Mailers, phone calls and aggressive action
THIRD STREET — Looking to place a “progressive” majority on the City Council this November, members of Santa Monicans for Sensible Priorities — a coalition of residents and business owners — said they will lace up their walking shoes this weekend and pound the pavement in search of votes.
Their official campaign kickoff will begin with a march through the city’s diverse neighborhoods, at which time members will distribute glossy leaflets explaining SMSP, how it is funded and what it stands for. The hand-outs will also include the results of a survey on City Hall’s homeless efforts that 5,000 residents and businesses completed this summer, SMSP representatives said.
Throughout the course of the campaign, voters can also expect to receive multiple mailers and phone calls from volunteers as SMSP looks to run an “aggressive campaign” in support of council candidates Bob Holbrook and Terry O’Day, said Seth Jacobson, a spokesman for the organization, which is funded by contributions from residents and the hospitality industry.
Holbrook, a pharmacist running for his fourth term, and O’Day, an environmentalist and planning commissioner making his first run for the council, both received at least 60 percent of the vote of SMSP members. Other council hopefuls came close, but a consensus could not be reached on a third and final candidate, Jacobson said.
By supporting Holbrook and O’Day, SMSP is looking to challenge the dominance of Santa Monicans for Renters Rights, or SMRR, whose members have held a majority on the City Council for much of the last 28 years. Holbrook has often been the target of SMRR mailers in past elections, while O’Day decided against seeking the SMRR endorsement. Both have been endorsed by the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, which is often at odds with SMRR.
Council members Pam O’Connor and Kevin McKeown are running for re-election. They have been endorsed by SMRR.
“The status quo has made Santa Monica a very desirable and livable city … but those of us who live here would like to see other issues addressed than the same old, same old by the ruling junta, SMRR, that has been driving politics here for over two decades,” said Bob Hattoy, a member of SMSP who has worked in the White House for President Bill Clinton, and was involved in Vice President Al Gore’s unsuccessful presidential bid in 2000.
“SMRR has done good things, but they haven’t thought outside of the SMRR box and it’s time to do that,” said Hattoy, a Santa Monica resident.“Things have become stagnant, and the thousands of people responding to our survey and the dozens and dozens of people who speak to me regularly are asking me how we can jump-start change. Well, we have to break the mold and try a new progressive majority.”
SMRR members have challenged SMSP’s credibility as a grassroots organization, given its ties to the hospitality industry.
Denny Zane, a co-founder of SMRR, has called SMSP “Astroturf,” meaning fake grassroots.
To many observers, SMSP isn’t helping it’s cause. So far the coalition has not held a public forum for its members and is still undecided if it will do so.
In addition, last week SMSP created a political action committee, or PAC, with the name “Santa Monicans for Sensible Priorities PAC — Major Funding by Hospitality Providers and Edward Thomas Management Company.” Thomas Management operates Shutters on the Beach, a luxury hotel and restaurant in Santa Monica.
Hattoy said the PAC was named as such to prove there is nothing to hide, nor nothing to be ashamed of.
The hospitality industry was vigorously attacked by labor unions during a campaign in 2002 to overturn a living wage ordinance passed by the council which required businesses with annual gross revenues of $5 million or more in the city’s coastal and downtown tourism areas to pay workers at least $10.50 an hour beginning in July 2002. The campaign against the ordinance spent close to $2 million to defeat it.
“I don’t see restaurants and hotels as evil,” Hattoy said. “These are people who have invested a lot of money into this city, so why shouldn’t they be allowed to have a say on what goes on? … Yes, they’re contributing a considerable amount of money to the PAC, but I don’t find their money dirty.”
Jacobson said local campaign finance laws restricting individual contributions to candidates — the limit is $250 per person — makes it virtually impossible for any incumbent to lose unless they are challenged by an independently wealthy opponent or a PAC funded by those who can afford to lose money.
“It really is the responsibility of those who have the money and who have issues with the city to see something is done,” Jacobson said.“There is nothing wrong with businesses like restaurants and hotels or retail establishments participating in the political process.”
To prove that they are indeed grassroots, members of SMSP hand delivered to the council more than 5,000 surveys from businesses and residents. SMSP used the responses from those surveys, as well as a recent poll commissioned by the coalition, to formulate a platform. Three key areas SMSP is focusing on are homelessness, crime and traffic, Jacobson said.
“We really need something to be done about the homeless situation and not just sit around and talk about it or hire another $200,000-a-year staff person,” Jacobson said, referring to homeless czar Ed Edelman, who was hired by the council last year. “With the public feedings (of the homeless), the council has been able to move two of the groups indoors, but that is unacceptable. They all should be gone by now. They should be removed from the parks and off the lawn at City Hall.”
Jacobson said SMSP will also fight for the reallocation of resources to fund more police officers so they can aggressively enforce laws against sleeping in doorways and camping at local parks.
“We support the family reunification program and the housing first model, but we need more resources to go to these programs instead of just treating these people and then releasing them,” Jacobson said. “The business community needs to be more involved in solving the problem. I bet if you asked some of the property owners around here, they would be more than happy to find places to house these people.”
In the area of crime, SMSP would like to see a new police chief hired who will continue the legacy of James T. Butts, who resigned in August to head up the police force for Los Angeles World Airports. That legacy includes community policing and creating a department that is sensitive to the needs of residents and one that is ethnically and cultural diverse, Jacobson said.
Butts has endorsed O’Day’s campaign. As for traffic, SMSP will push for the renovation of downtown parking structures, the development of a new downtown traffic management plan and more funding for public transportation.
“I think people are really looking for change and I believe we can help them attain it,” Hattoy said. “Instead of just remaining with the same old policies and the same old politicians, we need a breath of fresh air.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 29, 2006. Read the original PDF.