November 4, 2024

Dear Editor,

“You are a f*ing Spic, call me a racist; I am a proud Jew whose family all perished in the Holocaust. How dare you, go back to your roots. At least you can… FKER” 

…here, is an excerpt of a hateful email message, I and my family have recently received after the dishonest political attacks by establishment politicians: Jon Kean, Richard Tahvildarin-Jesswein, Laurie Lieberman, Gleam Davis, Kevin McKeown, Terry O’Day, Pam O’Connor, Jim Conn, Vivian Rothstein, Ted Winterer, Jon Katz (Chair of the SM Democratic Club), and Community for Excellent Public Schools, among others, falsely claimed I made an anti-Semitic comment in 2019 to a consultant hired by Jon Kean. 

It is irresponsible for elected officials to sow division with false accusations and incendiary rhetoric and it places myself and my family in danger. These planned and coordinated attacks on my character and candidacy by establishment politicians were partially exposed in The Santa Monica Lookout article titled "Behind the Efforts to Unseat de la Torre" by Jorge Casuso. These dishonest and malicious attacks reveal a calculated attempt to damage my reputation while absolving them of their own policy failures that have harmed our community.

To clarify: I did not make any anti-Semitic statement in 2019, as Jon Kean alleged through hearsay. My commitment to fighting racism, hate, and anti-Semitism is demonstrated through years of activism. I have worked with the National Conference of Christians and Jews (NCCJ) to combat bigotry and collaborated with Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels to improve intercultural relations. Additionally, neither Jon Kean nor Richard Tahvildarin Jesswein disclosed the personal relationship between Jon and the consultant, who, when we met, admitted she was “brought in by Jon Kean.” I made it clear that I could not participate in a board evaluation,  led by a consultant hired without an RFP process, which I felt compromised the objectivity of the evaluation.

Jon Kean’s track record includes taking unilateral action on school matters, as he did with the redwood mural restoration at John Muir’s former campus, funding a muralist out of pocket only to later retroactively reimburse himself over $3,000 with district funds. Days after I protested the lack of transparency in the consultant hiring, she resigned. For the record, the alleged meeting involving myself, Superintendent Drati, and Richard never took place, though I do remember expressing to Dr. Drati the importance of consultant hiring remaining under the Superintendent’s control to ensure impartiality. These misrepresentations distort genuine discussions about the concentrated political power in wealthier neighborhoods and its negative impact on Southside Santa Monica schools.

Voters should be aware of these falsehoods and recognize the motivations behind them. Over my 18 years on the SMMUSD Board of Education, I’ve witnessed the school board’s retaliation against parents questioning their decisions. When Malibu parents voiced concerns about toxic PCBs in schools, Jon Kean and Laurie Lieberman had the LA County Sheriff investigate Jennifer de Nicola, a Malibu parent, for allegedly “stealing district property” after she took a sample of caulk for independent testing that revealed high toxicity. I publicly opposed Laurie, Jon, and Richard in this matter, as the board should work with—not against—parents to secure healthy learning environments.

The board majority has repeatedly made decisions that harm low-income students and Southside Santa Monica schools. Jon Kean pushed to eliminate Head Start, a critical program for low-income families; I voted NO. Laurie Lieberman guided the board in purchasing a $21 million office from a hotel her husband represented as a developer while allowing the shutdown of SMASH and John Muir, displacing low-income students.

The culture of retaliation at SMMUSD has created an environment of fear among parents. Many of us have opposed the board’s poor decisions over the years, particularly as they negatively impact Southside Santa Monica students. Unsurprisingly, Richard Tahvildarin Jesswein—whom I opposed in 2022—has now joined this last-minute smear campaign, aligning with establishment interests to try to discredit my candidacy. The entrenched power base represented by Kean, Lieberman, Tahvildarin Jesswein, and others, mostly residents north of Wilshire, has dominated the school board for decades. I have fought for district-based elections to disrupt this monopoly and ensure fair representation.

Change is hard for people protecting their hold on power, a lesson I learned seeing the City Council majority continue to spend $14 million of public funds and counting fighting Latino voting rights. SMRR, CEPS, SM Forward have shown that they will stoop to new lows to retain their stranglehold on power. Their opposition to fair, district-based elections betrays a desire to maintain power at all costs. I am committed to fair representation across Santa Monica, where all neighborhoods are heard and represented equally.

Let’s reject dirty politics and instead focus on what really matters: which candidates will move Santa Monica forward. I am running to build a safer, more inclusive, and more equitable community. Santa Monica deserves leaders who unite rather than divide. I urge voters to reject these baseless attacks and join me in building a future where every resident’s voice is respected, every family feels safe, and we can trust our leaders to prioritize residents over political games or special interests.

-Oscar de la Torre, City of Santa Monica Councilmember