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# Election surprises and many lessons to be learned
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/election-surprises-and-many-lessons-to-be-learned/
- Published: 2002-11-08T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T00:52:52.000Z
- Author: Bill Bauer
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

Election Day has come and gone. Council members Kevin McKeown and Pam O’Connor can breathe a sigh of relief. They won second and third terms, respectively.

The big surprise was Bob Holbrook’s victory. Rumors of Holbrook’s political demise were premature. After the Police Officers’ Association and firefighter’s union refused to endorse him, observers thought Holbrook’s political career was over.

Holbrook even weathered a somewhat incoherent but vicious campaign by the P.O.A. that claimed he was anti-police and a second smear campaign by Santa Monicans for Renters Rights, who falsely said he “repeatedly sides with hotel and developer interests — not with residents.”

It looks like councilmen Richard Bloom, Ken Genser and Mike Feinstein contributed to SMRR-endorsed Abby Arnold’s defeat when they put out a city-wide flyer Sunday night that stated, “She has opposed SMRR’s efforts to preserve housing and protect tenants.” That move probably cost Arnold enough votes that it enabled Holbrook to slip ahead for re-election to a fourth term.

Measure JJ, the living wage ordinance, went down in defeat — barely. Aggressive pro-JJ supporters outside the polls turned off many voters. This time, I heard many neighbors say the whole thing was “none of my business” and was “between the hotels and their employees.”

Measure HH (VERITAS) seemed to be destined to failure from the get-go. The voter reform measure was long, complicated and unwieldy. It was too easy to pick out something about it not to like. Although its author, Paul DeSantis, worked feverishly to get it approved, at times it seemed that he was one of a very few people for it.

Another surprise had to do with the failure of school supporters to pass a $300 parcel tax increase. While I’m sure the school and Measure EE supporters think this is a disaster, it’s really a “Phoenix rising” opportunity.

With the possibility of a special election coming as early as next March, there’s time for district supporters to regroup and present a “good” school tax proposal to the voters. I hope they don’t do what school board president Julia Brownley did and tell a bunch of school supporters at a recent political fundraiser that “we'll put it right back on the ballot until it passes.”

Last June, the district ad hoc advisory committee was advised that $300 was more than was really needed. Even lifelong learning advocate Louise Jaffe warned, “Older people will choke (on $300),” according to press reports. They and the school board also ignored a suggestion for a low-income exemption. Bottom line: A $300 increase was too much for a lot of people to swallow and that’s why EE went down.

Some voters had issues with district management and the arrogance of those advising and supervising the district. It didn’t help that EE supporters were spending over $160,000 — compared to the “No on EE” group’s $700 outlay.

School board member-elect Shane McLoud, who seems to have more common sense than the rest of the board put together, said it best when he told the Daily Press, Nov. 6, 2002, that we need to look at why this didn’t work and why the community rejected it.

We all want what’s best for the schools, so how about a parcel tax that’s fair and distributes the tax burden more evenly? How about one that taxes big property owners more than little ones, and gives low-income property owners and those on fixed incomes a break?

How about wording that guarantees certain percentages of money raised will go to arts, sciences, music and other classroom disciplines? How about calling out specific financial oversight measures?

And there’s more ways to raise money than to just keep taxing residents and property owners. How about the school board president and board members going to the hotels and other big money businesses and asking them to endow a chair in the music or arts department, for example, instead of demanding they pay entry-level workers more money or to unionize?

Shouldn’t the city dig deeper and provide more funding as well as assist in obtaining grants for our kids instead of spending tax money on social engineering and pet causes?

This is a great opportunity for our schools to excel, but will school leadership and school supporters rise to the occasion? They better. Our future depends on it.

Bill Bauer is a 25-year resident and a freelance writer.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 8, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/110802.pdf?ref=smdp.com)