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# Give me some Greens
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/give-me-some-greens-editor/
- Published: 2005-06-17T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T07:15:52.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless

*By Jonathan Mann Santa Monica*

When Santa Monica City Council member Kevin McKeown resigned out of pique, he was grandstanding to protest ex-mayor Feinstein’s victory at the recent Green Plenary (even though he rode into office on Feinstein’s coattails).

He is already regretting his decision to give up, rather than staying to fight for change and reform in the Greens. Now there are no Green Party council members in Santa Monica, although neither McKeown nor Feinstein exemplified the true Green values, if you look at their pro-development voting records. They were Greens in name only. I lump them together because they both compromised on Green priorities for political expediency in order to be elected. They both voted with the rest of the City Council for various development projects, and other special interests. Their excuse is they had to compromise to get the projects modified and downsized. Both were pawns of Santa Monicans For Renters Rights, city employees, car dealers, developers, merchants, tourism and public agencies, etc. Both completely lost sight of what residents want, if they ever really cared. Greens need to replace all the incumbents on the council — including McKeown — with a Green slate that empowers residents, implements grass roots participatory democracy, and will hold all city officials accountable for conflict of interest, corruption and incompetence. We don’t need more white males, we need gender balance, ethnic diversity and pro-resident advocacy.

McKeown is always speaking sonorously about Green values, but what has he really accomplished, other than to go along with the rest of the council, or defending the rights of squirrels? It is not so much that he is sabotaging Green priorities, he just allows them to be whittled away. He dares not speak out against City Hall fostering homeless dependency. He does not effectively reduce traffic chaos because he and the rest of the council are creating the parking crunch. Neither does he fight aggressively enough for issues that matter most to residents. He will support safe niche issues like the dog beach.

Santa Monica is a mecca for tourists, commerce and 5,000 homeless, not for the 80,000-plus people who live here. I blame everyone on the council equally. We need to evict from office everyone who does not represent the true interests of the residents, and replace them with a new slate of Greens with courage, integrity and commitment. We need Greens who will overturn the status quo and ignite the residents like the old SMRR did in the 1970s when the issue was rent control. Now we have decontrol and SMRR is just another special interest feeding the fat cats in the social services industry.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 17, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/061705.pdf?ref=smdp.com)