By Jason Islas
Staff Writer

June 23, 2012 -- Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom on Sunday failed for the second time to win the endorsement for State Assembly of the city's powerful tenants' group that helped launch his political career 13 years ago.

SMRR members also voted to endorse the incumbents in the race for three School Board and two College Board seats, as well as one of the incumbents in the race for two Seats on the Rent Control board.

At its 2012 endorsement convention, Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights (SMRR) members split the vote between Bloom and incumbent Betsy Butler, with neither candidate in the November run-off winning the 55 percent needed to win the group's backing.

Butler received 101 votes, while Bloom received 90.

“I’ve known all along this is going to be a tough battle,” said Bloom. “But this is just one step along the way. I did quite well, given the tenor of the race so far.”

In March, SMRR snubbed Bloom -- a 23-year member of the organization -- and voted to endorse newcomer Torie Osborn in the June primary.

Osborn -- who failed to win one of the two spots needed to make the November 6 election -- said Sunday that she would also not back a candidate.

Bloom deliberately missed the March SMMR endorsement session in order protest what he saw as a “lack of transparency” within the organization, claiming that the meeting hadn’t been properly advertised as an endorsement meeting ("Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights Snubs Bloom, Endorses Osborn," March 26, 2012).

Butler wasn’t discouraged by Sunday's vote.

“I’m looking forward to working with the residents" of Santa Monica to help create a healthy, sustainable community, she said after the vote.

Rent Control Board member Todd Flora, who spoke in support of Butler Sunday, said, “This is a real victory for Butler since she won the raw vote count.”

SMRR membership also voted, by show of hands, to endorse the three incumbents running for the School Board: Jose Escarce, Ben Allen, and Maria Leon-Vazquez.

Incumbent Rent Control Board member Ilse Rosenstein won SMRR’s endorsement Sunday, along with attorney Christopher Walton.

Walton will attempt to unseat Rent Control Board member Robert Kronovet, a Realtor and property owner who in 2008 became the only candidate to win a seat on the Rent Board without SMRR's backing.

By a show of hands, the SMRR membership also backed the three incumbent College Board members: Susan Aminoff and Robert Rader and Margaret Quinones-Perez.

The organization also supported a measure that would alter the City’s Rent Control charter.

The measure would change the formula Rent Control board officials use to determine the Annual Adjustment, the amount landlords can raise rents on controlled units to compensate for increases in overhead.