By Jorge Casuso

September 23, 2024 -- Santa Monica's largest slow-growth group on Monday announced it is backing the pro-law enforcement slate vying to retain control of the City Council in November.

The Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City (SMCLC) cited the need to fight "unrestrained" development as the major reason for endorsing the slate headed by Mayor Phil Brock and Councilmember Oscar de la Torre.

The slate, which also includes two business owners -- Vivian Roknian and John Putnam -- "will advocate for residents, not developers, and fight for the scale, character, and livability of Santa Monica," the group said in a press release.

SMCLC cited the slate's opposition to "letting developers build apartment buildings in single-family neighborhoods" and removing parking requirements for some new projects.

The two policies are supported by the rival slate backed by Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights (SMRR) and the local Democratic Club, which have controlled local politics for most of the past four decades ("Who runs the City?" September 20, 2024).

In 2020, SMRRR's super-majority on the Council paved the way for developers to meet the State's mandate to plan for some 9,000 new housing units over the next eight years ("Santa Monica Scrambles to Meet Housing Targets Other Cities Are Opposing," March 9, 2020).

In doing so, Santa Monica became the first Southern California city to proactively take steps to meet the housing targets set by State Housing officials, as other cities were pushing back.

The Council made a radical turn eight months later after three SMRR incumbents were replaced with members of a "Change" slate backed by SMCLC ("Santa Monica Voters Usher in New Era," November 6, 2020).

The Council immediately embarked in a new direction, opposing two housing bills sponsored by liberal lawmakers in Sacramento that would pave the way for more housing, including building multi-family units on single family parcels.

It also departed from previous Councils by crafting a housing plan that relied on non-profit housing providers using City-owned land, rather than counting on private developers to meet the State mandates.

State officials rejected the plan, saying it would not meet the housing targets they had set, and penalized the City by further eroding its control over local zoning ("City Officials Caught Off Guard by Flurry of Development Submissions," October 13, 2022).

SMCLC fears the Council will return to the pro-housing development policies if the SMRR slate -- composed of College Trustee Barry Snell, Planning Commissioner Ellis Raskin, Pier Board Chair Dan Hall and Natalya Zernitskaya -- regains a majority by winning two of the four open seats on November 5.

The slate, the group said, is "fueled by big money and entrenched political interests" and "strongly supports high-density overdevelopment throughout our city."

The four candidates "will not push back against new state mandates overriding local zoning because they agree with those mandates," SMCLC said.

The group points to answers provided by the slate at a recent Candidate Forum where the four members said they support the Senate Bill that allows multi-family developments in single-family neighborhoods ("Candidate Forum Highlights Deep Divisions," September 10, 2024).

Three of the four SMRR candidates also said the City should not replace parking lots that will be developed as affordable housing near the UCLA Santa Monica Health Center, with Hall dissenting.

Over the past two decades, SMCLC has successfully pressured the Council and fought legal battles against the City in an effort to stop major developments, including The Plaza Project that was shot down in 2020 by the newly seated "Change" Council.

In 2005, the group led a successful grassroots campaign to block Macerich's ambitious plan to redevelop Santa Monica Place and add three 21-story condo towers above the mall.

Over the past decade, eight of the 12 candidates SMCLC has endorsed have won Council seats, giving it the best election track record in the city.

The group said it recently interviewed Roknian and Putnam, who like Brock and de la Torre, "are long-time residents who are passionate about our City and helping its residents.

"We believe they are strong, ethical, hard-working and smart candidates who will prioritize residents, not developers, and usher in needed change at City Hall."

The four candidates, SMCLC said, "would constitute a powerful resident-friendly Council majority, improve City government across the board, and hold the City accountable in controlling unrestrained, unsustainable growth."