Santa Monicans for Renter’s Rights held its annual convention two weeks ago. They tightened down the hatches to preserve power with their “old guard.”
SMR’s political strength is attributed to the longevity and consistency of its leadership and philosophy. The 25-year-old organization has been co-chaired for years by one of its founders, former mayor and city councilman, Denny Zane.
A secretive 11-person steering committee guides the organization and sets its priorities and goals. Most of its members also are long-term SMRR members.
Decisions made behind closed doors by the steering committee have ramifications for virtually all aspects of Santa Monica life. The majority of those on City Council, Santa Monica College Board of Trustees and the local school board are SMRR loyalists, along with those they appoint to numerous civic commissions, boards and task forces.
Eight members retained seats on the steering committee and three new members were elected. Two of the new members held committee seats in past years.
New to the committee is Ana G. Hara, whose City Council quest ended abruptly last year when she failed to obtain enough signatures on her qualifying petition. Hara is a labor supporter and campaigned for the Living Wage ordinance, which was voted down last fall.
She is the only Hispanic and young person on the steering committee. In fact, 10 of its 11 members are white and middle-aged or older. The majority are homeowners. So much for diversity, huh?
By-laws were tightened to make it more difficult for outsiders or “hostiles” to take control of the organization’s endorsement process. Now, a voter must be a member for at least 90 days — not 21 days as previously required. To further curb outsider influence, a 55 percent vote is now required for a SMRR endorsement — not the 50 percent-plus-one vote previously required.
And, if a candidate doesn’t receive a membership endorsement after three rounds of votes by the membership, the steering committee itself can do it.
Last Friday, the SMDP ran corrections on a Nov. 7 column I wrote about local activist Kelly Hayes-Raitt, the Santa Monica College Faculty Association and “86 the Trustees,” a group of faculty and students unhappy with the way the college handled its budget crisis.
One correction said that Hayes-Raitt was not a “Code Pink activist” as I had stated. She was invited and traveled to Baghdad last February with a contingent from the anti-war organization, Code Pink.
She praised Code Pink and its members in “dispatches from Iraq” printed here and elsewhere. She’s been featured in Code Pink press materials and her political activities are closely associated and tied with the leftist organization. While it could be a semantic issue, all this and more makes her an “activist” in my opinion — and this is an opinion column.
Hayes-Raitt informed the SMDP that her fee as a spokesperson for “86 the Trustees” is $2,000 per month, not the “reported $3000 per month” that I mentioned.
OK, she got me there, but the point is that she’s a paid spokesperson for a group which includes the Faculty Association, Classified Employees Union, dissident students and others opposed to the way SMC is administrated. Two grand or three grand? Who cares? The issue is that she’s not volunteering her services. Now, I wonder — is she’s also a paid spokesper-son for Code Pink?
I called Lantz Simpson, the president of the SMC Faculty Association, twice to confirm her fee. Nobody returned my calls. Not even the “paid spokesperson.”
But it’s not unusual for an organization to avoid press inquiries from persons they think might be critical.
The Faculty Association’s position on the appointment of Graham Pope to the SMC board of trustees came up. I said they didn’t endorse Pope but endorsed all four other candidates running for the vacated seat. In the next line, I wrote that they, along with others, “also” opposed him.
Although the word “also” could have confused the issue, members of the “86 the Trustees,” the Faculty Association, students and others spoke and demonstrated against Pope’s appointment publicly beforehand and at the board of trustees meeting.
Despite statements to the contrary by those unhappy with SMC President Piedad Robertson and the way SMC is governed, it’s obvious they didn’t want Pope. (Bill Bauer is a longtime Santa Monica resident and a freelance writer. He doesn’t want to be reached).
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 28, 2003. Read the original PDF.