SANTA MONICA, CA — Dozens of older Santa Monica renters who previously failed to qualify for financial assistance could soon receive help under a newly approved expansion of a city program designed to keep low-income residents in their homes.
The Santa Monica City Council voted 6-0 Tuesday to broaden eligibility for its Preserving Our Diversity program, lower the minimum age for assistance and introduce annual cost-of-living adjustments. The changes were part of a larger affordability package that also makes up to $23.5 million in existing Measure GS funds available through the city's affordable housing financing process.
Council members also backed additional support for food assistance and child care, along with the development of stronger tenant-organizing protections. However, a separate proposal intended to help workers recover their final paychecks after immigration detention or other emergencies failed to advance following a debate over its potential impact on local businesses. Mayor Pro Tem Jesse Zwick was absent.
The city's Preserving Our Diversity program, commonly known as POD, provides cash assistance to qualifying low-income, longtime Santa Monica residents who struggle to cover basic living expenses after paying rent. Under the revised guidelines, the minimum eligibility age drops from 65 to 62, while the requirement that applicants have occupied their current rent-controlled apartment for at least 15 years falls to 10.
The program will also expand to qualifying residents of deed-restricted affordable housing who have lived in Santa Monica for at least 10 years. Benefits will receive annual adjustments tied to the Los Angeles County Consumer Price Index, helping assistance keep pace with rising living costs. During the presentation, Housing and Human Services Director Aileen Reynolds told council members that 29 households had applied for assistance over the previous year but did not qualify under the existing rules. All 29 would qualify under the expanded criteria, she said.
Reynolds said staff would immediately contact those households following approval and conduct additional outreach to reach other eligible residents. The council approved a $360,000 budget amendment to support the changes, including $250,000 for cost-of-living increases through fiscal year 2027-28, $10,000 for outreach and up to $100,000 for a study of potentially expanding the program to families and households with people with disabilities.
Councilmember Ellis Raskin welcomed the changes, describing residents who had narrowly missed eligibility despite facing mounting financial pressures.
"There are people who are hanging on literally month to month at this point," Raskin said.
The council also approved incorporating up to $23.5 million in Measure GS housing production funds into the city's Housing Trust Fund guidelines, allowing affordable housing developers to apply for funding through a process expected to reopen in January 2027. The money comes from existing Measure GS housing funds rather than a new appropriation. The action follows a June recommendation from the Measure GS Resident Oversight Committee and is intended to help affordable housing projects move toward construction.
The council also directed staff to prioritize an additional $300,000 annually for food assistance and child care subsidies in the proposed 2027-29 biennial operating budget. Unlike the POD funding amendment, that money has not yet been appropriated and remains subject to the city's upcoming budget process.
According to the Oct. 27 staff report, Santa Monica currently spends approximately $1.2 million annually on child care subsidies for income-qualifying families, but demand continues to outstrip available funding. Connections for Children, which administers the program, maintains a waiting list of eligible children whose families cannot receive assistance because funding is insufficient.
The city estimates that subsidies average between $18,000 and $20,000 per child annually. An additional $100,000 could support approximately five more children, although the city could also use additional funding to increase reimbursement rates.
Food assistance could also expand through the WISE Diner Program, which provides meals to older adults. One possibility under consideration is a lunch service at Virginia Avenue Park in the Pico neighborhood, potentially serving up to 100 meals a day, Monday through Friday, at an estimated annual cost of $126,000. Meanwhile, council members authorized staff to begin developing amendments to the city's Tenant Harassment Ordinance to strengthen protections for renters who organize collectively.
Although existing laws prohibit retaliation against tenants for organizing, Santa Monica's ordinance does not explicitly prohibit landlords from interfering with those activities in bad faith. Staff will consult tenants, landlords and other stakeholders before returning with proposed changes.
The evening's sharpest disagreement centered on a proposed ordinance requiring employers to give workers an opportunity to designate someone who could collect their final paycheck if they became unavailable because of immigration detention, illness or another emergency.
The proposal would have required employers to offer designation forms when hiring workers and annually afterward, with implementation scheduled for July 2027. Supporters argued that the measure would address a problem faced by workers unexpectedly separated from their jobs.
Raskin described a Santa Monica car wash worker detained by immigration authorities and subsequently sent to Guatemala. According to Raskin, it took approximately a week to identify a family member who could receive the worker's final paycheck.
"We are solving a problem that exists, that we know exists," Raskin said.
Mayor Caroline Torosis questioned whether the ordinance would duplicate existing state protections while imposing additional paperwork and potential legal liability on businesses.
"I feel that it's a solution in search of a problem," Torosis said.
She also raised concerns about the proposed enforcement provisions, which could expose employers to misdemeanor penalties, and suggested that existing wage laws and cooperation with worker advocacy organizations might offer a less burdensome approach.
Councilmember Barry Snell similarly expressed reservations about requiring businesses to repeat the designation process every year, although he supported the broader affordability package.
Raskin's substitute motion to introduce the ordinance failed 2-4, with Raskin and Councilmember Dan Hall voting in favor. Torosis, Snell and council members Lana Negrete and Natalya Zernitskaya opposed it. The council subsequently approved the remaining recommendations unanimously, directing the City Attorney's Office to explore final-paycheck protections through its developing wage-enforcement program.
That program recently moved in-house following the expiration of a contract with Los Angeles County and is expected to expand investigations, employer education and worker outreach in 2027. The council's decision leaves the proposed ordinance off the immediate legislative calendar, but keeps the broader question of how workers can recover unpaid wages on the city's agenda.
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