By Sherrill Kushner Santa Monica
Many residents probably received the second mailing recently from Santa Monicans for Sensible Priorities (SMSP). Under the guise of a “News Update,” it really is an insidious smear campaign against City Council member Kevin McKeown.
The leaflet, and the one before it, promotes half-truths. If residents knew what McKeown’s votes really meant, they’d realize that he’s the one with sensible priorities. On the outdoor dining issue, he consistently led in increasing outdoor tables both on the Promenade and in other parts of the city, like Main Street and Montana Avenue.
That particular decision he opposed was to replace existing free public tables with a fenced-in private dining area in public space for a high-end French cheese and wine café.
Likewise, on the parking vote, he supported the 700-plus spaces needed by current businesses, employees and customers. What he opposed was the speculative inclusion of 1,000 more spaces we don’t need, attached to a prediction of a half-million square feet of further downtown commercial development that the community does not support and the City Council had never previously discussed.
In other words, the SMSP deliberately misrepresent McKeown’s voting record, out of context and without background, to make him sound like he opposes public convenience and enjoyment instead of the thoughtful stands he’s actually taken to protect Santa Monica’s quality of life from over-commercialization and overdevelopment.
And that makes one wonder — where’s the money coming from for these expensive mailed hit pieces this far in advance of an election?
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 23, 2006. Read the original PDF.