By Daily Press staff
Santa Monica City Councilmember Kevin McKeown has formally announced his candidacy for re-election in November.
Three seats are open on the seven-person council. The four-year terms held by McKeown, Mayor Bob Holbrook and City Councilwoman Pam O’Connor will expire this fall. Holbrook announced earlier this year that he will run again. O’Connor hasn’t made an announcement on whether she will seek re-election. So far only one challenger has come forward and that is Gleam Davis, who has participated in the community through her support in local education.
McKeown, 58, will pursue an endorsement from Santa Monicans For Renter’s Rights (SMRR), a powerful political group who for the most of the past three decades has held a majority on the City Council. The organization, founded on renter’s rights and rent control, still promotes a social and liberal agenda in town. It also is powerful in fundraising and campaigning for their chosen candidates.
McKeown, a 30-year renter, is a former member of the SMRR’s steering committee. McKeown said he has been a lead force on tenant harassment protections and affordable housing issues, recently securing a new requirement that condo developments include units deed-restricted for affordability.
“I’m proud of my record, but I’ll be running on the work I still want to do to improve our quality of life and to champion social justice, lifelong learning, and an environmentally clean, sustainable city,” he said.
State Senator Sheila Kuehl, an ally on youth violence concerns, has endorsed McKeown, saying, “Kevin has been consistently committed and effective on issues in Santa Monica regarding quality of life and social justice. I live in Santa Monica, and I’m voting for Kevin.”
McKeown sees ongoing balance between a vibrant local economy, and impacts on neighborhoods and quality of life as a key issue for Santa Monica.
“We are already a dense, mixed-use city,” McKeown said. “Moving forward, economic growth must be tempered by the acknowledgment that people live here.”
Participating actively in the current process to create a general plan for development and traffic in Santa Monica, McKeown said he recently spurred the City Council to take immediate action preserving local zoning options should state law change before Santa Monica can pass its improved citywide plan. Previously, McKeown led the City Council to establish greater public input and environmental review on commercial development throughout the city.
“Kevin is that rare policymaker who tirelessly sweats the little details but intuitively gets the big picture,” said SMRR co-founder Denny Zane, who also has endorsed McKeown. “His impact on protecting Santa Monica from commercial overdevelopment has been immense, and every neighborhood in town has benefited from McKeown’s hard work.”
Los Angeles City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl used to say that his 11th District “surrounds” Santa Monica.
“Kevin suggested to me that my district ‘embraces’ Santa Monica, and I certainly embrace Kevin and his work on regional issues including homelessness,” said Rosendahl in endorsing McKeown. “We are good progressive partners for the benefit of the whole westside.”
Assemblymember Fran Pavley also has endorsed Kevin for re-election.
“With his combination of energy and experience, Kevin is a leader on environmental issues and has been a strong advocate for education,” Pavley said. “Local lawmakers like Kevin push Sacramento toward better statewide policy, and he’s certainly earned Santa Monicans’ votes.”
McKeown works as educational technology consultant for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. He grew up in New Haven, Conn., where he attended public high school and earned a full scholarship to Yale University. After involvement in music and politics at the campus radio station, he pursued a broadcast career instead of a degree. McKeown came to Santa Monica in 1976 as general manager of Los Angeles radio station KROQ, later becoming a radio producer and co-owning a radio recording studio on Santa Monica’s Main Street.
McKeown will seek support from groups and organizations. In previous campaigns, McKeown has been endorsed by SMRR, Santa Monica police officers and firefighters, teachers, environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, and others.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 14, 2006. Read the original PDF.