PNA Incumbents Ousted in Surprise Takeover

By Jorge Casuso

Sept. 22 -- In a surprise takeover, dozens of Pico area residents joined the Pico Neighborhood Association Saturday morning and voted hours later to oust every incumbent board member seeking reelection.

The group, made up primarily of black and Latino residents, voted from the floor to elect every member of its eight-candidate slate by a resounding margin, catching by surprise the leaders of the organization that represents the city's poorest and most diverse neighborhood. An independent challenger won the ninth open seat.

Among the officers ousted from the 13-member board were PNA chair Don Gray, a former City Council candidate, and Cece Bradley, who chaired for seven years the group she co-founded 23 years ago.

Also failing in their bid for reelection were Vice Chair Peter Tigler, who had been a member of the board on and off for a decade; Clyde Smith, a long-time PNA board member; Mathew Millen, who ran the campaign against the school parcel tax that squeezed to a narrow victory in June, and Laverne Ross.

The rival slate not only defeated the six members seeking reelection, the challengers took two open seats as well, with each candidate garnering more than 75 percent of the votes during the annual PNA general election. The top vote-getter on the rival slate, Michael Jackson, received 107 votes, while Ross, the top incumbent, got 36.

Helping to organize the new members was newly elected-board member Maria Loya, a leader of Mothers for Justice, a parents group that has challenged the school district on disciplining policies it charges adversely affect minority students.

Loya, who canvassed the neighborhood, said it was clear that the PNA board was "definitely" out of touch with its working-class constituency and was failing to push key neighborhood issues -- affordable housing, jobs for youth and education.

"The organization was not serving the interests of the community," Loya said. "Our goal was to increase representation in the Pico Neighborhood.

"The community really spoke out," Loya said. "You had people participating and voting that had never participated and voted before, and they had been in the community 15, 20 years. They came out to participate, and they voted."

Joining Loya and Jackson on the board are Ana G. Jara, Irma Carranza, Wes Thompson, Berenice Onofre, Belinda Ramos and Gina De Baca. Marc Sanschagrin, a member of the teachers union, won a seat as an independent, garnering votes from both factions.

The nine will join four board members who were not up for reelection -- Joseph Blanks, Rosalina Concha, Jim Ries and Wes Terry.

“Accountable development has by-passed the social and economic needs of Pico residents," Jackson said in a prepared statement issued after the vote. "More than just hopes and dreams we need to provide youth with ways and means.

"The expansion of Virginia Avenue Park provides an excellent opportunity to create jobs for our youth," Jackson said. "The PNA will work to create stronger partnerships with Community and City leaders to address this need.”

“The Pico Neighborhood is being gentrified and we risk losing the diversity that makes Santa Monica a vibrant community," Jara, who was the runner up, said in a statement. "With this election, a new voice has been established by working-class families in the Pico Neighborhood, and together we plan to advocate for more affordable housing to preserve this diversity.”

Tigler was surprised by the takeover and countered that the association had always been open to the needs of the community.

"I don't see why these people felt they didn't have a voice before," Tigler told The Lookout. The issues mentioned by the new board members, Tigler said, "were many of the things we were working on before."

Tigler stands by the bylaws that allow newly signed members to vote, saying they were meant to encourage "openness."

"That's a good way to do it," Tigler said. "If people want to commandeer it with a slate, it's open to that. We'll see if these people intend to keep it open."

Terry, one of the board member who was not up for reelection, estimates that as many as 80 new members joined the organization on Friday and Saturday, compared to seven in the previous month. 

Although it is clear the new members had an election agenda, Terry said their participation is a good sign.

"We encourage this," Terry said of the surge in enrollment. "It's about time.  I hope this will encourage others to get involved."

Oscar de la Torre, a School Board member who heads the Pico Youth and Family Center, also welcomed the increased participation, as well as the change in ranks.