After the first financial disclosure forms in the City Council race were submitted, it was clear that yet again the bulk of the campaign spending would come from Political Action Committees. Natalya Zernitskaya’s campaign has raised the most money of any of the ten candidates, with $55,777.68 and $51,641.96 on-hand, and that amount was dwarfed by the $275,000 raised by Unite Here! Local 11 for the “Renters and Workers of Santa Monica” PAC in support of the “United Democratic Slate” of Dan Hall, Ellis Raskin, Barry Snell and Zernitskaya. The rival slate is backed by “Santa Monicans for a Real Positive Future Supporting Brock, de la Torre, Roknian and Putnam for Council 2024.” which has raised $230,000.
Other PAC’s such as the Police Officer’s Association and Santa Monica Forward have also been actively raising funds.
But who are the people and organizations that are bankrolling these PAC’s. Santa Monica Next takes a look below listed in order of amount donated (that we know of.) For the purposes of this post, we’re looking at groups that have raised more than $10,000 or groups/individuals that have donated more than $5,000.
You can read previous coverage of the filing deadlines at the Santa Monica Lookout and Santa Monica Daily Press.
Unite Here! Local 11 has put $150,000 into the “Renters and Workers for Santa Monica” PAC of that came from their national union.
Unite Here! represents hotel workers. During 2023 Unite Here! struck against several Santa Monica hotels and often found itself at odds with Councilmember Phil Brock over issues of when, where and how loudly they could picket.
The Teamsters, $120,000 pledged in support of Phil Brock, Oscar de la Torre, John Putnam and Vivian Roknian
Teamsters Joint Council 42 announced their endorsement of the “Safer Santa Monica” slate yesterday and pledged $120,000 towards their (re)election. The Teamsters represent workers in the City Yards and Big Blue bus, including garbage haulers, custodians, mechanics and carpenters. They did not announce whether they will spend the money themselves or donate it to a PAC.
Douglas Emmett Properties has put $100,000 into the “Real Positive Future Supporting Brock, de la Torre, Roknian and Putnam” PAC
Douglas Emmet Properties (DEP) is housed in Santa Monica and owns commercial properties throughout the city and The Shores Apartments in Ocean Park. DEP made national headlines for its attempt to push one of the largest evictions in the country, Barrington Apartments in West L.A. A judge stopped the evictions in a March ruling.
The Santa Monica City Council voted 6-1 last October to ask Douglas Emmet Properties to end their eviction efforts and support the tenants right to return should temporary evictions go forward (Minutes, Item 8H.) The discussion was highly critical of DEP and only Councilmember Christine Parra voted against the proposal. Santa Monicans for Renters Rights wrote this letter explaining why the City of Santa Monica should involve itself in an issue just outside city borders.
Jerry A. Greenberg also has put $100,ooo into the “Real Positive Future Supporting Brock, de la Torre, Roknian and Putnam” PAC
Greenberg is a restaurateur and co-founder of the tech company Sapient. Sapient owns the Sushi Nozawa Group, which owns the restaurants SUGARFISH and KazuNori in Santa Monica.
Abundant Santa Monica has raised $62,500 in support of the United Democratic Slate, $37,500 of which has gone to the “Workers and Renters” PAC
Abundant Santa Monica is the local branch of the “Abundance Network” which also has chapters in San Francisco and Oakland. Their “team” page which lists the groups leaders reads like a who’s who of the Northern California YIMBY movement, tech entrepreneurs and alumni from various Barack Obama campaigns. Read more about them at their official website.
Santa Monicans for Renters Rights raised $51,450 in support of the United Democratic Slate.
SMRR announced its endorsements earlier this year.
Streets for All, donated $37,500 to the “Workers and Renters” PAC
Streets for All is a regional advocacy group for safe streets and options for bicyclists and pedestrians. They publicly endorsed the “United Democratic Slate” earlier this year after holding a candidates forum and soliciting input through a questionnaire. The group is active in local, regional and statewide legislation and is perhaps most famous for authoring and backing a ballot measure in the last Los Angeles election that was passed. It requires the city to implement its mobility plan while resurfacing streets.
Committee for Excellent Public Schools (CEPS) raised $33,662 in support of the United Democratic Slate
CEPS was the first group to announce an endorsement this year. The group’s funds will be used to support a slate of candidates for school board and support the SMMUSD bond as well.
Kilroy Properties also has put $25,000 into the “Real Positive Future Supporting Brock, de la Torre, Roknian and Putnam” PAC
Kilroy Properties owns three properties inside of Santa Monica including the Santa Monica Media Center, 501 Santa Monica Boulevard, and 1633 26th Street.
The Santa Monica Police Officers Association has reported $25,177.50 in fundraising and $17,673 in expenses with “cash on hand” of $82,133.87.
The Police Officers Association has backed most of the Safer Santa Monica Slate with Ericka Lesley replacing John Putnam on their slate. The exact amount they will spend on supporting their slate of Brock, de la Torre, Lesley and Roknian hasn’t been announced, but you can see their ads on at least the Santa Monica Lookout homepage.
Santa Monicans for Change raised $14,200 in support of the “Safer Santa Monica” slate.
Santa Monicans for Change hasn’t updated their website since the last election, but has traditionally supported candidates who believe funding law enforcement is the best way to reduce crime. They endorsed Councilmember Lana Negrete and Armen Melkonians two years ago, which is easy to research because their 2022 logo is what greets you when you visit their website.
