> ## 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. # Carmen Balber and the Foundation for Taxpayers & Consumer Rights track corporations and government - URL: https://www.smdp.com/c-o-m-m-u-n-i-t-y-p-r-o-f-i-l-e-s-i-s-a-w-e-e-k-l-y-s-e-r-i-e-s-t-h-a-t-a-p-p-e-a-r-s-e-a-c-h-m-o-n-d-a-y-a-n-d-d-e-l-v-e-s-i-n-t-o-t-h-e-p-e-o-p-l-e-20051024/ - Published: 2005-10-24T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T08:01:41.000Z - Author: Ryan Hyatt - Tags: Government & Politics, Ocean Park, #archive-import OCEAN PARK — The task of keeping tabs on corporations and the government may seem daunting, but several people are making a career of it in Santa Monica. One of them is Carmen Balber, a political reform expert and one of the eight staff members who work at the Foundation for Taxpayers & Consumer Rights, a nonprofit public advocacy group located on the second floor of the blue office building at 1750 Ocean Park Blvd. Balber, 29, hails from Milford, Mich., where her family still lives. She found her passion in politics after finishing her secondary education at an international high school in Montezuma, N.M. However, finding a way to use her political passion — while earning a living — hasn’t been easy. With the exception of landing her position with the Foundation five years ago, Balber describes most of the jobs she’s worked as “not worth mentioning.” One notable exception is the experience she gained while working on her bachelor’s degree in politics at Pomona College in Claremont. During the summers, Balber did door-to-door political canvassing for the Public Interest Research Group, a lobby organization focused mainly on environmental issues, she said. “In general, people were nice, even if they could care less what you were saying,” Balber said. “This was especially true when they found out you were on their doorstep for a political reason. They respected the fact we were going out and talking to people.” Today, Balber is most recognized locally for her efforts regarding the Taxpayer Protection Amendment, an initiative passed by voters a few years ago intended to hold politicians accountable for campaign financing and conflict-of-interest issues. The initiative prohibits public officials from taking campaign cash, gifts or a job from companies who benefit from their official actions. Five California cities, including Santa Monica, have fought the law in court and failed. They argued that the law, however well intentioned, was too difficult to put into practice. The courts sided with the Foundation, and elected officials statewide are expected to abide by the measure. Balber said the most important aspect of the law is that it’s on the books, serving as another public watchdog measure, she said. To the best of her knowledge, Santa Monica officials are attempting to comply with it. The Santa Monica Daily Press caught up with Balber to discuss her work and her path to finding it. What other issues does the Foundation work on? “We mostly focus on health, energy, corporate accountability and insurance issues. More timely is gas prices. We do a lot of energy work, and this happens to be the one thing that is on the forefront of everyone’s mind right now. We’re collaborating with an oil industry analyst to really look at the causes behind spikes in gasoline prices in California and beyond. “Across the country, we’re finding capacity is down because the refineries have not built any new refineries, and in fact they’re closing them down. If they can restrict supply, they can push prices up. They use the excuse of environmental regulations to claim that’s what’s causing the low supply, and not the fact they’re closing refineries left and right. “We’re finding the theory of ‘peak oil’ doesn’t fit into the picture at the moment. The problem isn’t obtaining the crude oil. The problem right now is with the refineries, and they’re restricting the supply. Until we start requiring refineries to stay open, supply cannot increase. If oil is not being refined, it’s simply not being delivered to the public. A recent study we put out indicates the 67 cent increase in gasoline between April and July, over 60 cents of it was profit for the refineries. Gas prices are coming up, not because crude is becoming more expensive. Gas prices are coming up because refineries are pushing up the prices to make more profits, and they’ve had record profits in the last couple of years. “The real solution is to regulate gasoline providers like we regulate electricity providers. In this day and age, as sad as it may be, gasoline is a necessary commodity. Whether it’s providing public transportation or getting somebody to work everyday, it’s simply important to require they’re not overcharging.” How did the Foundation get started? “The Foundation’s founder, Harvey Rosenfield, was the author of Proposition 103, which was passed on the 1988 ballot to regulate the insurance industry. It received 51 percent of the vote. We have also had a big hand in enforcing it. It passed over the opposition of the insurance industry, which spent $80 million and put three initiatives on the ballot to try and defeat it. All of the initiatives have failed. Harvey and the Foundation have been defending it in court ever since against insurers. There have been dozens of cases, and when they are all added up, I think there are over 100 incidences in which the insurance industry has tried to challenge 103, unsuccessfully every time. “One of the things we do is monitor insurers’ rate increase requests. For those that look excessive, we have an outside actuary crunch the numbers to determine if it is or isn’t. In cases where the increases seem excessive or unnecessary, we’re able to intervene in the process and petition for a hearing to lower the rates, which is a huge power under Proposition 103 that our attorneys spend a lot of time doing. In the last couple of years, we’ve been able to save policy holders well over $200 million for preventing rate increases for drivers and homeowners and medical patients. In some cases, insurance companies have pulled their requests back as soon as they hear we’re going to crunch the numbers, due to that Prop. 103 intervention process. “Recently, Mercury Insurance tried to amend 103 in the legislature, which 103 allows, but only to further the initiative. What this legislation tried to say is that insurers can surcharge those for not having previously had insurance or having a lapse in coverage. We just won at the appeals level an overturn of that law because it doesn’t match the purposes of 103\. “We’re funded largely through private donations and foundation grants. We also have quite a bit of health care grant money.” How did you get your first taste of politics? “After three years of high school in Michigan, I moved to a tiny town called Montezuma, N.M., to attend the United World College of the American West, an international high school. It was a two-year program, on the European scale, so I had to attend an extra year to graduate. “There were 200 people there from 70 different countries, 50 Americans and the rest from somewhere else, so just walking down the halls you got a little bit of that international flavor. What they taught there was the international baccalaureate, which I’m certain some of the schools in Santa Monica have to teach. “It’s an international movement; I think at this point there are 13 to 14 schools around the world, and the one I went to was the only one in the States. There was also an international perspective on the social science classes. We had a lot of coursework to choose from, but a lot of it is your core curriculum, like math and science. There was a second-language requirement. Mine was Spanish. Usually if we get a call in the office from someone speaking Spanish, I take it, depending on what’s being talked about. But, quite frankly, some of the words we use just don’t translate. I have no idea how to say ‘price gouge’ in Spanish. “It was great. Most of it is academically hard work, but there’s also community service, even wilderness training, depending on where the schools are. It definitely helped lead into what I do now, which is the only thing I could be happy doing, having some sort of impact. “My interest in politics definitely began (at the international high school), because it was hard not to be hyper-aware of world events there.” What happened after high school? “I attended Pomona College and pursued my degree in politics. For some reason, they don’t call it political science there, they call it politics. “One of the nice aspects of Pomona is that they send you abroad. I spent a semester during college in Chile. “During the summers, I did political canvassing. Canvassing from neighborhood to neighborhood, you’re going across the socio-economic spectrum as far who you’re talking to. I always found it amusing. I certainly got into my fair share of heated discussions, which took more time than they should have with people who didn’t agree with us. “I always thought the funniest were when people pretended they weren’t home. That happened a lot. I have walked up to a wide open door. You hear the music inside and you knock and you call and then finally somebody yells out, ‘Nobody’s home.’ “Overall, canvassing is fun. You’d be surprised how many people out there are just waiting for you to knock on their door and tell them how they can get involved. “I graduated from Pomona in ’99\. After college, I went home for 9 months. I did-n’t know what I wanted to do, and I thought I would have hated LA if I had stayed. Instead, I quickly realized I didn’t want to live in Michigan, so I came back out here. I had a lot of friends out here, and it was easy to get on my feet. I quickly found my job and realized I love Los Angeles. I’ve been with the Foundation for five years. “This has essentially been the only real job I’ve had, and I’ve stayed because I love it. Before that, I worked with the California Public Interest Research Group, a consumer and environmental group. I did canvassing for them door to door in Washington the summer after my freshman year in college. The summer after my sophomore year, I was an assistant canvassing director in Colorado. I was organizing and fundraising for a slew of political issues, mostly environmental. But that’s sort of how I was able to get into this kind of work. “I’ve always looked for something like this to do, whether it was random volunteer work, which usually never went anywhere, to my work with PIRG, which I really enjoyed. I kind of stumbled into the Foundation job, working on the initiative campaign. “Once upon a time, I thought I was going to work on international issues. It’s kind of a relief to work on issues close to home and affecting my neighbors.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 24, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/102405.pdf?ref=smdp.com)