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# Wannabe politicians warned about process
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/wannabe-politicians-warned-about-process/
- Published: 2002-07-15T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T00:30:33.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Local office candidate filings to begin today*

*By TRAVIS PURSER Special to the Daily Press*

Campaigning for public office — and winning — can be rewarding but it can also be a time-consuming game that has little to do with public service.

That was the message from ex-elected officials and previous candidates for local offices who spoke at a pre-election workshop Saturday for candidates organized by the League of Women Voters of Santa Monica.

To be sure, holding office can be a rewarding experience that yields a sense of accomplishment. But that usually does-n’t happen right away, many speakers said.

Former Santa Monica Mayor Denny Zane told the 25 people who attended the workshop at the Ken Edwards Community Center, 1527 4th St., they might want to reconsider running for public office altogether.

The reasons for this included the fact that it takes years to get anything done and learn the system and it is a thankless job “Years six to 10 \[of holding office\] is where you really begin to feel like you’re making a contribution,” Zane said.

Candidates should first think about why they want to run, said Neil Carrey, a former candidate for school board.

While campaigning, “I found \[that\] most issues, I don’t care about,” he said. Now, he prefers to focus on a few issues as a community activist.

And there was this tip for the ladies from Judy Abdo, a former Santa Monica mayor: “You’re going to have to start wearing lipstick and wearing dresses,” at all times in public, she said.

However, she admitted she broke that rule and still became mayor.

When candidates win an election, the first thing they should do is “duck,” said Zane. “Expect your life to be transformed.”

Normal activities involving family and friends will become impossible, Zane said.

“You’ll spend so much time defending the beach that you’ll spend no time on it,” he said.

> “You’ll spend so much time defending the beach that you’ll spend no time on it.” — — DENNY ZANE Former Santa Monica Mayor

People who appreciate officials’ actions say “thanks,” he said, while those who don’t appreciate their actions want to talk about it at length, often in inconvenient places like bank teller lines, little league games and the grocery store.

When asked a question they can’t answer, candidates should take it as an opportunity to describe what a good person they are while still seeming to address the question, said Michael Hill.

Hill said he developed the skill while successfully running for the school board.

Then there is “drive by” event attendance, which is a time-management gambit for candidates who will inevitably be asked to appear at more functions than they have time for. The trick for unpracticed politicians is to seem to give everyone their undivided attention.

“Don’t ever consider staying at an event from beginning to end,” Abdo said. If candidates stay for 15 minutes, they’ll get credit for having been there and will be able to hit several events in a single afternoon, she said.

> “Don’t ever consider staying at an event from beginning to end.” — — JUDY ABDO Former Santa Monica Mayor

As for selecting a campaign treasurer, sometimes it is better for candidates to select someone with widespread name recognition, even if that person can’t so much as balance a checkbook, she said. Candidates can print the name on mailers as a public relations ploy and hire someone else to actually crunch numbers.

All this was timely advice. The filing period for the Nov. 5 general election began today and ends Aug. 9\. Santa Monica has three city council seats and three seats on the rent control board up for reelection. The Santa Monica- Malibu Unified School District Board of Education has four available seats. And the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees has four available seats.

Potential candidates appeared hardly discouraged after two hours of such advice. A man who said he is thinking about running for city council wanted to know where he could most effectively spend money on a campaign.

Don’t spend your own money, Abdo said. Have other groups spend money on you.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 15, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/071502.pdf?ref=smdp.com)