The Empty Seat What's at Stake?

FOLLOW THE $$$$

By Jorge Casuso

Last fall, City Council candidates Richard Bloom and Susan Cloke extolled the virtues of living in Santa Monica.

Bloom, who fell just 88 votes short of winning a City Council seat, is a family law attorney who practices in Santa Monica. For a decade he has headed the neighborhood association Friends of Sunset Park.

Susan Cloke is an architect who has sat on several city commissions, including Planning.
She has lived in Santa Monica most of her life and professes a deep love for the city.

Now, with a special two-day election set for April 24-25, the candidates are back on the campaign trail -- along with five other hopefuls. And once again, they are showcasing their local ties.

So, with little more than a month before voters go to the polls, The Empty Seat decided to visit the city clerk's office and pore through the candidates' financial disclosure statements. Where did they get their money? we wanted to know. And where did they spend it?

We found that in the previous race for city council, as well as in the current campaign, both front runners, Richard Bloom and Susan Cloke, received many of their $100-or-more contributions (which require listing the names and addresses of the contributors) from outside the city.

That was understandable, we figured. After all, why should they turn down the much-needed cash.

What was more surprising was where the candidates spent their money, since they could always choose to support local businesses. Instead, they took their money elsewhere.

The following is a breakdown of where the money came from and where it went.

Where the $$$$ Came From

Between Jan.1 and March 10, Richard Bloom received $5,139 and spent $1,001. He received 21 contributions of more than $100. Of the total number of contributors, who included half a dozen fellow attorneys, 13 listed Santa Monica addresses and eight listed addresses outside of town.

It was an improvement over the previous campaign, when, during the filing period from Oct. 18 to Dec. 31 -- when Bloom raised $10,341 - he received $100-or-more contributions from 10 out of town contributors and six local contributors.

Bloom however, won the support of Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights, the powerful grassroots tenants organization, which received most of the $35,000 it pumped into its three-member slate -- which also included Mayor Pam O'Connor and Councilman Kevin McKeown -- in small contributions. Of the 32 SMRR contributors who gave more than $100, all of them listed Santa Monica addresses.

If Richard Bloom had his share of out of town contributors, Susan Cloke listed several who lived out of state -- in Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey.

Of the 101 contributors who gave more than $100 to her campaign - which has raised $20,132 between the first of the year and March 10 --, 43 listed addresses outside of Santa Monica and 58 gave Santa Monica addresses. Of these, over a dozen were planners, Realtors, developers and architects, and four were local hotels.

That was an improvement over the filing period between Oct. 18 and Dec. 31, when 104 of Cloke's 166 contributors lived outside the city. They included more than two dozen supporters in development-related fields, and a half dozen hotels.

Where the $$$$ Went

If the front runners received many of their contributions from out of town, they spent the lion's share during the past five months elsewhere as well.

While Bloom has managed to spend the $486 he's pumped into his current campaign in the city, most of the money spent during the Oct. 18 - Dec. 31 filing period went to outside companies.

Most of the money -- $4,391 - went to the Hermosa Beach-based consultants, The Political Scientists. Another $949 went to other outside firms, while $2,547 was spent in Santa Monica, $2,047 of it at Kinkos.

If SMRR received all its big contributions from Santa Monica residents - most of them tenants - it spent most of its money outside the very city whose government it controls.

Of the $21,764 in expenses reported so far this year, SMRR has spent $14,652 outside the city. And while it has spent $7,112in Santa Monica, nearly half -- $3,190 -- has gone to one of SMRR's leaders, Michael Tarbet.

If all the money Bloom has spent so far this year has stayed within the city limits, his key challenger, Cloke, has spent all of the $11,727 elsewhere.

Among the other five candidates, only Frank E. Juarez, reported any contributions. Juarez, who has raised $2,605 so far this year, received nine contributions of more than $100, six of them from Santa Monicans.

The other candidates are Donald Gray, Peter R. Kerndt, Jon Stevens and Marc J. Sanschagrin.

On April 24-25, Santa Monica will make history by holding its first two-day weekend election.

So with Santa Monicans for Renters Rights currently holding four of the seven council seats, what difference would winning a fifth seat make for the powerful political organization?

Plenty.

A fifth seat would give SMMR the clout to take property for the public good by eminent domain, rezone land, reallocate funds from the budget throughout the year and fire the city manager, city attorney and city clerk.

With the SMRR majority on the hunt for new park space and land for affordable housing, the special election could be one of the most important in years.

Until election day "The Empty Seat" will be filled with the latest news from the campaign trail.