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

There appears to be a gender problem in SMRR.

No, not a sexual identity crisis - at least, none that we know of.

The problem is that leftie group SMRR is looking at the embarrassing possibility of running an all-male, all-white slate of candidates in 2000.

Current SMRR councilmembers Ken Genser, Michael Feinstein and Richard Bloom are shoe-ins. That leaves a single spot left on the endorsement line-up.

The one woman the political organization was courting as a possibility -- Josefina Santiago -- is on her way to New York City for graduate school. Word has it there are few other local politically active women interested in running.

But SMRR hasn't given up hope.

And that's one reason why no one in the political organization is talking seriously about running Kelly Olsen, a new member of the Planning Commission and former member of the City Council. Of course, some say that Olsen's in-your-face personality doesn't help his popularity either.

At first blush, it would seem that Olsen is positioning himself for another go at a council seat. Why else would he have pushed for a spot on the Planning Commission? Televised and high-profile, the Planning Commission is the City Council's minor league of sorts. It's the place to preen in pursuit of higher office.

But even if Olsen were to talk publicly about running for council, he is likely to admit that his chances of a SMRR endorsement in 2000 are slim.

Getting dissed by SMRR over the gender issue is something Olsen is more than familiar with. In 1994, he earned the dubious honor of being the first SMRR incumbent to lose the group's endorsement. SMRR chose Mayor Pam O'Connor and Arts Commissioner Bruria Finkel, instead.

Olsen -- who may also have been too anti-development for the group's conservative wing -- mused at the time about running as an independent, but ended up deciding not to run. Still, he had SMRR worried that he would siphon support away from their council picks and open the door to more conservative, landlor-backed candidates.

Two years later, Councilmember Paul Rosenstein proved an independent candidacy is not an impossibility in SMRR-land. Maybe 2000 is the year Olsen plans to follow suit.

Since we're fantasizing…. what about Jean Ann Holbrook, wife of
councilmember Bob Holbrook, running as the female candidate on whatever anti-SMRR ticket emerges in the 2000 election? Word has it that the Councilmember is considering running for the 41st Assembly seat left vacant by Assemblymember Sheila Kuehl. Might as well keep Santa Monica politics in the family.

Jean Ann already has her main campaign issue lined up - the Solar Web. She's holding nothing back in her quest to see money and support for that art project killed.

Community gatherings, commission meetings - whatever it is, count on Jean Ann being there if Solar Web is on the agenda. And sources at City Hall say she has made a number of public records act requests on behalf of her husband for files pertaining to the Solar Web - requests that have the city's Community and Social Services Department staff running frantic at the copy machine.

Sounds like Santa Monica may have a Hillary Clinton of its own.