> ## 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. # Chuck Allord, outspoken Santa Monica activist and council critic, dies at 43 - URL: https://www.smdp.com/obituary-4/ - Published: 2006-06-13T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T18:18:28.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: Government & Politics, Mid-City, #archive-import, Homeless, Homelessness *Passion was activist’s M.O.* *By MICHAEL J. TITTINGER Daily Press Staff Writer* MID-CITY — Longtime neighborhood activist and political watchdog Chuck Allord, who became a vocal fixture at City Council meetings and mounted a run for office in 2002, died on Sunday night at Saint John’s Health Center from complications following surgery. He was 43. Renowned for a passion for all things Santa Monica — which often led to confrontational exchanges with its governing body — Allord became a well-known voice within the community for his brutally honest charges, if not his somewhat brutish tactics. “He often had great differences with us at council, but he meant well,” said City Councilman Herb Katz, who had just learned of Allord’s sudden death on Monday afternoon.“He was a concerned person who voiced his concerns at us, Both Katz and Mayor Bob Holbrook recalled on Monday a passionate community member who would often knock on their doors, at any time of the day, just to sit and talk about the issues confronting Santa Monica. “He could be confrontational, he could be contentious, but that was his M.O.,” said Katz. “You could sometimes argue his facts weren’t correct, but so what?” Allord’s run-ins with those both entrusted to lead the city and those he perceived as holding influence in Santa Monica were legendary. Indeed, Allord had a long-standing adversary in the Santa Monica Daily Press, which he threatened to target with a boycott of its advertisers because he felt the paper compromised on given positions. According to his friend Bill Bauer, with whom he often aligned himself on all causes Santa Monica, nearly every one that knew him has a “classic Allord story.” “For me, it was at a City Council meeting some years back,” began Bauer, who befriended Allord at such meetings seven years ago. “He went up there and stared down the City Council, pointing his finger about, before saying, ‘You’re all a bunch of jackasses!’” “Who knows what it was about,” chuckled Bauer, “probably the homeless.” Those who knew Allord best described him as being honest to a fault, passionate about the city of Santa Monica and wearing his heart on his sleeve. While some viewed his aggressive stances on issues such as homelessness, noise ordinances and car dealership operating hours as out of line, most who came to know him saw a generous man who marched to the beat of his own drummer. Allord passed away Sunday evening at Saint John’s from complications following an undisclosed, elective surgical procedure. According to his mother Betty, with whom he shared his apartment at 1043 10th St. for the past 10 years, services will be held on Saturday at Gates Kingsley & Gates Moeller Murphy funeral directors, 1925 Arizona Ave. The timing of Allord’s death comes at a time when he was said to be enjoying a renewal of sorts. “He was very happy recently,” his mother said Monday. “He had a new girlfriend. He had a patent on his fishing thing. He had his fingers in everything. This was very sudden.” Allord was said to be developing a device for fishermen called the Legacy Sportswear Fishing Rod Holder, which anglers could loop over their belts, enabling them to hold the base of their rod against their stomach, reshifting some of the weight and pull. According to Bauer, his friend had recently just assembled 60 of the sample devices over Memorial Day weekend and was busy passing them out around the Los Angeles area in hunting and tackle supply stores. “He had just bought an Apple Notebook computer and was learning to use that. He was starting a business. He had met a girl. He was making positive moves in his life,” said a wistful Bauer. “It seems like things were turning for Chuck in a positive direction, which makes this (his death) even more tragic.” Allord had spent the majority of his life on the westside, primarily Santa Monica. He was born in what was then Santa Monica Hospital, said his mother Betty, who worked for close to 24 years at Norm’s Restaurant on Lincoln Boulevard. Allord worked in construction for years before slipping off a roof and injuring his back. On disability in his later years, his attention soon turned to his immediate environment — the city he had called home for most of his life, and the noise just outside his front door. The noise emanating from a nightclub on Broadway drew Allord to take a stand, before focusing on car dealerships and a pocket park on Euclid Avenue near his home. “Yeah, he could be kind of confrontation-al, but you had to know him to realize that he wasn’t confrontational,” said Holbrook, who called the news of Allord’s death “stunning.” “Sometimes he was a little stern, but he had a heart of gold.” In 2002, Allord took direct aim at his adversary, the City Council, by attempting to join them on the dais, mounting a campaign for elected office. He finished a disappointing seventh, with 3,117 votes, or 4.4 percent. Holbrook, who was re-elected that year, said there were no hard feelings after what some would have deemed a contentious campaign. Nor did City Councilwoman Pam O’Connor harbor any lingering resentment. O’Connor also was re-elected that November, finishing first in the popular vote. “He was a character. He had a strong opinion and was always willing to voice those opinions,” she said. “Sometimes we would fight, sometimes we were cordial.” O’Connor intimated that she felt Allord really seemed to enjoy being a candidate in 2002, and likely learned a lot about the city and the election process during his run. Prior to the election, Allord responded to a Daily Press questionnaire posed to each of the candidates, asking everything from personal questions to city spending ideas to Pico neighborhood violence proposals. While “a proud Republican,” according to Bauer, he was noncommittal on the query, possibly attempting to appeal to the city’s traditionally left-leaning base. Much can be gleaned about the man from his answers. His favorite things about Santa Monica were “the ocean, climate, neighbors and friends.” His endorsements? “The residents of Santa Monica. No special interests.” Favorite band? Led Zeppelin. Asked about the city’s hiring of an outside design firm to advise it on how to rejuvenate downtown, he responded,“Why can’t we work with the local residents, businesses and local designers? When we let outside designers design our city, we tend to lose our local charm and character.” The single biggest issue facing Santa Monica? Homelessness, he responded. “A lot of people say it is homeless. I agree with it, and I’m known as one of the strongest fighters against the oversaturation of our city from transients, but there is a few more like overcrowding, traffic problems, parking problems property rights and the quality of life in general.” If anything, Allord’s interests in city goings on were not limited to several pet issues. His friend Bauer points out that he, himself, has focused on such issues as homelessness and government spending to make a bigger impact. He said he admired Allord’s ability to get into the thick of it with the City Council on a wide array of issues. “He had a definite opinion on things, a terrific sense of what he thought was right and wrong, and not too accepting of people who felt differently,” said Bauer, who writes a column in the SMDP.“But in the end, he had a passion for the city, and loved the people in it, just not particularly loved the way people governed it. “But he would do anything for you. He was always working for people for nothing, helping people out. There was no end to his generosity on stuff like that.” Allord is survived by his girlfriend, his mother Betty, his sisters Pat and Jo Ann, and his brother Louis Girard. “I will really miss him, even though sometimes we didn’t agree with each other,” said Barbara Tenzer, president of Tenzer Commercial Brokerage on Third Street. “He had a heart of gold and was a real hero in dealing with all the crazy city politics. I feel really sad.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 13, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/061306.pdf?ref=smdp.com)