BY KEVIN HERRERA
Daily Press Staff Writer

July 25, 2006

CITY HALL — If there was any doubt the election season is upon us, it evaporated Tuesday night along with the humidity (but not the proverbial hot air) as the City Council dove head-first into several ballot initiatives and proposed charter changes aimed at campaign finance reform, marijuana enforcement, and the hiring and firing of top city officials.

While the meeting began on a serious note — Mayor Bob Holbrook announced Councilman Ken Genser was injured in an accident at his home and would not be attending the evening’s discussion — the debate, for the most part, seemed light-hearted, with elected officials lobbing one-liners left and right like the late Rodney Dangerfield. Well, all except for the part about getting no respect. They get a little.

There was Mayor Pro Tem Bobby Shriver’s playful blast of colleague Kevin McKeown’s visit to Ireland two years ago, where he enjoyed native song, but no Guinness. Can you imagine, no Guinness?

“I just wanted to make sure that Kevin spent all that time in Ireland and all he did was enjoy the music,” Shriver said.

“And the Irish ladies, truth be told,” McKeown said with a bashful grin.

The audience ate it up.

Councilman Herb Katz followed with a few self-deprecating jokes of his own. When Holbrook informed the crowd that the last council meeting was broadcast on City TV with no audio, Katz shot back that it was “one of (the council’s) best moments.”

The humor helped break the monotony, keeping the capacity crowd entertained, or at least awake during the six-hour meeting, as the council approved several agenda items, including a series of laws regulating the granting of permits to serve alcohol and the placement of portable landscaping and ashtrays in the public right of way. A considerable amount of time was spent debating an extensive smoking ban that ultimately passed (see related story, SMDP, July 27, page 1), as well as a proposal for the public financing of political campaigns, also known as “clean money,” which will receive further review.

Why the council spent time discussing ashtrays remains unclear as it plans to ban smoking within 20 feet of any public entrance. Sounds like entrapment ...

With elected officials in rare comedic form, it seemed like the perfect time for Mark Levine to pop the big question. The soft-spoken, middle-aged man with glasses straight out of the sock-hop era was checking out the dynamics on the dais to see which member would be brave, or zany enough to sponsor his “Topless Equal Rights Amendment.”

That’s right, topless. It’s Levine’s mission to level the playing field for females by creating not just a topless beach, but a topless Santa Monica, where women would be allowed to expose themselves just as men do — minus the back hair, of course.

“If there’s to be freedom of choice, why not freedom to be topless in public?” read a flier Levine distributed to raise awareness.

And women say their men never support them.

The proposed amendment would enhance the U.S. Constitution’s concept of equality like Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction did for the Super Bowl half-time show, Levine said. He added that it also would reduce the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer, cut down on the consumption of pornography, alcohol and drugs and — get this — prevent urban warfare.

However, an increase in car accidents and the filing of divorce papers may be side effects if approved. After all, if traffic backs up on the 405 freeway because of some “looky loos” gazing at an accident, imagine what would happen if voluptuous women were bouncing up and down the street wearing nothing more than a smile from the waist up.

While he didn’t lobby publicly for his amendment that evening, Levine seemed serious enough, well, about as serious as some of the council gadflies, who drift in and out of the meetings claming to have evidence of a Congressional cover up and the deadly effects of using a microwave. Only time will tell if he’ll really pound the pavement promoting the amendment. Chances are, Levine has no chance.

Those who were definitely determined to influence the council Tuesday night included a wide range of residents and activists, such as youth from the Pico neighborhood, who requested the city appoint a gang czar to help solve the regional problem of youth violence. There were consumer watchdogs as well, looking to keep political campaigns clean.

In an odd twist, the council approved of a ban on smoking in most public spaces, while at the same time, placed an initiative on the November ballot that would make it easier for adults to smoke marijuana in their homes. Since the marijuana initiative already qualified for the ballot, the council had no choice but to certify it or adopt it as law. In the end, wacky tobacky got the thumbs up, while the Marlboro Man was told to ride into the sunset.

Another day in the left-leaning city by the sea.



(For a complete rundown of the council’s actions, go to www.santa-monica.org, click on the city council tab and look for meeting wrap-up.)