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# Proposition A funds continue to pour in
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/proposition-a-funds-continue-to-pour-in/
- Published: 2003-03-19T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T01:50:45.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Mail-in election turnout is particularly strong*

With just three days left in Santa Monica’s first mail-in election, both sides of the ballot’s only measure continue to amass sizable war chests.

Since March 4, Homeowners for Voluntary Preservation, which favors Propostion A, has received two donations of more than $1,000, including a $2,500 contribution March 17 from Jerry Monkarsh, an executive at EJM Development Co., in Los Angeles, according to campaign contribution reports filed with the Santa Monica City Clerk.

Also, Gregory Poirier, one of the initiative’s sponsors, paid for a $1,390 ad in Santa Monica Mirror, a weekly newspaper, on March 10.

Though campaigns are not required to report contributions under $1,000 until after the election, the report also listed two smaller donations, both on March 14\. Viceroy Hotel and Starwood Hotels and Resorts each gave $500 that day, according to the report.

Since March 4, Save Our Neighborhoods — representing the other side of the issue — has received four donations totaling $4,500\. On March 7, Barbara Schnitzler, a landmarks commissioner, donated $1,500, while La Jolla man Rolfe Wyer and the Hollywood Heritage Organization each donated $1,000, the reports indicate. Victor Fresco, a member of Save Our Neighborhoods, donated $1,000 on March 10, according to reports.

The election, which will decide whether City Hall or homeowners should have the final say on preserving historic houses, has attracted nearly $200,000 in donations this year and $314,000 in total, according to the contribution reports.

Homeowners for Voluntary Preservation, which collected nearly 10,000 signatures to get Prop. A on the ballot and force a special election, has raised more than $129,000 since Jan. 1, and nearly $69,476 during the reporting period from Feb. 5 to March 4, according to the documents.

Save Our Neighborhoods, the committee fighting against Prop. A, has raised nearly $70,000 since Jan. 1, and $29,453 during the February-to-March reporting period, according to the group’s documents.

The special election was called for the Homeowners’ Freedom of Choice Initiative, which proposes making historic preservation voluntary for owners of single-family homes. Under the current law, such designations may be made over the owner’s objections.

Ballots were mailed out Feb. 20 and voters have until 9 p.m. on Friday to get their ballots into the city clerk’s office.

By Tuesday, 15,810 of Santa Monica’s 50,000 registered voters had returned their ballots, a response that election specialists said is particularly strong for a single-issue ballot.

Reports from 2002 show that Prop. A supporters raised $111,527 coming into 2003, while the opponents of the measure raised $5,000.

The majority of donations to Homeowners for Voluntary Preservation were between $100 and $500\. Also, most donors are Santa Monica residents who live in single-family homes, many of which are located north of Montana Avenue, according to the group’s campaign disclosure report.

But Bea Nemlaha, a spokeswoman for Save Our Neighborhoods, said Tuesday that Prop. A’s supporters have obscured the real players funding the initiative. She said that two-thirds of the group’s funding has come from “real estate interests, corporations, businesses and individuals wealthy enough to contribute $1,000 or more.”

“They consistently deny that this campaign is development driven,” Nemlaha said. “They claim it’s retired people and homeowners and people giving $5, $10, or $100.

“Well you don’t get $237,000 with little contributions like that. You don’t even get $80,000.”

Nemlaha said the campaign contribution reports show the measure was written for developers and not for homeowners.

Supporters of the measure disagreed. “That’s a ridiculous statement,” said Poirier, who owns a home north of Montana. “Most of our money is coming from individual homeowners, hundreds and hundreds of homeowners.”

Tom Larmore, a local land use attorney and an author of Prop. A., also balked at the allegations.

“It’s nonsense,” said Larmore, a 28-year Santa Monica homeowner. “It’s like if (opponents of Prop. A) say it often enough then people will believe it.

“It’s a complete and utter fabrication. We have people that are generous, people that are concerned.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 19, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/031903.pdf?ref=smdp.com)