At our monthly action meeting for February, Councilperson Robert Holbrook addressed Proposition A, budget and other issues of interest to the members, followed by a question and answer seminar. The meeting ended with coffee and dessert. Another excellent turnout of approximately 150 members were present to hear the presentations of the speakers. Please look forward to joining us at the next meeting, which is the first Monday of every month at Roosevelt Elementary School Auditorium, located at Lincoln and Montana in Santa Monica.

ACTION is strongly committed to preserving the rights of property owners, especially in Santa Monica where they seem to be under attack at every opportunity. Now, Santa Monica Renters Rights is setting its sights on taking single family residential property rights away from that group of owners. Most recently, the Proposition A initiative, which would have man-dated property owner’s consent prior to a residence being declared a landmark, was actively opposed by the Renters Rights forces and unfortunately failed to pass. This is not unusual because SMRR always seeks to take away the rights of the property owner to benefit somebody who has made no investment whatsoever in the property. In the words of one of the leaders of the Renters Rights movement who supported proposition A, he threatened that there would be “resultant demolitions and loss of community history.” I personally doubt that there will be any such result merely because a homeowner must approve his property being designated a landmark. A supporter of the Proposition A initiative summarized the Renters Rights opinion quite succinctly when he stated “historically significant houses are really only significant when they are surrounded by the multitudes of 1960 and 1970 eyesores that pass as residences and house SMRR voters.”

Either way, it is an invasion of a property owner’s right and an economic taking if a property is designated a landmark without the property owner’s consent by individuals who have no investment whatsoever in the property, or for that matter, in the neighborhood. Your development potential is destroyed and any remodeling curtailed. A passing stranger can have a strong aesthetic “aura of appreciation” for your house, your tree, etc. and cause an administrative process to commence to your detriment.

Since the American Revolution, Americans have fought for property rights and the ability to own property. It is no wonder that the Renters Rights Organization stands for just the opposite of what we at ACTION believe is the fundamental Constitutional right of every American citizen.