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By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer
October 27 -- A man featured in a widely broadcast political
ad urging voters to oust Council member Kevin McKeown said he
voted for the two-term council member and his views were misrepresented.
Tim McAlevey, who appears in one of three ads airing on Cable
television stations in Santa Monica, said he did not fully understand
his role in the ad bankrolled by the Edward Thomas Management
Company, a family-owned business that owns two beachfront hotels.
McAlevey contacted McKeown last week to say that he had been
paid $200 and talked into appearing in the political ad, which
focuses on Santa Monica’s homeless problem. While he thought
the ad was about homelessness, he said he did not fully understand
his part in the attack on McKeown, McAlevey said.
“During the short interview (my friend) asked me to mention
how long you had been on the City Council,” McAlevey wrote
in an email to McKeown. “I asked him what that had to do
with the homeless problem?”
“Ok, so I’m not very smart,” McAlevey continues.
“Last night I saw the campaign ad and it was fully intended
to remove you from office. He is a very good film editor because
it really looks like I hate you…when in fact I voted for
you before and will again.”
McKeown said he met with McAlevey only after he received the
email and went to verify McAlevey’s identity.
After the meeting, McKeown said McAlevey suggested that others
in the ads were not fully aware of their roles and that one was
a student from Pepperdine University who assisted with the video
shoot.
Seth Jacobson, who is running the campaign that has included
the television ads and mailers criticizing McKeown, said he has
transcripts that show McAlevey knew why he was making the video.
“This will all come out in the next few days,” he
said. “We stand by the transcript, and we stand by whatever
was said in the ads.”
Jacobsen said SMSP did give money to those who appeared in the
film. The money, he said, was used to pay “expenses."
“If they had certain expenses they had, we would give them
enough to go and buy food,” he said.
As for the college student featured in an ad, she was not a member
of the production team, but “she may have helped out a bit
with the film,” Jacobson said.
Heavily outspent, McKeown now says he is working to raise awareness
about the spoke people in the ads and mount a counteroffensive against
some of the attacks. |
