January 27, 2010 -- This year, there will be no applications submitted for the replacement of Mayor Ken Genser, who died earlier this month.

Overriding the strong objections of Council member Kevin McKeown, the council on Tuesday eliminated the application process that saw 27 candidates vie for the seat vacated after the death of Council member Herb Katz a year ago.

Potential candidates don't have to fill out a formal application, but they can submit names to the City Clerk’s Office by February 17. Those names will be placed on the City’s Web site. They also are free to submit detailed information, however, it will not be made public by the City Clerk, but would instead be forwarded to the council and the press.

On February 23, the council will either select somebody to fill the vacancy (that person must receive at least four votes) or call for a special election that could take place no sooner than mid-May. A person who does not submit his or her name to the City Clerk can still be appointed.

Council member Bobby Shriver, the most vocal opponent to the application process, said doing it last year created a situation where many people incorrectly believed they had a legitimate chance to be selected.

“To tell people they have any real chance whatsoever of being appointed to the council is really misleading,” Shriver said. “Because we all know … who the top two or three candidates are. We know of those top two or three candidates, one" will be selected.

Shriver adjusted the figure to four later in the meeting, naming School Board member Oscar de la Torre, Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights (SMRR) Co-chair Patricia Hoffman, former Planning Commissioner Terry O’Day and Ted Winterer, who finished fifth in the 2008 election for four council seats.

O’Day ran unsuccessfully for council in 2006. Hoffman had a failed attempt in 2004. De la Torre has never run for council.

Both Hoffman and Winterer failed in their bids last February to replace Katz. ("Davis Picked to Fill Katz’s Seat," February 25, 2009)

McKeown was the most vehement supporter for applications. He said it made the process “transparent,” since residents would be able to see information about those seeking the seat.

“I would not feel comfortable with a situation where all that happens is people call us at home in the dead of night and that we pretend that that is a sufficient process for the city,” McKeown said.

McKeown made a motion to use the application process this year and to include what boards and commissions candidates were interested in serving on if they were not selected for the council seat.

He got the support of Richard Bloom and Gleam Davis, but the motion failed because it needed four votes. Mayor Pro Tem Pam O’Connor did not attend the meeting because she is recovering from knee surgery.

Another attempt by McKeown to pass a similar motion failed when it did not receive a second.

Bloom said he supported the motion, but could tell by Shriver’s comments that it did not have the votes to pass. Bloom then made the motion requiring candidates to only submit their names and received support from everyone but McKeown.

The lone dissenter blasted the decision.

“We have failed to improve on the prior process … and we may actually have made this process happen further out of the public eye than it was last time,” McKeown said.

“This is not more transparent, nor is it more likely to encourage public participation at various levels of our city,” McKeown said.