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By Jorge Casuso
November 5 – A controversial ballot measure to limit
most commercial development in Santa Monica was soundly defeated
at the polls Tuesday.
With all 54 precincts counted, Prop T had won the support of 14,170 voters,
or 44 percent, while 17,978, or 55 percent, of the voters opposed the measure.
Using what was left of their $730,000 warchest, opponents of the measure sent
out a series of last-minute mailers denouncing the measure, which
would cap most commercial development at 75,000 square feet a year
for 15 years.
Support for the measure remained steady at about 45 percent over the course
of the campaign, while its opposition grew as mailers hit Santa
Monica’s 45,000 households charging it would “devastate”
local schools and jeopardize public safety revenues.
The anti-T campaign – which had the support of local unions, including
teachers, police, fire fighters and municipal employees – also deployed
an army of canvassers who went door-to-door delivering door hangers.
While virtually all of the money raised by opponents came from developers and
landlords who own large parcels of prime real estate, the anti-T campaign forged
the most unlikely political coalition in recent memory.
Council incumbent from both end s of the political spectrum who traditionally
hold victory parties across town from each other rubbed shoulders at the Fairmont
Miramar Hotel on Tuesday night.
Five council members -- including candidates Mayor Herb Katz and rival council
members Ken Genser and Richard Bloom – joined a gathering that included
business leaders, land use attorneys and top tenant leaders.
In the end, proponents of the measure -- which included all of the city’s
neighborhood groups -- lacked to money to counter the attacks.
The Prop T campaign fell into debt last month after spending the $86,898 they
had raised, $30,000 of which was used to qualify the measure for the ballot.
The money paid for a couple of mailers and a last-ditch robo call by popular
incumbent City council member Bobby Shriver that dialed every household
in Santa Monica on election eve.
But it was too little too late to add to the base of voters who viewed the
measure a a way to fight Santa Monica’s growing traffic congestion.
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