> ## 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. # ELECTION2006 Politics take a turn for nasty - URL: https://www.smdp.com/election2006-politics-take-a-turn-for-nasty/ - Published: 2006-10-31T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T21:53:23.000Z - Author: Kevin Herrera - Tags: Government & Politics, Downtown, #archive-import, Homelessness *Pundits contend players up to same old dirty tricks* CITYWIDE — The gloves are coming off. With Election Day bearing down, independent committees looking to change the face of the City Council are going negative, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on cable television ads and glossy mailers bashing candidates in at least two local races. The latest to be targeted is Council member Pam O’Connor, the subject of a mailer sent by the Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City (SMCLC), which is attacking the incumbent because of campaign contributions she received from Macerich Co., the owner of Santa Monica Place. In the mailer, the phrases “keeps silent,” “pockets” and “misleads” are written in bright green along with a timeline showing that O’Connor accepted 13 checks from Macerich executives around the same time the mall operator was presenting plans to city officials for a massive redevelopment project, which would have included the demolition of the mall and the construction of three,21-story towers in the heart of downtown. “Pam O’Connor: Willing to sell Santa Monica out to developers,” the mailer reads. O’Connor admits she took the contributions, which totaled $3,100, however she was not influenced by them. In actuality, O’Connor said she voted against Macerich’s proposal and ordered executives to “go back to the drawing board” because their vision was out of step with what residents wanted downtown. “This is absolutely a negative campaign because (SMCLC) is misrepresenting the whole issue,” O’Connor said. “This is a group that wants you to jump when they say jump. They try to intimidate you and this is prime example of that … Macerich never called, never pressured about their project. “This is nasty,” she added.“All you can do is hope people will look at the issues and not be swayed by the quick message that distorts.” The mailer follows a protest over the weekend in which roughly 100 residents marched outside Shutters and the Casa del Mar hotels in opposition to three television commercials blasting Councilman Kevin McKeown for voting against placing security cameras on Big Blue Buses and the Santa Monica Pier. The commercials, paid for by the hotels’ operator, the Edward Thomas Management Co., also criticize the two-term councilman for his votes on homelessness. McKeown, who is endorsed by SMCLC, has fought back through e-mails, calling the commercials inaccurate and misleading. McKeown said the commercials represented a “new low” for Santa Monica politics. But McKeown’s feeling aren’t shared by everyone. Several pundits that, while attack ads over the airwaves may be new, negative campaigning has been a staple of local races, where independent committees such as Santa Monicans for Renters Rights (SMRR) and Santa Monicans for Change have issued mass mailings that cast candidates as corrupt, inept or obstructionist. “Every election cycle, people say it is the worst it’s ever been, but I don’t know if this is any worse in the absolute sense than what we’ve seen in years past,” said former Mayor Michael Feinstein, who was the subject of an attack ad by local trash hauler Southern California Disposal during his failed re-election campaign in 2004. Attorney Tom Larmore, who has been active in several campaigns for City Council and ballot measures, said he has detected a negative slant in the current campaign season, however, he can recall years in which the climate was even more contentious. “Negative campaigning is something you just have to expect,” Larmore said. “It varies from year to year, but you can always count on some very nasty pieces. Most of the pieces I’ve seen this year have been positive.” Campaign consultants said negative campaigning has become more popular in the last five to 10 years because of the increase in the number of races and propositions voters are faced with each election season.To make an impact,consultants often have to hit below the belt. “Negative campaigning works,” said Bob Stern, executive director of the Center for Governmental Studies,an independent research group that monitors the electorate. “They are much more interesting than those showing the candidate walking along the beach. Attack ads grab people’s attention.Voters may say they hate them, but in their heart of hearts, they pay attention to them because they are interesting. They cause people to talk.” But going negative can have its drawbacks. In some instances, voters may rally behind a candidate whom they perceive as the underdog. Voters may also take their anger out on candidates who are supported by the independent committees behind the ads, Stern said. “Sometimes voters will take it out on the candidate even though the candidate had nothing to do with the ads,” Stern said. This is a concern for Terry O’Day, a candidate for City Council who is backed by Santa Monicans for Sensible Priorities (SMSP), which is funded by the hospitality industry and Edward Thomas Management Co., the group behind the McKeown ads. “I hope people don’t draw the conclusion that I have any relationship to this,” O’Day said. “From the start, I have made every effort to run a positive campaign... I’m not even legally able to talk with an independent expenditure committee like SMRR or SMSP. I did not seek their endorsements and I think their ads underscore the reason why I got into this race in the first place. “Our community is polarized and the political leadership is exploiting it,” O’Day added. “More than ever, we need unity.” Mayor Bob Holbrook, who is also supported by SMSP, said he has no control over independent committees and all he said he can do is run his own campaign and watch the others from the sidelines. “I don’t know how this is going to play out or if the negative ads will have any effect,”said Holbrook, who has served on the council since 1990 and has been the target of several mailers. “All I know is people can say what they want about your voting record, but when it goes beyond that, it becomes a bit much.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 31, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/103106.pdf?ref=smdp.com)