The Wacky World Of Santa Monica Politics always brings out the wackiness in people, and this election year is no exception.
The Police Officers Association and Firefighters Union endorsed incumbent council members Kevin McKeown and Pam O'Connor. Everyone expected Councilman Bob Holbrook to get their approval, but instead it went to newcomer Matteo DiNolfo.
The public safety endorsement is good for between 2,500 and 5,000 votes. Election handicappers agree that Holbrook’s chances of being re-elected to a fourth term are diminished without this key support.
Speculation is that one reason why the POA endorsed DiNolfo is they are unhappy with Holbrook’s support for VERI- TAS, (Measure HH) the voter reform initiative, which they oppose.
However, many political observers still don’t think DiNolfo has enough “juice” to win a seat on the dais. After trying and failing to get the SMRR endorsement, DiNolfo turned to the business community for their support.
The business leaders I’ve talked with question the man’s motivation. “He comes to us and says he's for us, yet, he favors the living wage and opposes voter reform,” a business leader who asked for anonymity told me. “He tells you what he thinks you want to hear.”
On the other side of the political spectrum, Josephina Aranda Santiago and Abby Arnold are competing directly with each other for what appears to be an up-for-grabs council seat.
Aranda is counting on support from the Hispanic community and Green Party (she has strong backing from Mayor Michael Feinstein), while Arnold is strongly supported by the living wage crowd.
In another surprising turn of events, the Santa Monica-Malibu Classroom Teachers Association has made their first ever council endorsements by backing O'Connor, McKeown and DiNolfo.
At least three other city council candidates — Holbrook, Chuck Allord and Pro Se — say they were never contacted by the teachers union. How could they honestly and fairly evaluate a field of candidates without contacting all of them? Truth is, they couldn’t. It makes me wonder what values these people are teaching our kids.
There’s always a chance that McKeown and/or O’Connor could lose. The homeless issue is a nagging problem and McKeown is nervous about it. I was given an e-mail from McKeown to a friend involved with one of the feeding programs. In it, McKeown says he “is going out on a very long political limb to fight against it,” referring to a proposed ordinance restricting feedings in public parks.
McKeown continues, “I am up for reelection. I, however, am not willing to pander to the business community for donations and win votes on the suffering of the poorest and weakest among us. I am disgusted with my colleagues.” It appears that Kevin isn’t even willing to “pander” to fed up residents on this issue and that may cost him lots of votes.
Then, there is the strange adventures of school board candidate Oscar de la Torre. Last month, after he asked the Santa Monica Democratic Club for its endorsement, they found out that he was not a Democrat.
According to the L.A. County Registrar of Voters, de la Torre registered to vote In Santa Monica for the first time on August 5 as an “independent.”
Although he was officially re-registered a Democrat on August 29, it was too late and he was not endorsed by the Democratic Club because he was not a Democrat.
When de la Torre announced his run for the school board on July 17, he apparently was registered to vote in Mar Vista. State law requires candidates must be registered in the city where they would vote for that office when he states his/her intention to run for a local office. De la Torre could face disqualification if elected and if challenged in court.
De la Torre now claims he actually registered to vote in Santa Monica on July 16 using a seldom used “overseas voter registration form,” which the Registrar says it has no record of.
Perhaps this “missing” voter registration will eventually show up at the county Registrar’s office or maybe it won’t. I hope for Oscar’s sake it does.
Because it seems that something just doesn’t smell right. Once again, de la Torre is eyeball high in controversy. He needs to clear the record and re-establish his credibility.
Bill Bauer is a longtime resident of Santa Monica and freelanace writer.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 27, 2002. Read the original PDF.