a property after the property has been ellised (gone out of business). Also, ACTION shall file litigation against the City of Santa Monica to adjudicate the constitutionality of the tenant harassment ordinance. These are just a few of the projects planned by the Board of Directors of ACTION for the benefit of property owners of the City of Santa Monica.

Please review this magazine for further details and other items that are of interest from our contributing authors and plan on attending the next ACTION meeting that is set for the first Monday of each and every month. You will always find informative speakers and always learn something that is intended to save you money and help you to handle your property more efficiently. Of course, you do not have to be a member to attend the meetings and we look forward to seeing all of you at each general membership meeting. Now that our City threatens residential property owners, perhaps the showing at the polls in November will not support the plans of the Renters Rights Platform Organization.

See you at the next meeting!