Eighteen people pull papers for City Council seats on Monday; the campaign’s formal start officially kicks off
CITY HALL — Two veteran Pico neighborhood activists were among the field of 18 residents who pulled papers to join the City Council race on Monday — the first day the hopefuls could formally launch their campaigns for four open seats.
Don Gray and Peter Tigler said they decided to join the race after watching for decades as elected officials ignored the perceived escalation of violence and other problems plaguing their eastern Santa Monica neighborhood.
“I think Santa Monica is due for a change,” said Tigler, 50, a 25-year resident of the Pico neighborhood. “I think we’re heading in the wrong direction, and I think I can offer a new “It has to do with all the things that have been in the news for a couple of years, if not more,” Tigler added. “But mainly... it’s got to do with the money. We have a huge budget in this city. Where’s it going, who’s it benefiting and how are we spending it? What are the priorities and where is the money going?”
Gray, 47, accused City Hall of sponsoring “institutional racism” by dumping too many crime-ridden affordable housing projects into the Pico neighborhood.
“I just know that, from my own experience, that I do think there are a lot of Pico residents who have reached the point that said, ‘We’re not going to get anything from the current administration, so we kind of need to take an active part, if we want the problems of the Pico neighborhood addressed,’” the 14-year resident said.
Also formally entering the race were Mayor Richard Bloom and City Councilman Herb Katz; local doctor Matt Dinolfo; former school board member Patricia Hoffman; peace activist Jerry Peace Activist Rubin, Red Cross spokesman Tom Viscount, and several other concerned residents and activists (see list below).
Those wishing to appear on the ballot have until Aug. 9 to turn in their election materials. Included in candidate packages must be a campaign statement, a petition with 100 resident signatures and financial disclosure materials, said City Clerk Maria Stewart, who on Monday hosted a candidate forum for some two dozen people.
Contenders will be seeking critical endorsements this summer and fall, especially from Santa Monicans for Renters Rights — long City Hall’s ruling party — and the local chamber of commerce, which for the first time has established a political action committee that plans to endorse candidates. The annual SMRR convention, when members will choose which candidates to endorse, is Aug. 1. The chamber doesn’t have a set date for its endorsements, but officials expect a decision near Labor Day.
Both endorsements are seen as crucial because the groups likely will pay tens of thousands of dollars to send direct mail pieces to local voters.
Chamber officials were believed to be seriously considering Katz, Viscount and Dinolfo. Still, Tom Larmore, treasurer of the chamber’s committee, said the group would meet with every interested party before making a decision. School organizer Shari Davis, who many hoped would run, said Monday she would not join the council race this year.
Five hopefuls will be vying for SMRR’s City Council endorsements, said Denny Zane, who helped found SMRR and serves as co-chair. They are Bloom, Genser, Hoffman, City Councilman Mike Feinstein and Pico neighborhood activist Maria Loya. SMRR, whose members pay $35 annually, will probably spend between $60,000 and $70,000 on mailers — their most powerful campaign tool — supporting its chosen candidates this year, Zane added.
“Grassroots fundraising costs a lot, so it sometimes looks like we have a lot more money than is available, because we have to spend so much to raise money,” Zane said. “That’s the nature of the beast. That’s always been the nature of the beast.”
Bloom, who hopes to win his third term in five elections, called SMRR’s endorsement the single most important one in the city.
“I think SMRR represents the broadest cross section of Santa Monica,” he said. “Not the only cross section, but probably the broadest. Their platform reflects my own progressive beliefs, but they won’t be the only endorsement that I’ll seek.”
Katz, who hasn’t been backed by SMRR in previous elections and won’t seek its endorsement this year, said he hoped the chamber’s participation will help change the make-up of the City Council, which for years has been dominated by SMRR members.
“I am sick of being in the minority,” he said. “I’d like not to be a minority, and I would be pleased if we could get some fresh blood in there and start working in a different manner,” said Katz, who arrived at City Hall at 7:30 a.m. to be the first council candidate to pull papers. “I would like to not be in the minority. This is not fun. This is not what I do in my career. I’m an architect. I’m a problem solver.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 13, 2004. Read the original PDF.