Should have been at the Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights convention August 4th. Sarcasm, Meshuggaas, Ranting, Raving. And it was all about choosing a slate of candidates and positions on various ballot initiatives for the November 5 election. You might want to clip the following list of proposed candidates and such. As Herb Balter says: "If SMRR is for it, I'm against it." Makes voting easy.

The Greens (party that is) chameleons Feinstein, Genser, Bloom v. local union 814 and no se puede Curt Peterson, Denny Zany formerly of the Coalition for Hot Air, co-chair of the SMRR Steering Committee and perennially city coffers-paid consultant, and 'one term Tony' Vasquez, among others.

The Unionistas backed Abby Arnold for City Council. "It's a very, very important endorsement and I'm honored to be the renter rights candidate." Pu-leeze! Also chosen were Pam O'Connor and double-dipping Kevin McKeown. Is it true that Pam O'Connor, who we've felt has mellowed a bit (less strident, rabid and smarter than some of her peers) was a trifle suspect of her "loyalty" to old guard and her position on the MTA board?

The Greens didn't appear to have a problem with O'Connor and McKeown but they backed a newcomer to the arena…Josefina Aranda, a fellow Green Party person. We were told that her parents owned an 8-unit rental property in LA but she was an avid/rabid renters rights advocate. When it came to support for Abby Arnold (Sheila Kuehl endorsed her) they questioned Arnold's commitment to SMRR. After the vote, both Feinstein and Genser had scathing words for the union's backing of Arnold. "We believe that Abby Arnold is inappropriate to carry the SMRR banner…Over the years she has opposed SMRR's efforts to preserve housing and protect tenants. In fact she has been hostile to SMRR itself." They continued that it showed "disrespect" for SMRR and constituted a "hostile takeover." As the current generation would say: "They were dissed!" Pompous rhetoric. What's the old saw about polecats? Or the falling out of thieves?

SMRR endorsed for Rent Control/ Property Control Board: Alan Toy, Betty Mueller and newcomer Jennifer Kennedy. Ding Dong….you know the rest….Bruria Finkel will be gone as of the November 5th election ! Jeffrey Sklar and Doug Willis' terms expire in November 2nd, 2004. Really exciting news.

Support for the VERITAS and SMRPH initiatives got nixed. As did the referendum on the Living Wage Law. SMRR insists (read their website) the greedy landlord organization ACTION is in bed with the big hotels. News to us. But it might be interesting.

Following through with the Balter philosophy that if SMRR hates these initiatives and referendum…ACTION members should seriously consider voting for them.

We understand that SMRR endorsement of a hefty, hefty $300 parcel is still to be decided. Guess it depends on whether landlords can pass through the tax to their renters. Those piggies who feed at the rent control trough aren't anxious to part with any of their monthly savings on rent. If memory serves us the original tax was $58 per parcel, with a monthly pass-through to tenants. Then, school superintendent Neil Schmidt came knocking at the ACTION board's door seeking support. Haven't heard any request for support recently nor any guarantee of a pass-through. We'll let you know.

College Board Trustees: Four seats up for grabs. SMRR is considering only two candidates Dorothy Erhart-Morrison and co-chair of the SMRR steering committee co-chair…Nancy Greenstein. They're moving even further left!

On a more agreeable subject: Our summer ACTION meetings are attracting more and more owners. No summer doldrums at the little church on Yale Street. Darn near full-house capacity. Last month's speaker, Captain Phil Sanchez, office of operations for the Santa Monica police department, was an exceptionally dynamic speaker. As was the appearance a few months ago of fire inspector Paul Radomski who writes a monthly column in WAM. The mold presentations Dr. Alan Rudison and Frank Visnjevic of Pacific Gold Coast Construction were very well received. With the economy in slump, who better than Don Hromadka and Paul Gaulke to advise on estate planning and wealth preservation. Coupled with reports from our attorneys on what's the latest attack from Sacramento on property owners rights, and how ACTION is fighting back with law suits, there's always something a property owner can learn.

By now our readers are aware that we have disaffiliated with the California Apartment Association. As far as ACTION is concerned, nothing has changed with respect to free forms, free monthly meetings, free copies of WAM and free advice from a notably efficient/professional staff. You're doing a great job "staff", even if we are the ones to so.

Admittedly, CAA did a fine job with its legislative reports and quite a few of our members bought the minimum premium State Fund workers' comp policies.
The original group minimum premium offered was $340 for a payroll of less than
$3800. Subsequently the minimum premium became $440. We are told that since State Fund is deficient in reserves, the minimum premium will rise to over $500 as of October 31, 2002.

In the meanwhile, ACTION explored many possibilities to protect our members. The good news is we are negotiating with a company for a group policy with other associations that were once CAA members and now disaffiliated also.

These associations include Santa Barbara Rental Property Association, Apartment Association of Southern California Cities, Inc. (Long Beach), San Fernando Valley/ Ventura County Apartment Association, Apartment Association Of Orange County, San Diego County Apartment Association, Foothill Apartment Association, North Valley Property Owners Association, and Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, who left CAA many, many years ago. The minimum premium will be $500.