> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # City councilman’s support dwindling amid investigation - URL: https://www.smdp.com/city-councilmans-support-dwindling-amid-investigation/ - Published: 2003-10-17T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T03:06:24.000Z - Author: John Wood - Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica, #archive-import *Feinstein eyeing seat on air quality board, needs to be re-elected* (Editor’s note: This is the first article in an ongoing series on the criminal investigation of City Councilman Mike Feinstein. Saturday’s article will focus on his bid for a seat on the governing board of a regional air quality agency.) While he’s being investigated for allegedly misappropriating $10,000 in Green Party funds, City Councilman Mike Feinstein appears to be losing political support. It’s been three months since police seized Feinstein’s bank records and turned the case over to the LA District Attorney’s Office. An announcement on the status of the investigation is expected at the end of the month. Feinstein, a Green Party member, will run next week for a four-year post on a regional air quality board. In order to serve the full term, he would need to retain his seat on the City Council through 2007\. But doing that may prove difficult. Feinstein is up for re-election next fall and the backing of the powerful Santa Monicans for Renters Rights group, which he has traditionally garnered, is anything but certain. While the ongoing criminal investigation is an issue for some SMRR members, Feinstein’s recent political moves are the source of discontent for others in Santa Monica’s ruling party. “Ethics are important to me. Honesty is important to me. Honoring those who care about the quality of life in Santa Monica, as opposed to those who care about their pocketbooks, is important to me,” said Ellen Brennan, a SMRR member and a local stockbroker. “It feels like he’s lost his original purpose, and the kinds of decisions and kinds of votes he’s making now seem to have more to do with his political advantage, rather than the interests of the people that elected him.” SMRR co-chair Denny Zane and several other members said the criminal investigation doesn’t carry much weight when it comes to their support of Feinstein, who many describe as an apt and energetic politician. Zane said it’s too soon to say what candidates SMRR members will decide to endorse next fall. But he said Feinstein did fuel some discontent in the organization by breaking with SMRR’s endorsement of City Council candidate Abby Arnold in 2002 to back Josefina Aranda, a non-SMRR candidate. “Certainly Mike’s decision to support, to urge, a candidate who tried, but failed to win a SMRR endorsement, and then she, at Mike’s urging, ran separately, will be on people’s minds,” Zane said. While they are hesitant to comment on the current investigation, several SMRR members, who asked not to be identified for political reasons, said they didn’t plan to endorse Feinstein next fall. Brennan said most people are keeping their opinions to themselves because publicly expressing them could have negative consequences. “The political process in Santa Monica is really an art, not a science,” she said. “It’s kind of like a poker game — people don’t want to show their hand. It’s very tricky, treacherous at times.” Feinstein also is keeping tight-lipped about the matter, avoiding requests by Green Party members to account for the missing money for more than two years. He also won’t comment to the Daily Press. However, he is trying to internally resolve the issue with Green Party members, according to officials. The investigation has driven a wedge between Feinstein and some members of the local, state and national Green Party. The Green Party of California, which asked Feinstein to stop conducting party business until the money is accounted for, is currently reviewing Feinstein’s conduct. “It’s been almost three years,” said Bob Morris, former treasurer for the Green Party of LA County. “I think most everybody in the Green Party long ago stopped hoping that Mike would be forthcoming on this and explain what he did with the money.” > “I think most everybody in the Green Party long ago stopped hoping that Mike would be forthcoming on this and explain what he did with the money.” — — BOB MORRIS Former treasurer Green Party of LA County Feinstein became the focus of a criminal investigation after he failed to account for a Jan. 18, 2001 $10,000 donation to the GPLAC, which he allegedly deposited into a personal account. Though the focus is solely on the $10,000 check, Green Party members have said Feinstein allegedly took a total of $30,000 to run an unsanctioned Green Party office at 2809 Pico Blvd. Green Party officials first tried to work out the dispute internally. They asked Feinstein in August of 2001 to provide bank documents showing what the money was used for. But after waiting more than a year and a half for bank statements, Morris lodged a criminal complaint with local police earlier this year. Santa Monica Police Department Lt. Mike Beautz began investigating the matter in March. He interviewed the $10,000 donor — former Green Party member Bill Pietz — and fellow Green and City Councilman Kevin McKeown, who has been alienated from Feinstein because of the dispute. Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Bernard Kamins signed a search warrant in June and local police seized Feinstein’s bank records. Those documents are being reviewed by Deputy District Attorney Richard Ceballos. Feinstein supporters have maintained that the situation is a misunderstanding. They said Feinstein spent the money on Green Party business and did not take it for his own personal use. Glen Koontz, Feinstein’s Washington, D.C.-based attorney, declined to say why Feinstein didn’t turn over his bank records, but said he has cooperated fully with investigators. Koontz, who practices both civil and criminal law, wouldn’t say when he was retained by Feinstein. “I’m unaware of any factual basis of what charges could be levied against Mr. Feinstein because he’s done nothing wrong,” Koontz said. “Mr. Feinstein has been open and above board at all times.” Ross Mirkarimi, a spokesman for the California Green Party, said Koontz is in touch with his colleagues and the two sides are attempting to resolve the matter. In the meantime, Feinstein’s conduct is being reviewed and his participation in state party matters has been stymied, Mirkarimi said. While the matter plays itself out in both political and legal forums, local officials are questioning if Feinstein can hold on to his City Council seat next fall without the SMRR endorsement. “I’m pretty sure that SMRR won’t support him,” said City Councilman Bob Holbrook, who is a non-SMRR member and is considered one of the more conservative City Council members. “Anything could change, but they’re pretty angry with him... and if he doesn’t have their support, he doesn’t have Green Party support. I don’t know how he can do it. > “I’m pretty sure that SMRR won’t support him,” — — BOB HOLBROOK City Councilman “To have a meaningful campaign he would probably need about $100,000,” Holbrook added. “If he can get that money together, he’ll be viable.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 17, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/101703.pdf?ref=smdp.com)