October 15, 2024

Dear Editor

A Political Action Committee wrote a letter (“Political Establishment Engaged in Panic Peddling,” October 11, 2024) claiming Phil Brock and Oscar de la Torre would protect rent control as passionately as their opponents, who are endorsed by Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights.

Should you believe that PAC’s claim? Reality check: Phil and Oscar are both landlords themselves.

In 2020, Phil Brock told the Santa Monica Democratic Club he wanted to make rent control more profitable for landlords, asking, quote, “How do you also be fair to apartment owners?"

He failed to get the Democratic Party endorsement, then or in this election.

Just last week, Oscar de la Torre boasted on a public Zoom call that his wife’s lawsuit to force district elections would reduce decades of renters’ political influence.

Two years ago, Phil and Oscar supported a stealth proposal to undermine the legality of rent control -- only to back away after a thousand renters mobilized and forced them into a dramatic 2 a.m. reversal.

Make no mistake. The principle of rent control is in our City Charter, but enforcement and implementation are very much under City Council influence. I know. I was on Councils that made renters safer, with increased housing security.

The renters’ champions in this Council election are Dan Hall, Ellis Raskin, Barry Snell and Natalya Zernitskaya. I’ll value their commitment as I cast my vote.