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# It stands to reason it’s time for change
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/it-stands-to-reason-its-time-for-change-editor/
- Published: 2004-10-29T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T05:21:31.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless, Homelessness

*By Dr. Michael Gruning Santa Monica*

Amid the deluge of recent political mailings I received, I was particularly struck by two. The first was a SMRR (Santa Monicans for Renters Rights) piece whose main theme was support for our schools. The basic premise was that it was the SMRR leaders of City Council that were instrumental in helping craft an agreement that resulted in $6 million in additional annual funding for our local schools. While it is true that certain (non-Council) individuals who were true advocates for education and happened to be SMRR members were an integral part of making the CEPS (Committee for Excellent Public Schools) agreement a reality, it is totally untrue that the SMRR-dominated City Council promoted the CEPS agreement. To say that the Council endorsement was an 11th-hour decision is a gross understatement. Their conversion came at gunpoint. They were given three years to negotiate in good faith and make themselves legitimate heroes in the process and not just education advocates in name only. How dramatic would it have been for one of them to have broken ranks and fully embraced the CEPS initiative? Instead, it was delay, maneuver, posture and obfuscate. It was only when 15,000 bona fide signatures were looming over their collective heads that they miraculously saw the light. They knew full well that had they not signed a compromise agreement and had the initiative gone onto the ballot in November, then they would have faced the wrath of an irate electorate, which truly cares for the educational welfare of its children. Political retribution would have been swift and devastating. Was an agreement finally reached? Yes. Was it a result of a SMRR Council’s magnanimity? No.

The second piece was from the POA (Police Officers Association). The POA has endorsed four candidates for City Council, three of whom are longtime SMRR members and two of whom are current SMRR Council members. To quote the piece: “All believe that the homeless issue is a top priority and needs to be addressed.” What is one to make of that? If homelessness in Santa Monica is worse now than it has ever been (and successive City surveys say that residents think it is), what does that say of the last 20 years of SMRR leadership? How can homelessness be a priority when the SMRR majority has had 20 years to make a difference and has not? City Council’s homeless policies are ineffectual and even when ordinances are passed to limit feeding in the parks and prevent sleeping in doorways, there is no enforcement. Twenty years is more than enough time to have shown leadership. It’s time for a change.

Join me in voting for common sense and reason for a change. Vote for Herb Katz, Bobby Shriver, Matt Dinolfo and Kathryn Morea. Your vote will count.

P.S. — On a curious note, the POA piece ends with the tagline: “Vote for Public Safety.” As much as I like and respect every officer whom I’ve met in the Santa Monica Police Department, I can’t help but be amused by that line. Are we to assume that if a non-SMRR majority is elected to City Council, that we will somehow be less safe?

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 29, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/102904.pdf?ref=smdp.com)