> ## 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. # City manager Lamont Ewell joins Santa Monica's 'People's Republic' rent control legacy - URL: https://www.smdp.com/staying-power/ - Published: 2006-11-11T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T22:05:08.000Z - Author: Melody Hanatani - Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica, #archive-import *IN THE RED: Nickname still reigns* CITYWIDE — When Lamont Ewell accepted the position of city manager less than a year ago, his colleagues in San Diego referred to his next home as “The People’s Republic of Santa Monica.” It’s been the city’s other name for the past 27 years, commonly used as a joke in reference to what some perceive as Santa Monica’s Soviet-like control over the rental market. Other cities in the United States have been dubbed “the people’s republic,” including Berkeley, Santa Cruz and Cambridge, Massachusetts. But Santa Monica, unlike those cities, is not a college town. The phrase’s origins date back to 1979, when the Rent Control ordinance passed, restricting landlords’ ability to set rental rates, making the city a much more affordable place to live as a result. Members of the Action Apartment Association, a group of rental property owners who united in opposition to the Rent Control legislation, coined the term. AAA is also responsible for the lesser known “Soviet Monica,” which was once uttered by a member from Russia who saw similarities between the city and his home country. Santa Monica’s dubious distinction rose to another level of fame in 1981 when Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights, which supports Rent Control, first seized control of City Council, a majority power they have maintained for most of the past quarter century. That year, a bumper sticker that read “Welcome to the People’s Republic of Santa Monica” began to appear on cars throughout the city. It was rumored that a pilot’s association at Santa Monica airport was responsible for the bumper stickers, as it was upset over City Council consideration of a proposal to shut down the airport due to noise complaints, said Denny Zane, former City Council member and co-founder of SMRR. “We just thought it was goofy,” Zane said. The phrase “People’s Republic of Santa Monica” was firmly implanted on a national scale when the CBS news magazine show “60 Minutes” aired a segment on Ronald Reagan’s presidential election that included a shot of the bumper sticker.“60 Minutes” is said to have produced the segment to depict the differences between Ronald Reagan’s conservative views and the left leaning politics of Santa Monica — a city located just minutes away from Reagan’s former home in the Pacific Palisades. “It went from being a word-of-mouth thing among the anti-rent control people to bumper stickers, from the defenders of Santa Monica airport to national attention because of ‘60 minutes,’ Zane said. “We were associated in the media with Tom Hayden and Jane Fonda.” Later, the name served as a battle cry for AAA member John Rodriguez, who erected a sign with the moniker on his Santa Monica Boulevard motel when City Council refused to let him tear the building down and establish a barber shop in the mid 1980s. AAA President Carl Lambert said City Council tried to block demolition of the building, located between Harvard and Yale streets, because some of the units in the motel were rental. However, the motel was empty when Rodriguez applied for a demolition permit, Lambert said. “He could tell how much he was getting at the liberals by how fast they would obliterate signs,” Lambert said. When the sign was defaced, Rodriguez would immediately post a replacement. It was a battle that continued for a few years, until City Council finally relented. The name was intentionally meant as a jab at SMRR and Rent Control supporters, but today, it is often viewed as a joke with no real validity. “It’s the city of Santa Monica and that is how I view it,” said Mayor Bob Holbrook, a non-SMRR endorsed candidate who recently was reelected to City Council. “We have a great public participation in government. It’s not the people’s republic of anything.” Santa Monica may still be referred to as the “People’s Republic of Santa Monica” because of its progressive stance on issues like the environment and affordable housing, Holbrook added. But to those who started the whole thing, Santa Monica is still the closest thing America has to communism. “It’s changed a little, but it’s still the most liberal rent control city in the country,” Lambert said. “Look at it now. If you’re caught smoking something on the boardwalk or on the promenade, you better hope its a marijuana cigarette rather than a tobacco cigarette.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 11, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/111106.pdf?ref=smdp.com)