Woman of the Year

When it comes to policy making, it seems Millie Rosenstein can't help but get involved.

During a visit to Sacramento to be recognized by Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl as the 41st Assembly District's Woman of the Year, Rosenstein used an hour off to impact legislation before heading back to Santa Monica.

Her spur-of-the-moment involvement illustrates why the chair of the city's Commission on Older Americans was honored for her considerable record of public service.

"It was really quiet an honor to be honored by her," said Rosenstein, whose son, Paul, sits on the Santa Monica City Council. "They called me 10 days before the [primary] election. I was very startled and pleased. It's very nice at my age to get recognition."

Accompanied by her son, Rosenstein joined 80 other women selected by their Assembly members as Woman of the Year at a ceremony on the floor of the State Assembly in Sacramento on March 27.

"I decided to wear a red jacket so I would stand out, so did a lot of others," Rosenstein said. "But there wasn't a lot of white haireds."

Following a lunch with Kuehl and Assembly members from Santa Barbara and Berkeley, Rosenstein decided to sit in on a meeting of the Assembly's transportation committee - one of her passions is finding alternative transportation for seniors -- and in the course of that meeting she changed history.

As the committee discussed raising fees for people who park in handicap slots without proper identification, one Assembly woman wanted to find a way to crack down on people with handicap identification who don't seem handicapped. The remark raised the ire of Rosenstein, who voiced her concerns to another Assembly member.

"I said that the woman should be challenged," Rosenstein said. "There are many people with heart conditions or lung conditions. You don't need to have an arm or leg missing."

The Assemblyman took her words to heart, challenging his colleague, who quickly changed her opinion.

Rosenstein met Kuehl during her tenure as president of the Santa Monica Democratic Club, a post she held for eight years. She then volunteered on the Assemblywoman's first campaign.

A native of New York, Millie and husband, Herman, moved to Los Angeles with their two children in 1958, moving to Santa Monica in 1980.

For the majority of their lives, both Millie and Herman were involved in social issues. At the age of 22, before Millie met him, Herman fought in the Spanish Civil War as part of the Lincoln Brigade. Later, he became a proud, card-carrying member of the Communist Party, leaving behind a legacy of activism chronicled by the FBI.

"If you do not participate in history, it's going to pass you by," Herman, who died in 1996, liked to say.

The message left its mark.

During their years in Southern California, Millie worked as a volunteer staff member for Tom Hayden, during his days in the State Assembly. She also has served on Santa Monica's Commission on the Status of Women and the Social Services Commission.

Currently, Rosenstein volunteers with the Dr. Martin Luther King Westside Coalition, which organizes events at Santa Monica College in honor of the slain Civil Rights leader's memory.

Millie also spends a couple days a week volunteering at KCRW, the formidable progressive non-profit radio station located on SMC's campus.

"All of my friends are old, and I don't have any grandchildren," said Millie of her work at the radio station. "So I need to be around young people somehow."