RETURN OF THE SANDINISTA RENT BOARD

More than ten years have passed since the Santa Monica Rent Board quit addressing foreign policy issues and resumed saying the Pledge of Allegiance at its public meetings. Those of you who remember Rent Board Stories Parts Twenty-Five and Twenty-Six might recall that in late 1989 and early 1990 most of the Rent Board Commissars quit saying the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of Rent Board meetings. Two of the Commissars did not like saying the part about God and two of them wanted to show support for the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua. For a time, Delores Press was the only Commissar saying the pledge, saying that she liked the part about "liberty and justice for all." That may have been the most ironic statement of all.

The Rent Board's protest against the Pledge of Allegiance ended after landlords and armed forces veterans John Jurenka, Al Kindt, Chet Hoover and me formed the Santa Monica Militia and came to every Rent Board meeting to protest every protest and foray into foreign policy. We also said the complete Pledge of Allegiance loud enough to make up for the silent Commissars. Shortly thereafter, the Board would usually call the police officers to take us out of the meeting for protesting their protest. About the same time, the Soviet Union fell apart, the Berlin Wall came down, and the Sandinistas lost the election. Only North Korea and Cuba retained failed socialist economic policies. It appeared that we had won the war, but we had only won the battle.

I attended the Rent Board meeting of September 12, 2002, and wondered if the Board had to anything say near the anniversary of the attack of September 11, 2001. It had something to say, but it was not what you might expect. At the beginning of that meeting, Commissar, Jeffery "Sandinista" Sklar announced that since the Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeal had ruled that the words "under God" made the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional, the Rent Board should stop saying the Pledge. And although he was not the "Chairperson," he began to make a motion to support his protest, when he was cautioned by the Board's Legal Staff that the item was not on the Board's Agenda and no action could lawfully be taken. So the Rent Board began saying the Pledge half-heartedly, not knowing whether to skip the part about God or the whole thing. Fortunately, I remembered my training with the old Santa Monica Militia and said the part about God really loudly, which shook them up and made them lose their place, since none of them had been members of the original Sandinista Rent Board and had never experienced such a counter-protest.

The next Rent Board meeting was held on October 3, 2002, but nothing further was said about the Pledge of Allegiance, with or without God. Perhaps my counter-protest caused the retreat, but more likely, the Board figured that the upcoming November election might cost them some votes and eliminate the ballot measure that would double their compensation and provide them with full medical, dental and health insurance. Apparently, the Board did not need to appear to be so obviously unpatriotic during the next election when they have so much to lose. However, I will be very surprised if the subject does not arise again after the election.

If it was my choice, I would have the Rent Board quit saying the Pledge at the beginning of every meeting because it is so hypocritical for them to speak the words, "liberty and justice for all" and then proceed to do the opposite nearly every time a landlord-tenant dispute comes before them. I don't bother to complain about bias and favoritism anymore, because whenever I bring the subject to the attention of the Board, the person I complain about gets promoted to a position of higher authority.

These Rent Board Stories are my protest against government over-regulation and abuse of power. More than twenty-three years ago, Rent Control was justified as an emergency measure in response to high inflation and a serious shortage of affordable housing. High inflation disappeared about fifteen years ago, but the housing shortage has worsened in every jurisdiction that chose rent control as the solution to that problem. Although California's population has increased by millions since the Rent Control Law was adopted, Santa Monica's population and the number of rental units have decreased by the thousands since that time. This will continue as long as those who invest in housing are treated as "enemies of the people" by radical rent control boards who benefit from continuing the "class struggle" approach to politics.

In November 2002, two new rent control measures were on the ballot. Proposition FF gives the Rent Board more power to deal with the continuing "housing shortage," which has perpetually worsened under their leadership, and Proposition GG doubles their compensation and gives them full health and dental insurance. Those are nice perks for meeting for a few hours once a month to give the landlords a hard time about charging the public too much for the services they provide.

If the voters approve these measures (and they probably will), I can only hope that the Board will adopt a new Pledge of Allegiance as well. Here is my suggestion.

We pledge allegiance to no flag
In the People's Republic of Santa Monica.
It is government regulation for which we stand.
We are the Law, unto ourselves, without God
Or liberty and justice for all.