By Olin Ericksen
Satff Writer

December 5 -- It was a wild ride, but the $40 million tax that brought together some very strange political bedfellows to fight urban run-off at Santa Monica Bay beaches looks as though it will pass by the narrowest of margins.

Needing two-thirds of the vote to pass, Proposition V had garnered the support of 67.02 percent (19,568 ballots) of Santa Monica voters, with 32.98 percent (9,630) opposing the law.

With no absentee ballots left to be tallied countywide and the County Registrars office set to certify the results Tuesday, supporters of the measure were ready to declare victory.

"We're 99.99 percent sure we won," said Mark Gold, executive director of the Santa Monica-based non-profit, Heal the Bay.

The margin of victory slowly grew, hovering at the current 308-vote edge during the final week of tallies.

"If you remember, we were down to two votes at one time," said Gold, who along with Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights and local hotels – normally political foes – pushed hard for the measure.

"It's a bit of cliché, but true: every vote does count," he said.

With only a few weeks left before the election, the Edward Thomas Management Company, which spent $100,000 to oppose SMRR incumbent Council member Kevin McKeown, rallied fellow hotel owners, helping raise a similar amount to push for V.

The last-minute funding bankrolled a direct mail campaign in the final weeks of the race that likely spelled victory for the measure, which will be bankrolled by taxing local homeowners about $100 a year and renters $24.

"We wouldn't have had the money to do that without their help, certainly," said Gold. He also noted that hotels may be some of the big winners, since the measure will help clean up beaches in their backyards.

"When you look at the Pico (Boulevard) beach, it is disgusting and we have a long way to go in cleaning it up," Gold said, referring to the beach behind Casa del Mar and Shutters of the Beach hotels, which are owned by the Edward Thomas Management Company.

Heal the Bays' annual report card on beach pollution often gives the area around the Pico-Cantor storm drain failing grades, along with the area around the pier.

The measure will help upgrade the decaying drain that carries runoff from the thriving Downtown business district to the area around the pier, which received an F grade in the report card issued in October. (see story)

Environmentalists also hope the measure will serve as a blueprint for other communities, Gold said.

"We hope it may serve as a model," he said.

While Los Angeles County already passed a $500 million bond two years ago to clean up run-off that deluges local waterways, the Santa Monica measure may be more effective, because money is set aside for maintenance, operating and programming costs, Gold said.

"Now we have to make sure the City of Santa Monica properly accounts for the use of the funds," he said.