THE LOW-DOWN ON THE TOWN Impudent, uncensored account By C. Castle

No Show for Hayden

Sen. Tom Hayden can't seem to draw the kind of crowd he used to in Santa Monica.

Either that, or he was intentionally looking for a small turnout at a $50-a-head fundraiser he held at Bergamot Station Wednesday. Perhaps the Westside's political elite staged a boycott.

In his remarks, Hayden referred to the event as a going-away of sorts as he leaves Santa Monica and seeks an Assembly seat representing West Hollywood.

If it was his going away, few of Santa Monica's political establishment were there to wish him well. Where were the lefties on the Santa Monica City Council?

Where was Councilman Michael Feinstein, Councilman Ken Genser, Councilman Kevin McKeown, Mayor Pam O'Connor? And where was Denny Zane, co-chair of Santa Monicans for Renters Rights who has known Hayden since his Jane Fonda days? Heck, Millie Rosenstein, mother of Councilman Paul Rosenstein, was in the crowd. Hayden acknowledged her first when he took the microphone.

Where was her son?

It looked like there were more former gang members than paying guests. And there were no other elected officials in the room, just a representative from Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa's office. Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl? Nope. A staff person? Nope.

Well, it's not as if anyone really missed them anyway. Hayden had a great troupe of street poets and a couple of wonderful folk guitarists to liven things up. And Ed Begley, Jr. was wandering around.

But if Hayden is hoping to get elected to the Assembly in his new district, he'll have to find more popularity where he's going than where he's coming from.