Democrats Give Initial Nod to O'Connor, Arnold

By Jorge Casuso

August 19 -- The Steering Committee of the Santa Monica Democratic Club on Saturday recommended that the group make only two endorsements in the November race for three open City Council seats -- incumbent Pam O'Connor and Abby Arnold.

The committee -- comprised of a dozen members, some of them leaders of Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights -- was restricted in its choice by the group's charter, which requires that the candidates endorsed are members of the Democratic Party.

As a result, incumbent Kevin McKeown and fellow Green Party member Josefina Aranda, will be out of the running when the general membership -- estimated at between 130 and 140 -- makes the final endorsement on August 28.

"They've both demonstrated leadership," said board member Patricia Hoffman of O'Connor and Arnold.

The group, which was one of three organizations that gave birth to SMRR, expects to send out a slate card to the 31,000 registered Democratic voters in Santa Monica and an additional 5,000 to voters in Malibu and unincorporated areas that vote in School and College Board elections.

"We have done organized work for Democratic candidates," said Hoffman, the former board president. "We'll participate (in the local election) not so much as a club than as individuals."

In the race for four School Board seats, the steering committee recommended endorsing incumbents Julia Brownley and Brenda Gottfried, as well as Emily Bloomfield.

In the race for four College Board seats the committee chose to recommend incumbent Dorothy Erhart-Morrison, as well as SMRR co-chair Nancy Greenstein and Bill Winslow.

The nod in the race for three seats on the Rent Control Board went to incumbents Betty S. Mueller and Alan Toy, as well as Jennifer Kennedy.

During the interview session a slender man in black jeans and a T-shirt walked into the room and sat in the candidate's chair, Hoffman said.

"I'm not a candidate for local office," he told the committee.

Turns out the candidate -- whose voting base is in Cleveland, Ohio -- was Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who chairs the progressive caucus of the Democratic Party and who was driving by and saw a sign that announced candidate interviews were being held.

"It was like a TV cameo," Hoffman said. "It was like seeing Guliani on a TV show or something."

The committee then proceeded to ask the candidate about his position on national issues.