New SMRR Leadership Could Mark Changing of the Guard

By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer

March 3 -- After a quarter century, the group of once-young activists who started a rent control revolution that swept them into City Hall are beginning to hand over the reigns of power to the next generation.

The Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights steering committee on Saturday elected three new members to its ranks, all of them in the their 20s and 30s. They will be up for reelection, along with the 11 other committee members, at a general membership meeting in the fall.

The most telling sign that a new guard is emerging may be the election of SMRR's first new co-chair in almost 15 years, Ana Jara, who was born one year after the group's creation.

A Pico Neighborhood activist, Jara, 25, will join former mayor Denny Zane, one of the group's founding members, as co-chair. Jara won the seat after tying with long-time SMRR leader Patricia Hoffman, who conceded the post rather than engage in a run-off.

"The symbolism of having someone that began the organization and someone coming in to strengthen the organization I think speaks to the progressive values of SMRR," said Jara, who is also vice chair of the Pico Neighborhood Association.

"The old guard is starting to open up a little, but they need to understand they need to have citywide support," Jara said. "There's a new wave of community involvement coming in with new energy and new leadership, and I think SMRR is receptive."

In addition to Jara's election as vice chair, the steering committee elected three new members. They are:

? Pico Neighborhood activist Maria Loya, who made an unsuccessful bid for the council last year;
? Richard Tahvildaran Jesswein, a professor of political science at Santa Monica College, who has been active in the Community for Excellent Public Schools, and
? Todd Flora, who has been involved with Santa Monicans Allied for Responsible Tourism, the group behind an unsuccessful push for a pioneering living wage.

Jay Johnson, a longtime SMRR leader and former chair of the Rent Control Board, failed in his bid for a seat on the committee.

"I was the old blood, they were the new blood," Johnson said. "The door is still open. Everybody is up for reelection" in the fall.

The change, longtime SMRR officials said, does not reflect a shift away from the issues of rent control and affordable housing that have long defined the group.

"I don't see this as a shift to different issues, but more of an insuring the future of the organization," said Nancy Greenstein, who stepped down as the group's co-chair two years ago after she was elected to the College Board.

Greenstein said Saturday's vote reflects a "need to remain in touch with the community."

Long-time steering committee member Bruce Cameron agreed.

"The new committee, I feel, is more inclusive of the whole community," Cameron said. "The vote reflected a desire to balance out the old and the new.

"The organization has been around for twenty-five years," he said. "It's been a lot more successful than most, but its good to bring a fresh perspective to the issues."

After winning four seats on the seven-member City Council in 1981, SMRR has controlled Santa Monica politics for the past quarter century -- defining everything from the sweep of its skyline to the location of a stop sign.

Although tenant rights continues to be the cornerstone of the group's agenda, SMRR has increasingly taken on labor issues, including a controversial living wage proposal shot down at the polls in 2002.

Concurrently, the group's membership has also expended beyond its original core of tenant activists. Last year, as many as 200 new SMRR members were signed up by political stakeholders in anticipation of the powerful tenant group's nominating convention.

The key constituencies included Pico residents, union supporters and Santa Monica College faculty members. The largest faction was comprised of Pico residents recruited by Ana Jara and her mother Ana Maria Jara.

"I think that Pico is an important membership base," Greenstein said, "but I think Ana was elected based on her experience."

"The Pico Neighborhood's influence has always been good,” Cameron said, “but I'd say its been increasing recently."

Longtime SMRR leaders welcomed the new faces to an organization that has been traditionally run by the same tenant activists for more than 20 years.

"We've been the status quo for an awfully long time," said Hoffman, who made an unsuccessful bid for the council last November and said she is considering another run.

"We remain committed to housing first, education, slow-growth," Hoffman said. "The emphasis may change a little bit, but the goals will remain essentially the same."

Jorge Casuso contributed to this report