‘Peace Activist’ Is a Job, Ballot Suit Says

Most Santa Monica locals know Jerry Rubin as the suntanned and sandaled man with a bumper sticker and a hunger strike for nearly every liberal cause.

This year, he’s run an unusual campaign for Santa Monica City Council by refusing donations, volunteers and endorsements and asking for votes “only if you think I deserve it.”

The one thing Rubin demands, however, is that the phrase “peace activist” appear under his name on the November ballot. But City Clerk Maria Stewart has refused such a designation because she said it violates state rules.

On Thursday, Rubin’s attorney, James Fosbinder, filed a federal lawsuit against Stewart, the city of Santa Monica and California Secretary of State Bill Jones, charging that Rubin’s civil rights are being violated by not allowing him to list what Rubin considers his profession on the ballot.

“We think it’s the most honest and accurate way of describing what he’s done as his vocation for the last 20 years,” Fosbinder said.

If candidates want a ballot description, state guidelines require that the terms explain how they earn their income, city attorneys said. In that attempt to avoid confusion or deception, candidates may list only their profession, occupation or vocation under their names. The word “activist” is among the phrases disapproved by the state.

Still, some Santa Monica officials concede that the rules are murky and inconsistent. For example, Green Party member Michael Feinstein wasn’t permitted to list “environmentalist” under his name during his successful 1996 campaign for Santa Monica City Council, but he was permitted to use “author.”

“The real dispute is ultimately going to be with the state,” City Atty. Marsha Moutrie said. “If a federal judge were to tell us to use the designation ‘peace activist,’ we have no problem with that.”

Rubin’s suit asks a federal judge in the U.S. Central District of California to bar the city from enforcing state ballot designation rules.

Rubin has long faced public confusion about his identity because he shared the same name with the nationally known Yippie-turned-businessman who was killed in a 1994 jaywalking accident.

When the better-known Rubin left New York for Los Angeles in the 1980s, the phone company allowed both men a special designation in the directory to clear up confusion.

“He was listed as Jerry Network Marketing Rubin and I was listed as Jerry Peace Activist Rubin,” the Santa Monica man said.

Rubin said he wants the city to show him the same courtesy demonstrated by the phone company.

Still, critics call Rubin’s suit a publicity stunt and diversion from real issues.

“What is the point of suing us for a campaign that Jerry himself isn’t taking seriously?” said Santa Monica City Council member Feinstein, who is running for reelection in a crowded pack that includes Rubin. “In a city that has important legal battles that try to help the quality of life for real people, why spend resources like this?”

But Rubin attorney Fosbinder insists that state law allows cities leeway in ballot designations and that politically lively Santa Monica is an unlikely place to “voluntarily use the regulation that says you can’t use the word ‘activist.’ ”

For nearly 20 years, Rubin has been a fixture at City Council meetings, a crusader for preservation of the Ballona Wetlands, a voice for local artists fighting for performance space on city streets, a vehement opponent of war toys and a campaigner for the rights of the disabled.

Rubin, who says he is 53, has sued the city six times over 1st Amendment issues and has either forced the city to settle or won outright. In one recent case, he challenged a city ordinance that regulates street performers and vendors on the Third Street Promenade.

In 1974, Rubin ran unsuccessfully for Venice’s former congressional district as a member of the Peace and Freedom Party and he said he won 6,000 votes.

“Maybe they thought I was the other Jerry Rubin,” he said. These days, Rubin spends most of his time at the Third Street Promenade selling political bumper stickers. Occasionally, he stops dog owners with pit bulls to offer to rubber-stamp peace signs on their pets.

Rubin, a self-described high school dropout and reformed drug addict, said he doesn’t expect to win one of the four open seats on the council, but believes it’s important to challenge the political system.

“I don’t even know if I’m going to vote for myself yet,” he said. “I’m going to scrutinize every candidate. If I think there are four people more qualified than me, I’m going to vote for them. Why shouldn’t I?”