More About Denny Zane

Denny Zane
506 Santa Monica Blvd., Ste 223, Santa Monica, CA 90401
310-570-5870 [email protected]

Denny Zane is Executive Director of Move LA, an organization that coalesces environmental, labor, business, and community leaders and organizations to champion the development of a clean, efficient, and robust transit system for Los Angeles County. The Move LA coalition includes the participation of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, the Los Angeles-Orange County Building & Construction Trades Council, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, the Los Angeles Business Council, the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, the Sierra Club, the Coalition for Clean Air, Environment Now, Breathe LA, NRDC, the Transit Coalition, the Subway to the Sea Coalition, among others.

Move LA played a leading role in creating the coalition and campaign for Measure R, placed before Los Angeles County voters by LA Metro on November 4, 2008. Measure R provided for a 1/2 cent sales tax increase for transportation purposes. It was approved by nearly 68% of voters and will generate nearly $40 billion in new transportation funding over the next 30 years, 70% of which will be spent for public transit projects and services. Projects funded by Measure R include the Wilshire Blvd “subway to the sea,” several new or expanded light rail and bus rapid transit lines, as well as expanded bus services. Measure R has been hailed as an historic redirection of transportation priorities in Los Angeles County, the most auto dependent community in America.

With the victory for Measure R, Move LA and Zane turned their attention to securing, with the help of the federal government, accelerated financing that could ensure the development of 12 Measure R transit projects in 10 years rather than 30. This has come to be known as the “30/10 Plan.” It has gained the active support of Senator Barbara Boxer, Senator Dianne Feinstein, and virtually all of the Los Angeles County Congressional delegation.

From 1981 to 1994, Zane served as a city councilmember and one term as Mayor of Santa Monica, California. He began his advocacy career as co-manager of the Santa Monica rent control campaigns of the late 1970’s and founded Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights, the progressive community coalition which has held a city council majority for 24 of the past 30 years and has championed affordable housing, social services for the poor and homeless, a broad portfolio of environmental programs and policies.

As council member and mayor, Denny initiated and designed the revitalization strategy for Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade. He wrote much of the land use policy for downtown Santa Monica emphasizing pedestrian amenities, mixed-use development with housing and commercial uses, and effective transit access. These policies have since become widely acknowledged as an early example of “smart growth” land use policies.

Zane is also formerly the Executive Director of the Coalition for Clean Air from 1992-94. During his work at CCA, Denny initiated the successful campaign to convince the Los Angeles County Metro to switch to cleaner natural gas buses. He founded the California Truck Working Group with the late Carl Moyer and the California Trucking Association and worked with then Speaker of the Assembly Antonio Villaraigosa to create legislation to help finance clean alternatives to diesel trucks and other diesel technologies. The Carl Moyer Program that has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in grants for those purposes.

As a consultant to the City of El Segundo, Zane designed the successful campaign to stop the expansion of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Working with El Segundo Mayor Mike Gordon, he built a coalition throughout Southern California of over 100 cities and organizations to promote a regional airport solution.

During the same period, Denny was a member of the team that organized the constituency campaign in support of California’s Zero Emission Vehicle program and Assemblywoman Fran Pavley’s two landmark pieces of legislation to reduce greenhouse gases and allay global warming, AB 1493 and AB 32.

Zane is a graduate of Occidental College, class of 1969.

 



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