Fierce battle expected for residents’ votes
Barely a week before Santa Monica’s first mail-only election, two opposing campaigns have managed to raise substantial war chests.
The campaigns, each attempting to sway residents over whether City Hall or property owners should have final say on historic preservation of private homes, have together raised nearly $100,000, according to campaign disclosures filed with the City Clerk’s office.
Proposition A proposes allowing owners of single-family homes to opt-out of having their residences deemed historic by city officials. Citizens will vote in a month-long election that will be conducted entirely through the mail. Ballots are scheduled to be sent out to registered Santa Monica voters on Feb. 20. They must be turned into the City Clerk’s office no later than March 21.
The group that instigated the ballot measure, which is predominately made up of local homeowners, has raised $14,153.60 more than their opponents, who are mostly elected and appointed city officials, as well as outside historic preservation organizations.
514,“Homeowners for Voluntary Preservation” — which collected nearly 10,000 signatures to get Prop. A on the ballot and force a special election — has raised $54,656.60 since Jan. 1, according to campaign disclosures.
There have been 117 donations of more than $100 to the homeowners’ group, with the majority of them ranging between $100 and $500 each. Six of the donations were more than $1,000 — including a donation of $5,000 from Gregory Poirier, a founding member of the group and an author of the proposition.
Poirier has donated and loaned more than $17,000 to the group since its inception last year, according to campaign disclosure filings.
Most donors tend to be Santa Monica residents who live in single-family homes, many of whom are located North of Montana Avenue, according to the group’s campaign disclosure.
According to those involved in its fundraising, the homeowners’ group had another 150 donations that were below $100, the minimum amount to be disclosed as required by law.
“The ones that touch me the most are the ones that are between five and 10 dollars from those who are retired and living on a fixed-incomes,” said Tom Larmore, a local land use attorney, a Santa Monica homeowner and an author of Prop. A. “They’re giving whatever they can spare to protect their homes.”
Save Our Neighborhoods, the committee against Prop. A, has managed to raise $40,503 since Jan. 1, 2003, according to its campaign disclosure forms.
There were 69 donors who gave more than $100, including 15 donations of $1,000 or more to Save Our Neighborhoods. The group received $5,000 from the National Trust and a $3,000 donation from the Los Angeles Conservancy. Those organizations manage historic properties in the region and throughout the United States.
“We have a different base to collect from, said Beatrice H. Nemlaha, a spokeswoman for Save Our Neighborhoods. “We don’t have a few big donors to draw on like they do.
“People are anxious to help, and there is a lot of support for our position,” she added, “but they are little people giving small amounts of money.”
Some of the group’s donors are Victor Fresco, husband of Landmarks Commissioner Nina Fresco, who gave $2,000. Nemlaha, an owner of a home in the Third Street Historic District, gave $1,000. Landmarks Commissioners Ruthann Lehrer and James Rosenfield gave $1,000 each, and Landmarks Commissioner Roger Genser donated $250.
Mayor Richard Bloom, who owns a single-family home in the Sunset Park neighborhood in Santa Monica, donated $250, while City Councilman Mike Feinstein, a renter of an Ocean Park home, gave $300. Planning Commission Chairman Darrell Clarke donated $100.
“If money is going to determine the outcome of the election then we are way behind,” Nemlaha said. “It has nothing to do with the merits, it has to do with who can raise and spend the most.”
“If money is going to determine the outcome of the election then we are way behind.” — — BEATRICE H. NEMLAHA Save Our Neighborhoods
But Prop. A supporters say because nearly 20 percent of Save Our Neighborhood’s funding comes from historic preservation organizations outside of Santa Monica, the group doesn’t accurately represent residents’ views.
“It’s interesting to me they are trying to influence this election with outside money and tell homeowners here they shouldn’t have control over their own homes,” Larmore said.
“It’s interesting to me they are trying to influence this election with outside money and tell homeowners here they shouldn’t have control over their own homes.” — — TOM LARMORE Attorney
Prop. A critics counter that the conservation groups work on projects in cities across the country, including in Los Angeles County, and represent any community concerned about historic preservation.
“The definition of inside and outside the city boundaries isn’t an issue,” Nemlaha said. “To make an issue out of the most reputable national and local conservancies making a donation toward the work they do is just so mean-spirited. I don’t doubt for a minute if there was a comparable property rights group available, that Tom Larmore would be gathering funds from them too.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 12, 2003. Read the original PDF.