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# Anyone else running in the elections?
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/anyone-else-running-in-the-elections-editor/
- Published: 2006-11-02T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T22:01:06.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Lori Emerson Santa Monica*

How refreshing it is to be receiving and hearing about all of the negative mailers and reading the multiple articles in the SMDP regarding the City Council campaign turning “nasty” (Oct. 31, page 1).

Smart businesses know that it takes money to make money. By the hotel industry making a huge investment in making sure that the incumbents don’t get re-elected, they are going to reap huge financial rewards by increased tourism, and hopefully, more convention bookings. That means more tax revenue for Santa Monica. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.

The incumbents are sniveling that the hotels are attacking them, while they spend the millions they get from the hotel’s tax revenues on bum services, curb extenders, no-smoking signs and park upgrades. Where do they think the money comes from? It seems that they should be thanking the hotel industry for footing the bill and for filling their coffers with the millions of dollars that they have wasted on programs and plans that are as ineffective as they are.

These three useless and inefficient incumbents have been diligently working at being city council members for eight, 12 and 16 years, respectively. Kevin McKeown is crying foul because his atrocious voting record has finally caught up with him. Pam O’Connor thought she could stay under the radar by simply not voting on important issues, and now there’s those pesky Macerich donation checks that have come back to bite her in the rear. Bob Holbrook is just trying to ride on a new candidate’s coat tails, because his re-election, based on his own 16-years of chair warming, doesn’t seem likely.

The facts are that we have more than enough bums, and more than enough low-income housing, and the higher crime statistics that come from both. Our parks are unusable, our streets and shopping areas are urinals and if you can ever get through traffic, you might just get lucky enough to find a parking place. Our alleys and streets are in disrepair and you can’t make a simple trip to the drug store without risking your life.

This is all the direct result of too many years of Kevin McKeown, Pam O’Connor and Bob Holbrook.

I am going to vote for anyone else — it doesn’t matter who — just anyone else.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 2, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/110206.pdf?ref=smdp.com)