By Jonathan Friedman
Lookout Staff

August 2, 2010 -- At a convention that Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights (SMRR) co-Chair Patricia Hoffman called “probably the longest one ever,” the powerful political group voted to back incumbents Kevin McKeown, Gleam Davis and Terry O’Day as well as challenger Ted Winterer in the two City Council races for five total seats.

But in a move that will likely shake up an already intriguing election season, four-term Council member and previous SMRR endorsee Pam O’Connor did not get enough votes for the group’s backing during the four-hour session at John Adams Middle School. O’Connor, who also sits on the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board, could still get SMRR’s support if the 13-member Steering Committee decides to give it to her. The committee will meet within the next two weeks, Hoffman said.

SMRR’s bylaws allow for the Steering Committee to support a candidate if there are fewer endorsees than the number of contested seats. If O’Connor gets this support, she would appear in SMRR campaign literature in the same manner as the endorsees, but she could not claim in her personal campaign to have the SMRR endorsement.

Although a previous SMRR endorsee, O’Connor is thought of as an independent-minded politician. Her inability to gain enough support for an endorsement could be due to past conflicts with education activists or her being tagged by some residents as pro-development.

The development debate has been a significant issue in recent years for Santa Monica politics. Two years ago, a divided SMRR was unable to reach an endorsement decision on Measure T, an item voters eventually rejected that would have severely restricted development. Winterer was the face of the pro-T campaign and O’Day headed the opposition.

McKeown attempted to put an end to this conflict, at least for the campaign season, by making stickers for the convention stating, “Kevin says: ‘5 for 5’ United We’re Strong.” He got all five candidates seeking the endorsement to wear the sticker, and McKeown mentioned this philosophy during his convention speech.

“I felt it would have been best for us all to set contention aside to acknowledge we had five people for five seats and that we want to move forward united toward November,” he said in an interview after the convention. “The will of the convention was different and that’s democracy. On the other hand, the will of the convention was to endorse me for a seat, and I’m very happy about that.”

Prior to O’Connor’s speech, she was introduced by former Mayors Judy Abdo and Denny Zane, who both are highly influential in local politics. Also, after the speeches, Abdo made a motion for the five candidates to get the endorsement “by acclimation.” This was rejected by a large number of SMRR members in attendance, although it only takes one person to prevent the acclimation decision.

After one round of voting, Hoffman announced that the four endorsees had received more than the required 55 percent support from the nearly 240 voters in attendance, but O’Connor fell short of that mark. A second round of voting took place, and approximately 51 percent of the smaller crowd (several people had left) supported her.

Prior to the announcement of the second round result, O’Connor could be seen in a heated discussion with Steering Committee members. She stood in the back of the room when the announcement was made, and then quickly exited. O’Connor did not immediately return a call for comment Sunday night.

A motion was made for a third round of voting, but failed to get enough support. Gregg Heacock, a development critic, made a motion that the Steering Committee could not vote to support any person who did not get the SMRR endorsement. Hoffman said the group’s bylaws do not allow for this kind of vote, and that the bylaws cannot be changed at the convention. A few people shouted from the audience, “Then why are we here voting?”

Another motion was made for a recommendation that the Steering Committee not support any candidates who did not get the SMRR endorsement. This motion was ignored by Hoffman, and no vote was taken.

Steering Committee members did not say whether O’Connor would get the support, but it appears at least a few want this to happen. Several members boldly defended why the Steering Committee is allowed to support non-endorsed candidates as they responded to several hostile questioners from the audience.

It was noted that O’Connor received support from more than half the voters, and only failed to gain a super majority. This logic was used two years when Board of Education member Jose Escarce failed to gain a SMRR endorsement, but received support from the Steering Committee.

There will be two races in this City Council election. O’Day and Davis are running for two-year terms. This is to complete the terms of the deceased council members (Ken Genser and Herb Katz) whose seats they were appointed to fill. The other race is for regular four-year terms. O’Connor, McKeown and Winterer are competing in this contest. Incumbent Bob Holbrook is also eligible to run in this race, although he has also expressed interest in the two-year competition.

The deadline to turn candidate papers into City Hall is Friday.

Additional SMRR endorsements:

SMMUSD Board of Education: Barry Snell (incumbent) and Laurie Lieberman (See related story: Two Get SMRR Backing in SMMUSD Race for Four Seats

SMC Board of Trustees: Louise Jaffe, David Finkel, Nancy Greenstein and Andrew Walzer (all incumbents)

Rent Control Board (four-year seats): Marilyn Korade-Wilson (incumbent), Bill Winslow, Todd Flora

Rent Control Board (two-year seat): Chris Braun (incumbent)

Half-cent sales tax measure: Yes

Recommendation measure that half of sales tax revenue go to SMMUSD: Yes

Added tenant protections measure: Yes

"I felt it would have been best for us all to set contention aside to acknowledge we had five people for five seats and that we want to move forward united toward November, The will of the convention was different and that's democracy. On the other hand, the will of the convention was to endorse me for a seat, and I'm very happy about that."
    Kevin McKeown