> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Kelly Hayes-Raitt, Ocean Park activist honored as Woman of the Year - URL: https://www.smdp.com/032204-story-20040322/ - Published: 2004-03-22T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T04:03:06.000Z - Author: John Wood - Tags: Community, Ocean Park, #archive-import Even before she reached her teens, Kelly Hayes-Raitt knew politics was for her. The Buffalo-born daughter of a school teacher and a drug counselor campaigned for Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm (D-NY) in her 1972 bid for the presidential nomination. Chisholm lost, but Hayes-Raitt went on to work as an organizer, fundraiser and spokesman on dozens of other political campaigns, landing in Santa Monica 20 years ago. The 42-year-old resident of Ocean Park has taken two trips through Iraq in the last 13 months, meeting with people affected by the war. And she was recently named a “Woman of the Year” by the Los Angeles County Commission for Women for her work on women’s issues. Hayes-Raitt never finished college. She dropped out before finishing a degree in politics at George Washington University because the modest wage she earned as a full-time campaigner didn’t pay the tuition bills. Her parents, who divorced when Hayes-Raitt was a young girl, also didn’t have the money to pay for her college. Hayes-Raitt’s mother was married and divorced a total of three times. “Father’s Day is a very big deal for me,” she said. “I buy my cards in triplicate.” Among other things, Hayes-Raitt now serves as spokeswoman for a group of faculty and students at Santa Monica College that are protesting the board of trustees over academic programs cut in the face of a deep state budget deficit. She also is working on a campaign to fund emergency rooms through a surcharge on telephone lines — and she plans to run for a seat on the state assembly in 2006. “I think I’ve had it in the back of my mind for a while, but what really prompted it was 9-11,” said Hayes-Raitt in an interview last week. “I just felt like I wanted to do more and give more back.” The Daily Press recently caught up with Hayes-Raitt and asked for her trade secrets. You’ve worked on an array of different campaigns — from presidential hopefuls to state ballot measures and local causes. What’s your batting average? “You know, I get asked that all the time and I don’t take on a campaign because it feels like it’s going to win. I take on a campaign because it’s the right thing to do. “I’ve been up against multi-million-dollar interests like insurance companies and other special interests and have won some and have lost some. But I’ve been proud of every single fight and I would do any one of them again.” What are your trade secrets? How do you get your message across to a diverse and often pre-occupied audience? “The first thing I do is just look for the real, honest core of what the issue is all about. People respond to honesty, they respond to simplicity and they respond to human stories. I look at what I’d be interested in reading. You know, if I were sitting at home and seeing this story in the news or seeing it on TV, would I be interested in it? And I try my best to touch people. “The issues I worked on, (are) issues that are really, truly, life-and-death for the people that are involved in them. “For example, when I was working with families who had bought homes that hadn’t been built properly. It was a shattering experience for them — their children were sick, they were losing their life savings. These were concrete problems. So that’s what I prefer to talk about, it’s the true impact that public policy has on real people.” Does one campaign stick out as most memorable? “I had a couple. A couple that I’m real proud of. “The Homesafe Campaign, from 1999 to 2001, is one. We were up against powerful insurance companies for the building industry who wanted to restrict homeowners’legal rights and yet I was talking with families who, literally, their children would wake at night with their pajama tops covered in blood from nosebleed reactions they had to toxic mold that was the result of bad construction. “This was a very, very hard campaign and I was joined by homeowners from throughout the state. And we not only got legislation passed to protect homeowners, but to make the system work better, cheaper and faster so they could get their homes fixed. “And the bonus was that I was able to help pass legislation that makes California the first state in the country to set health standards for toxic mold.” What about one campaign that was a public relations nightmare? “Always the current campaign I’m working on feels like the PR nightmare, but somehow I work my way out of it... “I have had some tough challenges. But I’d have to say a really tough one was when I was spokesperson against the Ron Unz Initiative that virtually eliminated bilingual education in California.” What was difficult about it? “There was just sort of an urban myth that school children are just able to absorb languages — and so there were many people who felt that children should just be dropped into English immersion classes to learn other subjects like science and history and physics.” How did you first get involved in politics? “My mother was very active politically, on social issues. She was very active in protesting for civil rights. I actually got involved in my first campaign when I was about 12\. It was for Shirley Chisholm’s campaign for president. I heard her speak at Fredonia State University and I was so inspired by her. Her campaign slogan was ‘Catalyst for Change’ and I decided at that moment that that’s what I wanted to be when I grew up — a catalyst for change.” You were recently named “Woman of the Year” by the LA County Commission for Women. Why — and what was that experience like? “I was initially nominated in the education category for the public speaking that I’ve been doing about Iraq and the women of Iraq, but I was actually given an award in their media category to recognize the public relations work that I’ve done for women and the various campaigns that I’ve worked on. “I was also very excited to be in the company of some really outstanding fellow awardees. You know, it’s interesting, you just do your job, live your life and you never know if anyone really notices. It was quite an honor for me to be recognized.” Why do you plan to run for a seat on the State Assembly in 2006? “I’m interested in running for the Assembly in 2006 after Fran Pavley is termed out because I really feel that I have more to offer. “I’ve learned a great deal in the 25 years I’ve had doing community organizing and public relations — how to build consensus and creatively solve problems, and really fight for people whose voices aren’t being heard in Sacramento. So I’d like to bring that experience to Sacramento and have it really work for people in our district.” How did you end up in Santa Monica? “I was working for a Ralph Nader organization that was setting up community organizing programs around the country and I came to California in ‘82 — San Francisco to set up a fundraising program for the California League of Conservation Voters. “That was so successful that the league decided to expand its effort to Los Angeles and they brought me back to D.C. the following year. So I had a temp assignment here in LA for four months and just ended up staying... “The first year I was here, I moved nine times in 11 months... “Quite frankly, I wouldn’t have stayed in Los Angeles if I hadn’t ended up in Santa Monica. The minute I stepped foot in Santa Monica I knew I was home.” Why? What exactly do you like about Santa Monica? “The beach, the sense of community, the weather — it still doesn’t snow here. The people are great. I love the small town feel of Santa Monica. And that’s really what drew me here, that’s what keeps me here.” If you could change one thing about Santa Monica, what would it be? “Traffic.” What about politically — if you could change one thing about the state of politics in Santa Monica? “I’d give the City Council more authority. I’d have a full-time, professional, paid City Council. I think our city deserves that now, and I think our City Council works extremely hard with the limited time and personal resources they have.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/032204-03_01.jpg) Susanne Warner, 75, of Mar Vista, and Carl Schimmer, 84, of Venice, get busy on the dance floor at the 27th annual Seniors’ Prom on Saturday. (Photo: John Wood/Daily Press) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 22, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/032204.pdf?ref=smdp.com)