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# Council hopefuls answer the $6M school question
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/council-hopefuls-answer-the-6m-school-question/
- Published: 2004-10-19T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T05:18:29.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Daily Press staff*

(Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of installments posing questions to City Council candidates. Each Tuesday leading up to Election Day, candidates will be asked a question by the Santa Monica Daily Press. Their answers appear in alphabetical order).

CITY AT LARGE — The City Council earlier this year agreed to commit a minimum of $6 million to the local school district annually for the next five years. But how to do that without taking from somewhere else in the city budget remains an issue.

Elected officials hope that voters this November will pass a 2 percent tax hike on tourists who stay in local hotels, which would generate about $3.5 million a year.

Those running for four City Council seats vary in their predictions on whether the measure will pass, but offer their ideas on what should be done if it doesn’t.

This week’s question: Measure N proposes to raise the hotel bed tax by 2 percent, thereby generating about $3 million that would go directly to local schools. If the measure fails, how will you keep City Hall’s promise to give the school district a minimum of $6 million annually? Where would you take money from in the already tight budget in order to fund the schools?

I don’t think the voters will pass Measure N, and even if they did, we should not be playing roulette with the future of our future — the children. The city should always look for a backup plan. I support revenues generated through joint powers agreements, along with the possibility of raising revenue through renting out cafeteria buildings on weekends for community groups who are operating on profit.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 19, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/101904.pdf?ref=smdp.com)