By Todd Flora
On April 10, 1979, I was an 8-year-old second grader. I wouldn’t meet my best friend of 23 years until we shared a classroom desk two years later. Then Governor Jerry Brown had a Chief of Staff named Gray Davis. Jimmy Carter was president, but the hostages had not yet been taken in Iran. Nobody really had cable TV and the world had not yet heard of AIDS.
And on April 10, 1979, the landmark rent control ordinance passed in Santa Monica. Thanks to the work of a smart, dedicated group of grassroots activists that today we call Santa Monicans for Renters Rights, or “SMRR,” a policy was created by the will of the voters that this week turns 25. Rent control and SMRR have contributed a great deal to the city’s housing policy, quality of life, and political personality ever since. I congratulate the organization for which I am also a five-year member.
I’ve seen a lot of life since the founding of SMRR and the advent of rent control in Santa Monica. But SMRR has been there for thousands who have come and gone in our city all of that time. And as a beneficiary of rent control policy who is appreciative of SMRR’s services, I want to say thank you to the organization for watching our backs for 25 years.
Two months after SMRR helped pass rent control in 1979, the city elected its first Rent Control Board — something we almost take for granted today. SMRR’s Tenant Hotline (394-0848) is a well-known resource that for years has helped guide residents through next steps in difficult situations or with basic facts. I even learned a few things about the organization itself in the latest issue of SMRR’s informative “Renters Write” newsletter. For instance, SMRR is sustained in part by more than 3,000 dues-paying members — many homeowners as well as renters. The organization prides itself on the thousands of small donations it gets per year, which average $27. This is not a group that has succeeded through the generosity of a few “limousine liberals.” Its strength is in grassroots numbers.
SMRR’s politics have naturally extended outside of tenant issues. The group’s traditional progressive bent has led it to support city council candidates who believe in sustainable development and preservation of our neighborhoods over the favoritism to moneyed interests one might see in comparable cities.
You hear very little about SMRR in the pages of this newspaper. When you do, the group is usually referred to as “the city’s dominant political party that has controlled City Hall for decades,” or something similar. With all due respect to my gracious hosts, that kind of language is no accident. It’s a strategy those in politics call “death by a thousand paper cuts.” Many opinion leaders in town want you to feel “tired” of SMRR and the influence of the renters rights movement. Closer to election day, many of them are going to tell you that “25 years is long enough.” I assure you some of these same people are the types who believe labor unions aren’t really necessary anymore, because after all, look at how well profitable supermarket executives take care of their workers. And while we’re at it, maybe we don’t need the Endangered Species Act any-more because heck, there are plenty of animals still around.
I’m a 33 year-old white male, “suit and tie” professional, and a renter. I am but one face of today’s Santa Monicans for Renters Rights. You may be completely another. But on behalf of the organization, I want to invite all who wish to celebrate 25 years of the founding of this organization and its various successes to the Church in Ocean Park on Saturday, April 17. Starting at 7 p.m., you can join the party for $25. Come on out and see old friends and make some new ones. For more information, call (310) 394–0848.
Todd Flora is a seven year resident of Santa Monica. He is active in Democratic Party and Heal the Bay. To comment or reach Todd, e-mail him at:
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 6, 2004. Read the original PDF.