Council Race Luring Strong, Crowded Field

By Jorge Casuso

Jan. 20 -- It should be a crowded, unpredictable race for City Council this November, with the strongest field of candidates in years vying to unseat as many as four incumbents, three of whom have said they will likely run for reelection.

Although it is still too early to tell who will make bids for the open seats held by Mayor Richard Bloom and Council members Michael Feinstein, Ken Genser and Herb Katz, five potential candidates with a strong track record have said they will likely run for the seven-member council.

Of the incumbents, only Mayor Bloom has not yet indicated he would like to run, although he is considering it “for sure.”

“I’m really undecided,” the mayor said. “It’s something that I am beginning to think about, but my life is very complicated right now, and I don’t want to make a decision now for something that is ten months away.”

Feinstein, Genser and Katz have all said they are seriously considering running again.

Genser, who has been on the council since 1988, said he plans to run for a record fifth term. “I’m certainly planning on running,” he said.

“I’m seriously thinking about it,” said Katz, who was elected to the council in 2000, after having served two terms between 1984 and 1992. “If I run, it’s because I want to run, and think I can do some good for the city.

“The major consideration is the opinion of my wife,” Katz added. “She has said, ‘Yes. You like it. You seem to care.’”

Feinstein, the top vote-getter four years ago, has said he plans to run for a third term.

Nearly all of the candidates -- including all of the incumbents except Katz -- expect to vie for the endorsement of Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights, which could lead to another hotly contested fall convention.

In addition to the incumbents, Abby Arnold, who fell less than 300 votes short of a seat in 2002 after winning a SMRR endorsement that split the party’s ranks, expects to once again throw her hat into the ring.

“I’m seriously thinking about it,” said Arnold, who finished less than 300 votes short of winning a seat two years ago, with 10,868 votes. “A lot of people have been urging me to run again. To some extent coming that close means I have an obligation to run again.”

Also making a bid for the SMRR nod could be as many as three School Board members elected with the tenant group’s blessing -- Julia Brownley, Maria Leon-Vazquez and Oscar de la Torre -- as well as education advocate Matteo Dinolfo, who made an impressive showing despite failing to win the group’s endorsement two years ago.

Brownley, who is serving her tenth year on the school board, said she is considering a run for council. “I am doing some exploration around that, but I haven’t made that decision yet,” she said.

Leon-Vazquez, who is finishing her first term on the board, has also indicated she is considering a council bid, sources said. Her husband, Tony Vazquez, was the City’s first Latino council member, serving from 1992 to 1996.

Leon-Vazquez, a resident of Sunset Park, may not be the only Latino candidate in the strong but crowded field. Sources close to Oscar de la Torre say he is considering a bid to become the first elected council member from the Pico Neighborhood.

“I’d rather not comment,” said de la Torre, who was elected to the School Board in 2002 and is the executive director of the Pico Youth and Family Center. “Right now I want to focus 100 percent on what I’m doing.”

The only other potential candidate besides Katz who may not seek the SMRR endorsement is Dinolfo, who fell nearly 3,000 votes short of winning a seat, with 8,356 votes, after starting his campaign three months before the election.

“I am considering it,” said Dinolfo, who heads the Community Practice Network for the UCLA Health Center. “If the support is there, I would run. It could be a very crowded field.”

Money would be the factor deciding whether he would make an independent bid, said Dinolfo, who raised more than $40,000 in his first council race two years ago.

“I’m just trying to test the waters to see if there is support out there,” Dinolfo said. “I think it would depend on if they (my supporters) can raise money. That would weigh heavy on my decision.”

As usual, the SMRR endorsement will likely play a big role in shaping the race. One key decision that will be made at the convention is whether the group will endorse four candidates, or leave a seat unendorsed.

Four years ago, SMRR endorsed only the three incumbents, paving the way for the election of Katz, who saw more than $200,000 spent on his behalf, a record amount under the City’s $250-per-donor cap.

Despite the influx of money, Katz finished a distant fourth in the 2000 race, with 13,097 votes. Feinstein was an easy victor with 19,401 votes, followed by Bloom with 17,815 and Genser with 16,186 votes.