“I suspect their votes had little to do with the merits of the issue,” McKeown said.
However, Genser and O’Connor say their critics are barking up the wrong tree.
“I think this is absolute nonsense, and I think Mike (Feinstein) has to learn to disagree,” Genser said. “It doesn’t seem that he can get beyond the fact that we disagreed on something.”
Genser takes offense to Feinstein’s previous comment that voting for one issue and then against another is contradictory and hypocritical.
Genser is adamant that there is no “political conspiracy” like Feinstein is suggesting.
“If it were just about issues between me and Mike, then why did all the other council members vote against it too?” Genser asked. “That’s why there is seven of us, so we have different opinions and we can debate those issues and come up with creative solutions.”
But McKeown said the inconsistencies displayed by other council members prove that they have other motivations.
“There are no roadless forests in Santa Monica either, yet the city council endorsed that measure,” McKeown said. “I remain very disappointed with the city council’s action last week and I suspect it had little to do with the merits of the issue.”
O’Connor said she didn’t think the federal campaign two years ago had much relevance to Santa Monica but voted for it anyway.
“Sometimes you give a colleague a little room, and in that case a colleague (McKeown) brought it up and felt strongly about it so I voted to endorse it,” she said.
Genser agrees that endorsing the federal campaign was wrong.
“I think we made a mistake when we endorsed it back then,” he said. “We distracted the council and for what reason, our resolution did no good and changed no minds except to make a few people who brought it before us feel good.”
O’Connor said she will continue to vote her conscience and vote against any issue that doesn’t pertain to city business or affect Santa Monica residents.
“If they are disappointed in my vote, that’s just tough,” she said. “I’m sure there will be future days when we disagree too. Get over it and lets move on to the next issue.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 4, 2002. Read the original PDF.