The trolls are out, and it has nothing to do with Halloween. Subterranean creatures have come up from under their cyber-rocks to destroy the reputations of the people running for elected office. Some might say that politics is always a blood sport, but it's our community that’s being battered.
Ohio has set the bar at a new low with the now infamous ad of an unfit mother airing grievances against her abused child. Fortunately, we haven’t sunk that low in Santa Monica, but not for a lack of effort.
Mayor Caroline Torosis and former Mayor Lana Negrete are being accused of nearly everything but causing the Cuban Missile Crisis. The fact they’re running for public office somehow makes them fair game for any cruel or criminal allegation. They have been stalked online, often by people hiding behind phony profiles, with vicious attacks on their character. So much so that some of the posts have been removed by social media platforms for violating community standards for hate speech.
It’s hard to miss photos of both women— online and on the Promenade—smiling beside famous Democrats who have fallen from grace, suggesting they are personally responsible for the future scandals of every person they meet. There’s nothing wrong with holding candidates for office accountable for their actions. It’s the purposeful fictionalizing of their actions that crosses the line and damages a society dangerously inundated with fake news.
I don’t expect elections to be a kumbaya moment, but this past summer I was cautiously optimistic about our city’s political polarization diminishing. The source of that optimism was from an unlikely place: a political club.
When the Santa Monica Democratic Club voted on endorsements for the City Council race, not one candidate received sufficient votes, proving that the group is as polarized as the city itself. Anger and frustration was expressed on all sides. But Jon Katz, the club’s president, rose to the moment, making gestures of unity and speaking of a big tent Democratic party.
However, behind the scenes, it seems a smaller, more exclusive tent is preferred, and the Los Angeles County Democratic Party came to the rescue. The county organization endorsed the preferred candidates of the club’s board, undermining and overriding the actions of the local members, and it’s likely the rare voter who notices the difference.
Meanwhile, despite the club’s formal neutrality, public record requests reveal that Katz and a close associate filed allegations of campaign violations against council candidate Ashley Oelsen to city and state authorities. The accusation was that her prominent headquarters location on the Promenade was obtained illegally. Although Oelsen made a small clerical error (which has been fixed), it was easy to find evidence disproving the allegation. But the goal wasn't to illuminate; the goal was to intimidate through weaponization of the oversight process. It was a smear campaign designed to cost a candidate time, money and reputational harm.
Yet worse damage occurs when false and misleading claims get repeated, by members of the public and especially by community leaders. I’ve seen the disheartening confirmation of the latter in private emails and public posts. We all bear responsibility for the things we say and the things we share.
Is it a coincidence that all three candidates being attacked are female? There’s no way to know, though there has been an emphasis on tactics like body-shaming, and in the case of Oelsen, it was easier to believe she was a criminal than a smart businesswoman. The problem with her headquarters isn’t that she obtained a prime location in the former Barnes & Noble building. It’s that the building remains vacant after almost nine years.
We have sufficient threats to our city without distracting ourselves with imaginary ones. On November 3, we will select the people we want to represent the city, but every day we choose the kind of city we aspire to be.