Santa Monica's soul is for sale.

We are a community which years ago made a deliberate social decision to create stable homes for renters.

Now, housing policies forged over the past two decades, codified by repeated public votes, are threatened by developer lawsuits and political pressures.

The City Council Tuesday night will begin hearing arguments to relax development guidelines, allowing new housing construction without on-site affordable units.

The substitute would be "in-lieu fees." At levels now proposed, they'd be calculated to offer speculators a 40% return in the first year*... for tearing down existing affordable housing in existing neighborhoods.

The complexities of housing policy are daunting. Will Santa Monicans just throw up their hands, shrugging, "whatever"?

That would be a victory for outside money and condo-mania. Residents would be displaced, and the vibrant diversity of our city's neighborhoods eroded.

Say "NO!" Tuesday night at City Hall. Join your neighbors in demanding the Council remember and respect the kind of community we have voted to become.

Kevin McKeown
Chair, Wilshire/Montana Neighborhood Coalition

(*after this letter was printed, the City consultant clarified that the projected return was 40 to 50%, but not solely in the first year.)

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