By Hannah Heineman

At their annual convention on August 22, Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights (SMRR) members voted to endorse two City Council candidates, Ted Winterer and Gleam Davis, out of the six who sought their backing. However, on Sunday, SMRR’s 13- member Steering Committee voted to endorse incumbent Council member Terry O’Day and former Council member Tony Vazquez. Like the membership, the committee could not agree on a State Assembly candidate, though one is the mayor of Santa Monica and a SMRR member and the other is a Marina del Rey resident.

Winterer and Davis each received the SMRR mandated 55 percent of the vote after three rounds of balloting on July 22. The other two candidates vying for SMRR’s endorsement were Shari Davis, and Frank Gruber. In the popular vote, Vazquez, a former Council member, came closest to winning the third endorsement.

During the Council candidates’ statements at the convention, Winterer stated that SMRR’s progressive values of affordable housing, social and economic justice, and services for those in need are at risk due to the enormous sums of money poised to be in invested in the city. He concluded, “In short, that capital must be used to further SMRR’s platform not undermine it.” Gleam Davis, who was appointed to the City Council in 2009, emphasized, “We want a city that despite all the economic pressures that we are facing continues to provide economic diversity. We welcome the people who come to Santa Monica but we also want to protect those that already live here.”

O‘Day stressed that he became a Council member because he wanted “to extend the city’s partnership with the School District.” As a Council member, he said he protected renter’s rights, made bankrupt developers meet their affordable housing obligations, and championed worker’s rights. He concluded, “ I will continue to use my national and local experience to make Santa Monica a model of sustainability for the world.”

Former Mayor Pro Tem Vazquez noted that he had been part of the Council majority that “pushed (the City) giving money to our schools.” He also said he helped obtain federal government aid after the 1994 earthquake to help those with damage to rebuild. He concluded his remarks by saying, “We need to hold people accountable.”

“My passion for education goes hand in hand with my passion for social justice and reflects the values and foundation of the SMRR platform,” stated longtime education activist Shari Davis. “Today, I understand how to legislate the heart and soul of SMRR.” Former Planning Commissioner and lawyer Gruber, told the convention participants “I’m a progressive. I call Santa Monica a healthy city. It is not only where people can live, work and find their potential but it has a government that has the resources to do what needs to be done.”

Also seeking SMRR’s nod were the two candidates for the 50th Assembly District, Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom and Assemblywoman Betsy Butler. However, neither of them received the requisite 55 percent majority on July 22. “We have proved in Santa Monica that you can have progress and prosperity … because SMRR exists,” noted Bloom in his candidate statement. “I want to be Santa Monica and SMRR’s voice in Sacramento…I played a strong role in the Council initiatives regarding affordable housing, tenants rights, the rights of the disabled, and the environment.”

Butler said that she ran for the Assembly “Because consumers and renters have rights that need to be represented in Sacramento.” She also said that she ran to take on toxins, environmental issues, affordable housing for seniors and veterans, and is against fracking in California.

The endorsements of SMRR for the Rent Control Board, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s School Board, and Santa Monica College’s Board of Trustees were all done by acclimation with the membership endorsing all the candidates who sought their approval. For the Rent Control Board it was Ilse Rosenstein and Christopher Walton. The School Board endorsees were incumbents Ben Allen, Jose Escarce and Maria Leon-Vazquez. Incumbents Susan Aminoff, Rob Rader and Margaret Quinones-Perez were endorsed for the College Board.

The convention participants also voted by acclimation to support the Rent Control Charter Amendment which would change the method used to decide upon annual rent increases. This increase would be based upon 75 percent of the consumer price index and allow a dollar limit as well as continuing to require an annual public meeting on the increase.

At the convention, a solid SMRR majority endorsed almost all the propositions that will appear on the November ballot: Prop 30, the Governor’s funding measure, Prop 34, the repeal of the death penalty, Prop 38, millionaire Molly Munger’s state income tax increase, and Prop 39, an income tax increase for multi-state businesses. Proposition 32 was the only measure that was opposed by the convention majority. The Political Director of United Here Local 11 encouraged SMRR’s membership vote against it because it was “written specifically to take away rights from workers. It is ironclad when it comes down to making it impossible for workers to run elections, to support candidates and to make $350 contributions. On the other hand … corporations are free to do everything they have done in the past.”