Henna may make comeback
For the first time during this year’s campaign, city council candidates were allowed to cross examine each other before voters head to the polls on Nov. 5.
At a sparsely attended forum on Wednesday evening dubbed “Squirm Night,” which was sponsored by the Daily Press and held at the First United Methodist Church of Santa Monica, seven of the nine candidates sparred for the last time before next Tuesday’s election.
But this time candidates were allowed to ask each other one question. Some took the opportunity to attack, such as Chuck Allord and Pro Se, while others chose not to participate or used it to explain their positions.
Allord asked candidate Matteo “Matt” Dinolfo, a newcomer to Santa Monica politics, why he felt qualified to serve on the city council despite not having participated in any neighborhood groups or attending city council meetings.
Dinolfo stood his ground, explaining he had plenty of experience running large hospitals and medical programs with billion dollar budgets. He described his civic participation as taking a quieter tone than Allord, who is known for his fiery speeches before the city council.
“I don’t think Chuck understands the concept of citizen politician,” Dinolfo said. “Just because you get up and speak at the dais doesn’t mean you have anything to say.”
Councilwoman Pam O’Connor asked Allord why every time the council didn’t vote along the lines he advocated — which is often — he accuses council members of not listening to “the people.”
“Because every time you make a decision on the council there will be a lot of people who disagree with you,” she said. “And if you’re up there, they’re going to say that you don’t listen too.”
Allord answered he felt too often council members let their personal politics get in the way of how residents want the council to vote. He agreed that if he were elected, people would likely accuse him of the same thing after voting.
Pro Se used his question to bash Mayor Mike Feinstein, who isn’t running for re-election this year, and asked O’Connor why she walked out while he was addressing the city council several months ago.
By walking away, O’Connor broke quorum and forced the meeting to be put on hold while she took a break.
O’Connor said that as an elected official she has tried to be a good listener and return as many calls as possible, but there are some people who she said ask for too much attention and require too much of her time.
“You have to understand that even elected officials... need a break sometimes,” she said, adding she needed a bathroom break.
Jerry Rubin asked council members if they would vote to allow artists practicing Henna, an ancient form of temporary tattoos, to return to the Third Street Promenade.
Last year, the council voted 4-3 to remove Henna as a supported art form that can be practiced on the Promenade after some people complained the dye used by some artists was not temporary and resulted in skin irritations. Feinstein has vowed to bring the issue back before the council after the election.
Incumbents O’Connor and Councilman Bob Holbrook are running for re-election and voted in favor of barring Henna artists from the Promenade. Holbrook and candidate Josefina Santiago Aranda were unable to attend the forum.
Mayor Pro Tem Kevin McKeown voted against the measure and he said at the forum if he is re-elected he will vote to return the art form.
Dinolfo urged any member on the council when the Henna measure is brought forward again to make their decision based on facts and not perceptions, while candidate Abby Arnold said she would try to find a compromise that would allow the artists to return.
“I find we get ourselves into the biggest trouble when we create huge bureaucracies to regulate something,” Arnold said. “I would try to find some middle ground for the Henna artists to return.”
The candidates also were asked questions prepared by the editorial board of the Daily Press and some that were collected from the audience.
Allord has said he is a law student and a printer, so the forum’s moderator Jason Auslander asked where he attends law school and what he prints.
The candidate admitted he is not yet enrolled in any law school, but that he was looking into attending classes at Santa Monica College in preparation for a career in law.
“And I print silk screens,” he said. “Mostly T-shirts.”
During the Santa Monicans for Renters Rights convention, when the politically powerful organization endorses its candidates, three current council members presented a letter bashing Abby Arnold and asking SMRR members to vote for anyone but her.
Auslander asked Arnold if the letter would cause any problems on the council should she be elected.
“I came out of the SMRR convention with the most votes,” she said. “After a primary, I come from the Democratic tradition of putting the past behind you.”
O’Connor was asked whether she was running for re-election to keep her influential position on the Metropolitan Transportation Association board, since only elected officials are allowed to serve.
She agreed it was a main reason in her decision to seek re-election since it’s rare for someone from the westside of Los Angeles County to get elected to the board. O’Connor said she could use her position to advocate for extending the light rail line into Santa Monica.
“It’s not a sure thing that I’ll remain on the MTA board if re-elected,” said O’Connor, saying that she could be replaced as early as next year in an MTA board election. “But I have an opportunity to do some positive things on the MTA board.”
Dinolfo has advocated for more city spending on a host of special interests, such as education and programs for the elderly. He was asked how in the city’s desperate economic times, he would find the money for those programs.
“We are going to have to make some very difficult decisions,” he said. “We are going to have to freeze capital improvements and probably raise parking fees.”
“And we need to bring in businesses that can generate sales and bring in sales tax money for the city,” he added.
McKeown has said one of the main reasons he first ran for office was that he was disturbed at the rate national chain stores were replacing the local mom and pop shops.
Auslander asked McKeown what he has done to change that trend and how effective he thinks he has been since numerous chains have continued to move into the city.
McKeown said he supported down zoning measures to avoid “monster mansions,” helped lower the development threshold downtown that triggers a public review and he has advocated the city continue to support small mom and pop shops.
And he vowed to continue advocating for small business and smart development.
“We’re a special city that is a desirable place to live and do business,” McKeown said. “We have a character that we are in danger of losing as our local businesses are forced to close as national chain retailers move in.”
“We have a character that we are in danger of losing as our local businesses are forced to close as national chain retailers move in.” — — KEVIN McKEOWN Santa Monica City Councilman
“I hate to see that part of our community that makes us so unique and feel like a small community disappear,” he said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 1, 2002. Read the original PDF.