Bloom Acceptance Speech: What kind of Santa Monica will we leave for our children?

April 1999 -- Thank you Mayor O'Connor, Mayor protem Genser and fellow city councilmembers. It feels great to finally be able to say that!

And, thank you to the volunteers and contributors who placed their faith and energy in me and who are the reason I sit here today.

It wasn¹t easy. After three election campaigns, I have unique distinction of having been defeated by every member of this council.

I want to thank the approximately 35 other candidates who ran for office in those three elections. Thank you for your participation in our local democracy and for raising the level of discourse in our city. I sincerely hope that you will stay involved in our city.

I would like to introduce you to my family; my mother-in-law & father in law, Betty and Frank Black. My mom and dad, Rickey and Aaron Bloom. You are my inspiration. My wife, Robbie, the spring in my step.

And, please meet my two sons, Emmett and Zac.

Emmett and Zac, I introduced you last, because you symbolize my reason for participating in government.

This city council will face a multitude of decisions during the coming months. Whether the issue of the day is development, housing, education, labor practices, public safety, transportation or environmental protection; to me it all boils down to one thing:

What kind of Santa Monica will we leave for our children and our children's children?

During this election campaign the people of the city told me what they love about Santa Monica:

Of course, we accept our great climate, clean air and beautiful beaches as a given.

Beyond that, our residents clearly cherish that this is a place where a multitude of people from a variety of economic and social backgrounds can live, go to school and work together. Rich, middle class and poor. Housed and homeless. Christian, moslem, Jew. Latino, black, white, asian. We range from wealthy professionals to hotel and restaurant workers barely making ends meet. Families, single parents, senior citizens, children. Gays and lesbians. People of all abilities.

All have a place in our great city.

So, Emmett and Zac, I will work hard to improve Santa Monica for you and your grandparents and everyone else who lives here today.

But our most important job is to see to it that every decision we make preserves the diversity of this wonderful city for your children and grandchildren.

That is the work that lies ahead.

One of the rallying cries of the volunteers of the past two campaigns has been Si se puede. Yes we can.

Si se puede Yes we can rise to the challenges that await us.

Si se puede... Yes, we can continue the tradition of progressivism that is the hallmark of Santa Monica.

Si se puede... Yes, we can preserve the wonderful character and diversity of this city.

Si se puede, si se puede, si se puede Yes, we can.

Whether you are a burnt out survivor of decades of political work or whether you just happened to flip past channel 16 on your way to the food news network... if this message - yes we can - resonates with you - then I invite you to join us as we haggle and argue and work our way into the 21st century.

Thank you to the people of this city for allowing me the privilege and honor to serve you.