Chamber plans to send out several campaign mailers
Business interests hoping to unseat the local ruling party this fall have launched a new Web site and sent out the first in a series of mailers drawing attention to what it sees as Santa Monica’s biggest problems — homelessness, traffic congestion, and the policies and bureaucracies within City Hall.
The critical mailer was the first part of what’s been billed as an “educational campaign,” aiming to broaden community input on a range of issues. It was sponsored by the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, which for the first time this November will endorse candidates for the City Council.
Critics said the mailer plainly attempts to foster contempt among voters. Chamber leaders defended the campaign, saying residents need to be more involved.
“Whether the concern is vagrancy, traffic or crime, we want to encourage greater dialogue between the community and our elected leaders,” said former mayor and current chamber of commerce chairman Nat Trives, in a prepared statement. “We encourage residents to draw their own conclusions. In the end, we think they’ll agree that Santa Monica deserves better.”
The first full-color mailer, which was sent out over the July Fourth holiday weekend, features a picture of the Santa Monica Pier and the beach on one side, and reads, “This is the Santa Monica we love.” The other side says, “This is what we’ve got” and shows clippings from various news reports about homelessness, traffic and City Hall. It concludes with “Santa Monica deserves better.”
Seth Jacobsen, a volunteer spokesman for the business community, said four or five other mailers will follow in the coming weeks, each addressing a particular issue in greater detail.
“Theoretically, it’s not endorsing any one candidate, but it’s more just to raise the issues we think all the candidates ought to address — that’s really what it’s about,” Jacobsen said.
Tom Larmore, treasurer of the chamber’s political action committee, said Monday the committee has raised between $40,000 and $50,000 to spend on the election. The first mailer cost about $15,000 and was sent to about 20,000 households, Larmore added.
“It was primarily based on people who vote frequently and it went to homeowners and some tenants, based on their voting history. Not how they vote, because you don’t know that, but whether they are frequent voters,” Larmore said.
Launched last week, the Web site at www.santamonica2004.com contains links to dozens of news articles chronicling various hot-button issues, sorted by category. Among the categories are “Vagrancy & Transients,” “Traffic & Parking,” “Business Climate” and “City Governance.”
“We deserve better,” the site’s home page reads. “Renter. Homeowner. Employee. Business Owner. Student. Professional. Homemaker. Senior. We’re all in this together.”
Mayor Richard Bloom, an incumbent who will be seeking reelection, has been a vocal critic of the chamber’s active role in the coming election. He described the recent mailer as negative in tone, adding it was an unfortunate strategy for the chamber to use.
“I don’t believe that either the residential community or the business community is well served by a chamber of commerce that interjects itself into the electoral political process,” Bloom said.
Chamber officials hope to fill the four open seats on the City Council with candidates friendly to local merchants. Endorsements will be decided on in the coming months.
“We’ll talk with each one (candidate) and make recommendations to the chamber board, which will make the final decision, and my guess is that will come right around Labor Day sometime,” Larmore said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 13, 2004. Read the original PDF.