Frances M. Finnen; Santa Monica Anti-Crime Activist

Frances M. Finnen, 92, the elderly woman whose 1990 stabbing in a Santa Monica grocery store launched an ill-fated ballot initiative to make the city’s chief attorney an elective office. A native of Fort Worth, Mrs. Finnen spent most of her life in Southern California. She was a Republican Party campaigner and in 1974 went to the White House to hand embattled President Richard Nixon a 40-foot scroll of messages from Westside supporters. After she was stabbed with scissors and robbed three years ago by a homeless man while shopping at 7th Street and Broadway, Mrs. Finnen campaigned vigorously for Proposition Y to elect Santa Monica’s city attorney. The movement was a protest against appointed City Atty. Robert Myers because of his policy of not prosecuting transients in the coastal city. Although the measure failed, Myers later resigned. Mrs. Finnen also helped found the crime prevention group Citizens Protection Alliance. On Saturday in Santa Monica.