I lost a friend over the weekend when Ken Genser, the Mayor of Santa Monica, died 10 weeks after entering a hospital.
If his severe ails had been apportioned more fairly, more equally among others, Mr. Genser could have singlehandedly stocked his own hospital. The miracle is that he lived 59 years. You can can find thousands in Santa Monica who will testify they were enormously productive years.
Even if you never had met, you would have recognized him from a great distance — diminutive,wearing a slender smile underpinned by a twinkle, he hobbled along with a pronounced limp, and his ever-present cane could have been for his leg impairment or any of dozen or more causes.
When I was covering Santa Monica years ago, we would meet late at night at Izzy’s Deli, 15th and Wilshire, for interviews. He moved slowly, the way an iceberg does. They enjoyed the same degree of impact.
Mr. Genser was and is a permanent inspiration and bullet-proof hero to any of us formed slightly differently than the rest of you.
Our cities are littered with lazy people begging for handouts because they have a hangnail or lost a job last week. Next time you encounter one, tell him Mr. Genser’s story — he gave handouts. He did not accept them.
Looking Into His Soul
Lest you think I dare to exaggerate, listen to a woman in Santa Monica City Hall who came to know him well throughout his 21 years — how about that, Culver City? — on the City Council.
“As for Ken's physical challenges,” she said, “he had arthritis so bad he could not turn his neck, which was fused.
He had both hips replaced. He walked with a cane, and with considerable difficulty.
“He had a kidney transplant in 2006, after years of dialysis. He was diabetic. He was having rhythm problems with his heart.
“There were probably other ailments, too, that I just didn't know about. The doctors who tried to save him at Cedars were confronted with a Rubik's Cube, where medication for one crisis would trigger another.”
Another City Hall source told me:
“Ken was always pretty private about his health. This is one reason updates from the hospital were not released by the family until it was clear Ken was just not going to make it.
“Ken had been hospitalized several times before, including once during an election campaign (which, of course, he won anyway). We all had endless hopes he would make it again this time.”
The Gamut, from Joy to Grief
About the time Mr. Genser was entering the hospital last autumn, fellow Councilman Kevin McKeown was celebrating an epic moment of unparalleled joy. After many years of bachelorhood, he was marrying, enriching each fibre of his being in ways that those younger may not appreciate.
But when Mr. Genser died last Saturday, Mr. McKeown turned somber and issued a eulogy worthy of engraving:
“Ken’s death, has, of course, taken the wind out of our sails as it has for so many Santa Monicans. I wrote the following yesterday for those who asked what I remember most about Ken:
“Our loss, both personally and to the community, is incomprehensible. Ken served on the Council for over one-third of the 64 years Santa Monica has had a City Council.
“If you sleep safe in a rent-controlled apartment, or your family enjoys the security of affordable housing, or you earn the dignity of a living wage, Ken touched your life directly. He shared with us all a brilliant intellect, a bulldog's tenacity, a compassionate spirit and the heart of a mensch. At just over five feet tall, Ken was a giant.
“Ken dazzled us all with his dogged ability to think through solutions that would make life better in Santa Monica. He had the vision to make great things happen, and the attention to detail to make them happen great. Time and again, faced with the most complex land use decisions, Ken could thread the needle — when others couldn’t even find a needle in the haystack of municipal zoning codes. Ken knew where everything was.
“But there was much more to Ken than the dazzle. He pursued our city's well-being with superhuman endurance even though, as I came to learn, he sometimes needed an arm to lean on navigating the steps leaving City Hall. Ken lived with multiple infirmities, but endured discomfort, indignities, and pain with a cheerfully stoic , ‘let’s get it done’ attitude. Few knew how hard life could be for Ken; the world will remember him for his endless compassion and mischievous twinkle.
“Ken was a dutiful, loyal son who took great pleasure in showing up for his mother even after she didn't always remember quite who he was. He maintained deep lifelong friendships that went back to his college days at Berkeley, and he earned our respect and love not just for his work but for his humanity.”
Words Pave a Path to Observing His Heart
Councilman Richard Bloom said he will remember that “his fierce intellect, his unwavering integrity, his belief that his disabilities were not limitations f or his unworldly constitution.
“Or was it his principled commitment to preserving the character and scale of Santa Monica, his devotion to affordable housing or insistence on broad community dialogue?
“No, what I cherish most are the opportunity to have shared Ken's unconditional friendship, mischievous sense of humor and love for my family.”
Friends of Mr. Genser show that words never are inadequate to describe an important person.
