Aranda to Run Despite SMRR Snub

By Oliver Lukacs

August 8 -- Despite her failed bid for the SMRR endorsement, and to the surprise of many including key opponent Abby Arnold, City Council hopeful Josefina Aranda walked into City Hall Thursday and submitted a petition with more than 200 signatures in the hopes of getting on the November ballot.

Aranda is one of 19 potential candidates -- including Arnold and incumbents Pam O'Connor, Kevin McKeown and Robert Holbrook -- who has pulled papers from the clerks office intending to run for three council seats. They have until 5 p.m. Friday to submit petitions with at least 100 valid signatures to get on the November 5th ballot.

After losing the SMRR endorsement to Arnold, O'Connor and McKeown, there was widespread speculation that Aranda would drop her bid to become the first resident of the Pico Neighborhood to be elected to the council. But after making a strong showing by winning 103 votes at the SMRR convention, Aranda canvassed her neighborhood door to door.

"I managed to make a statement to the general membership despite all the cards that were stacked against me that the general voters are interested in a person like me," Aranda said.

While Aranda refrained from dropping names, she spoke of rumors circulating that local political forces were putting pressure on her to back down from the race.

"I've only heard rumors that people are lining themselves up to have one on one with me," Aranda said. "The role models that I had as a youth are those who are telling me that it might not be a good time to run now. I think they know who they are."

According to Mayor Michael Feinstein, those forces are "the same forces that backed Abby." Feinstein rolled up to City Hall on his Santa-Monica-City-blue colored TANK beach cruiser bicycle just in time to drop off three signatures he solicited from neighbors in support of Aranda.

Arnold, who submitted her petition with a 154 signatures on Thursday, bumped into Aranda at City Hall and was surprised to see her there. Arnold said Aranda's candidacy defies tradition and is therefore bad politics.

"The tradition is when you don't get the SMRR endorsement you don't run," Arnold said. "That means she's running against SMRR, and that's usually not good politics."

Aranda said she aspires to break traditions. "You have to understand that I come from a family and a background that has always told me the larger society says, 'You can't do this.'

"People's philosophy and principles are really going to be tested because I represent the many things that working families fight for, and the many dreams many parents have for their children," Aranda said. "It'll be very difficult for people to challenge what I represent."