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# Mayor Pam O’Connor vows to stay the course in 2005
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/mayor-pam-oconnor-vows-to-stay-the-course-in-2005/
- Published: 2005-02-15T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T06:05:18.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Government & Politics, Downtown, #archive-import

*Newly-appointed, O’Connor outlines her top priorities*

*By CORTNEY FIELDING Special to the Daily Press*

After assuming the city’s highest ranking political office two months ago, Santa Monica’s mayor plans to spend the next year in office ensuring that local government doesn’t veer off track.

That means moving forward with a billion-dollar light rail system that would end in downtown Santa Monica, creating new standards for development and ensuring that the city continues to be environmentally friendly.

As a member of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors, O’Connor said her top priority is ensuring that the Expo light rail line stays a reality for Santa Monica, she said.

Estimated at $1 billion, the light rail line will eventually connect downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica, transportation officials said.

While the city doesn’t have any authority over the light rail project, O’Connor has influence in keeping the project moving forward and on budget as an MTA board member.

Now in the preliminary engineering stage, the project will connect downtown Los Angeles to the intersection of Venice and Robertson boulevards in Culver City. Connecting Culver City to Santa Monica will be the second phase of the project.

“We don’t want people to have unrealistic expectations,” she said. “It isn’t going to be up and running in days.”

Having deadlines mapped out for engineering, construction and completion is critical to the project, O’Connor said, while acknowledging that the timeline continues to change. It will be years before light rail is actually constructed in Santa Monica.

O’Connor has been heavily involved in the beginning phase of drafting a new land use element, which will govern how development is handled for decades to come.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 15, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/021505.pdf?ref=smdp.com)