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# Measure KK narrowly passes, redirecting homeownership funds to affordable rental housing
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/110602-story/
- Published: 2002-11-06T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T00:52:07.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Daily Press staff*

By a little more than 1 percentage point, voters approved a ballot measure that will funnel funds from one city program and allow them to be used to build affordable housing.

With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, Measure KK squeaked by Tuesday with 50.6 percent of the vote. The final count was 11,790 votes in favor and 11,529 against — a difference of 261 votes.

Supporters of KK cited a pressing need for affordable housing and sky-rocketing land values in Santa Monica as their reasons for putting the proposal on the ballot.

The measure asked voters to allow the city to use $4.5 million earmarked to encourage homeownership to be used to build rental housing for low-to-moderate-income tenants.

The funds originated from fees collected under the Tenant Ownership Rights Charter Amendment, also known as TORCA, which expired in 1996\. The program allowed renters to convert their apartments into condominiums.

Of the roughly $20 million collected, half went toward buying a mobile home park, building low-income housing and administrative costs. The other half was slated for low interest loans to purchase, renovate or lease the converted units — which were typically much less than the average Santa Monica condominium.

But city officials said demand for the loans has been very low and few have been administered in recent years. Meanwhile, they said the need for affordable housing remains very high.

“Our housing money shouldn’t sit in a bank account,” supporters said in a city voting guide. “It should be used to provide affordable housing for families.”

Critics said the city’s loan program is not advertised well, and it’s so complex that it prohibits people from applying for the loans. They said providing the low-interest loans is one of the few remaining ways Santa Monica promotes homeownership.

“The so-called ‘flexibility’ our opponents propose is simply a smoke screen to drain the Homeownership Fund into subsidized low-income rentals,” critics wrote in the voter guide. “This is an unbalanced housing policy, which is unfair to the residents who want to become homeowners.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 6, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/110602.pdf?ref=smdp.com)