It has been almost five years since I took over as President of ACTION for my second stint. I was President once before in 1988 and 1989. The last five years have been rewarding but as with anything, it is time to take a break.

While the last five years have not seen monumental change, we have been able to stay the course and protect Vacancy Decontrol in Sacramento. There have been numerous challenges in Santa Monica as well. This Rent Board once tried to prevent you from passing along Rent Control Registration fees or property tax assessments on any new tenant. We caught them as they were trying to sneak it by and were able to put a stop to it. With the help of our attorney, Rosario Perry, we were able to strike some of the most pernicious parts of the tenant harassment ordinance. The City wanted to prevent you from serving a three day notice, even for non payment of rent, as that would be deemed harassment.

I have always joked that I would love to Ellis ACTION but only if we could Ellis the Santa Monica Rent Control Board first. Unfortunately the Rent Control Board, while more lethargic over time, is still trying to devise ways of taking your property and giving it to your tenants. Thus we must always remain vigilant, less they try to take more of your property. Remember, government cannot give to anyone anything that it does not first take from someone else.

We have new opportunities this year with the election of Robert Kronovet to the Santa Monica Rent Control Board. This is truly a historic moment as we have never had an owner friendly representative in the nearly 30 years of the tyranny of the Santa Monica Rent Control Board.

I will still remain active in ACTION and am a Director of the California Apartment Association (CAA). Sacramento is still controlled by the Democrats and we must be ever vigilant at protecting our property rights. The last legislative session saw a total of 5,372 bills, which all must be read and digested. These bills are then amended approximately 4.6 times, which means that a total of 24,711 had to be reviewed. CAA lobbied specifically on over 240 bills. We were able to ease the bounty hunters within the ADA arena. Additionally, we were able to obtain vetoes from the Governor, which would have required stringent green building standards and restricted your right to use credit reports.

I will be going to Sacramento to lobby and prepare for the upcoming barrage of new bills from our new legislature. I will keep you posted on what they are throwing at us.

It has been my pleasure to serve you over these last five years. I would like to thank my Board and those who have been active in ACTION. Of course it is all about you, the owner, and protecting your property rights! I would like to give a special thanks to Gwen Wunder, our Administrative Executive. Gwen’s tireless efforts at serving you and our Board have enabled us to be effective at protecting your property rights. Thank you all for the opportunity to serve and may 2009 be a year of healing and moving forward.