Election will hinge on funding, housing, SMRR leader says
OCEAN PARK — Members of Santa Monica’s ruling party amended the group’s political platform last weekend in preparation for the upcoming November election.
Every two years Santa Monicans for Renters Rights updates its platform, a document that outlines the organization’s political stances. This year, members added language emphasizing SMRR’s commitment to senior citizens, historic properties, public schools and slow-growth development.
SMRR co-chair Denny Zane said this year’s meeting, held at Olympic High School last Sunday, was mostly a formality, because the critical issues expected to be raised in the November election already were addressed in the party’s existing platform.
“The key issues — they’re mostly long-standing questions about a continuing commitment to affordable housing and protections for residents, renters in part,” Zane said. “Neighborhood-oriented protection, to assure that development doesn’t drive neighbors nuts. Slow-managed growth objectives will be a key part of it... and I think ensuring continuing strong city support for our schools will be important.
“And certainly, the underlying issue on development is traffic,” added Zane, who helped found SMRR 25 years ago. “The city’s fiscal health in the face of state crisis is certainly going to be on the minds of voters and candidates.”
The SMRR platform covers 12 different areas, from rent control, affordable housing and education to development, the environment and crime. Zane characterized the overall platform as “a pragmatic, progressive program that addresses major concerns of social justice, environmental quality, and economic and cultural development.”
The changes to the platform this year were more modest than in previous years, when SMRR members voted to support a living wage in Santa Monica, limit some development and promote affordable housing, among other issues, Zane said. Though a SMRR committee drafts recommended platform amendments ahead of time, many issues are raised at the meetings by members, who then cast votes on each proposal.
SMRR was formed in 1979 out of a coalition of organizations that banded together to sponsor the local rent control law. The powerful, left-leaning group has spearheaded a variety of progressive local measures throughout the years. In 1981, SMRR first gained the majority of seats on the City Council, and it has retained control over City Hall since 1988. Five of the seven current council members are backed by SMRR.
SMRR support is seen as key to a candidate’s success because the party mails out to targeted groups up to eight “slate” mailers, which list its endorsements. The cost of doing so is about $70,000, making it prohibitive for many independent candidates to run successfully.
Opponents this year have stressed their commitment to defeating SMRR, which they say has lost touch with the majority of locals who want to see leaders be more aggressive in reducing the homeless population and cutting down on City Hall bureaucracy. SMRR members counter they’ve been hit with those accusations before and maintain they still represent the majority of Santa Monicans’ interests.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 6, 2004. Read the original PDF.