LOCAL ELECTIONS: RENT CONTROL BOARD : Tenants’ Slate Holds Upper Hand : Santa Monica: The fate of two competing rent control propositions, however, is still unclear.

In the decade since rent control was imposed in Santa Monica, no one has ever been elected or appointed to the city’s Rent Control Board who was not associated with the powerful tenant political group Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights.

And although there is some question whether tenants will back an SMRR-supported ballot measure or a competing one sponsored by landlords, there seems little doubt that the tradition of an all-SMRR rent board will continue after the Nov. 6 city election.

“There may be some confusion out there among tenants about the ballot measures, but I believe they realize that SMRR is still their best bet to protect affordable housing and tenants’ interests on the board,” said Jay Johnson, an SMRR member who was appointed to the board earlier this year and is now seeking election to a full four-year term.

The challengers to SMRR’s slate of four candidates acknowledge that they face an uphill battle in stopping the tenants group’s winning streak.

“People have told me I can’t win without the SMRR endorsement, but I’ll give it my best shot,” said Barbara Miller, a tenant who is running an independent campaign after failing to receive the organization’s endorsement.

Because of a resignation last year, four of the five seats on the board are up for election. Six candidates are competing for the three full four-year terms. A separate election to fill the last two years of an unexpired term has drawn two candidates.

For the full-term seats, SMRR has endorsed incumbent Johnson, an apparel sales representative; Suzanne Abrescia, a child development specialist, and Lisa Monk Borrino, a tenant attorney.

Landlord Ed Simonian, a chemical engineering firm manager, and two tenants, law school student Robert Madok and Miller, a certified shorthand reporter, are the other candidates.

The candidates for the two-year term are Robert Niemann, a substitute math teacher who has been endorsed by SMRR, and James L. Jacobson, a property management consultant who ran unsuccessfully for the board in 1984.

The four candidates with the SMRR endorsement are running coordinated campaigns. Rent board Commissioner Dolores Press is serving as campaign chairwoman for all four, and David Borrino, a Santa Monica deputy city attorney and husband of Lisa Monk Borrino, is their campaign treasurer.

Simonian, Madok and Jacobson have formed a loose alliance to challenge the SMRR slate. Miller is running independently.

Rather than personalities, the campaign up to now has focused on the candidates’ support or opposition to two ballot measures: Proposition U, backed by landlords, and Proposition W, which SMRR supports.

Proposition U would remove the provision of Santa Monica’s rent control laws that rankles landlords the most: the section that maintains rent control even when a tenant vacates an apartment voluntarily. If Proposition U is adopted, landlords would be able to raise rents to whatever level the market will bear when voluntary vacancies occur.

Proposition W, a competing measure placed on the ballot by the City Council at SMRR’s request, would allow rents on voluntarily vacated apartments to rise to specific higher levels based on the number of bedrooms. The rents allowed by Proposition W would be significantly higher than what is now permitted in many cases, but still well below free-market levels.

Predictably, all four candidates on the SMRR slate oppose Proposition U and support Proposition W. Simonian, Madok and Jacobson all favor Proposition U and oppose Proposition W. Independent candidate Miller opposes both measures, saying that Proposition U would bring about the end of rent control in the city, and that Proposition W doesn’t provide adequate protection from landlord harassment.

In the campaign for the ballot measures, both sides have been using scare tactics. Tenant advocates say that if Proposition U passes it will mean the end of affordable housing in Santa Monica, and landlords predict that if it doesn’t pass more landlords will go out of business under the state Ellis Act.

The Ellis Act, adopted in 1986, allows landlords to legally evict tenants and go out of business, provided they give adequate notice and pay relocation fees. Owners of more than 1,100 units have notified city officials of their intent to evict tenants.

Two of the candidates--one from each slate--have had personal experience with the Ellis Act. Abrescia was evicted from her apartment under Ellis three years ago, and Madok is now under the threat of an Ellis eviction.

Madok said his situation is evidence that landlords need relief provided by Proposition U, while Abrescia said her experience reinforced her belief that tenants still need the protection of rent control.

The SMRR candidates say they would bring with them a new spirit of cooperation with landlords, but at least one opposing candidate is skeptical.

“They would be a duplicate of the existing board,” said Simonian.

Following are brief backgrounds on each of the candidates, in the same order as on the ballot:

Jay P. Johnson, 47, was appointed to the rent board to replace Julie Lopez Dad in March as a compromise candidate after a split board could not agree on several other candidates. Johnson is a landlord, but has been active in SMRR, including sitting as a member of SMRR’s steering committee. He said he believes there needs to be better “integration and coordination” between the rent board, City Council, Planning Commission and the office of community and economic development over housing issues. “We have to protect the rental housing stock,” he said. According to the financial statement he filed with the city clerk, Johnson has raised $1,210 for his campaign--including a $300 personal loan--and spent only $257. However, he and the three other SMRR candidates enjoy the benefits of more than $160,000 raised by the group for slate literature and phone banks.

Ed Simonian, 51, owns two buildings with a total of nine units. Only his six-unit building is under rent control. Simonian says he supports rent control, but says the law should be applied in a more balanced way toward landlords. He supports Proposition U, but says that he and other small-scale landlords will be slow to benefit from it because the turnover rate is extremely low for rent-controlled apartments. Nonetheless, he says, the passage of the measure will have a “psychological effect of giving (landlords) hope.” He said disputes should be handled through mediation to avoid clogging up the courts and that landlords and tenants should be allowed to negotiate rent increase and pass-through costs. Simonian raised $1,275 and had not spent any of it as of Sept. 30.

Suzanne Abrescia, 40, has been involved in tenant organizing for several years and formed a support group three years for tenants like herself who were evicted under the Ellis Act. “I feel there is a need for rent control as long as there are abuses in rent control,” she said. Abrescia considered a run for the board in 1988 but decided not to after other candidates whose views she shared entered the race. She is part of a group of slow-growth advocates within SMRR, a group that has become increasingly outspoken in recent months amid mounting criticism of some pro-development votes cast by SMRR members on the City Council. Abrescia has raised $908 and spent $351, according to her campaign statement, but most of her campaign is being waged as part of the SMRR slate.

Lisa Monk Borrino, 35, says she has defended more than 200 evictions in Santa Monica, West Hollywood and Los Angeles as a tenant attorney for five years. Borrino said that without rent control, monthly rents would rise to the levels found in Marina del Rey, where rent control was removed five years ago. She said she would work to improve the relationship between the board and landlords. “I think landlords have to be treated with respect,” she said. “I don’t have a ‘them-versus-us’ attitude.” Borrino, part of the SMRR slate, has raised $1,340 and spent just $32 for her individual campaign.

Barbara Miller, 46, said she decided to run for the rent board after fighting off two eviction attempts by her landlord. “I want to help prevent others from undergoing the constant stress and pressure these proceedings cause,” she said. She opposes any changes to the current rent control law and is alone among the candidates in opposing both propositions U and W. Miller, who is endorsed by current board member Wayne Bauer, says the board needs an independent candidate such as herself who “doesn’t owe anything to anyone else.” Miller filed a statement saying she did not intend to raise or spend more than $1,000 during the campaign.

Robert Madok, 26, is a law student at USC who has lived in Santa Monica for less than three years. He said he favors Proposition U over Proposition W because it would protect current tenants from rent increases while offering landlords enough of an incentive to stay in business. He says the board must also be more consistent in dealing with rent increases and decreases. Based on his dealings with other tenants in his building, he says he believes most tenants are willing to pay a little more in rent to keep their apartments. Madok filed a statement saying he did not intend to raise or spend more than $1,000.

Robert Niemann, 50, is a half-owner of a four-unit apartment building in Santa Monica. He was involved in bringing rent control to Santa Monica in 1979 even though he was living in Venice at the time. As part of the SMRR slate, Niemann supports establishing a fund to subsidize rent increases for low-income tenants. Niemann also advocates a better relationship with landlords. “Maybe by being less confrontational, landlords will come to the conclusion that apartments are still a good investment if they stay in it for the long haul,” he said. Niemann raised $1,390 and spent $204.

James L. Jacobson, 38, is a tenant but works for landlords dealing with the rent board. Jacobson says his eight years of dealing with the board and rent control regulations make him the most qualified candidate for the job and would allow him to bring a sense of history to the board. He says landlords, particularly the small owners, need relief and need to be treated fairly and with respect by the rent board if they are to stay in business. “I have come to the conclusion that if the law was fairly applied, it would not be a system that apartment owners would love, but it would be one they could live with,” he said. Jacobson is promoting a 10-point proposal, including rent adjustments based upon percentages rather than set dollar amounts. Jacobson reported raising $2,280 and spending $446.