The five City Council members who won the recent election — four Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights’ (SMRR) members Gleam Davis, Terry O’Day, Pam O’Connor and Kevin McKeown, and independent Bob Holbrook — had a big edge going in.

They were all incumbents (Davis and O’Day by appointment), and better known than the other candidates. SMRR’s campaign machine rolled out a major propaganda blitz for its candidates, crediting them and itself for almost everything good in Santa Monica but sunshine, and wrung endorsements for them from virtually every political and environmental group in the area. Holbrook, a Santa Monica native and lifelong resident, had already been elected
five times.
But four of the five began the new term Tuesday night under a cloud, and their first official act was chiefly notable for its gracelessness.
SMRRs Davis, O’Day and O’Connor and independent Holbrook had all appeared during the campaign in five tricked up mailers that were produced by a bogus entity, Santa Monicans for Quality Government (SMQG), and funded by developers, all of whom have commercial projects that need Council
approval.
The five mailers touted the four as having been endorsed by the Police and Firefighters and the Community for Excellent Public Schools(CEPS), but
Council member McKeown, who was also endorsed by the Police and Firefighters and CEPS, did not appear in the phony mailers, because he was
their target.
SMQG apparently reckoned that McKeown’s absence from the key mailers would cost him votes. It may have, but, this year, as in 2006, McKeown ran well ahead of all the other candidates in the Council contest. It’s impossible to gauge what, if any, impact the mailers had on the Council race as a whole,
but it may have been a factor in Holbrook’s very slim victory over SMRR Ted Winterer.
Though the election is over and the results are in and were certified by the
Council at Tuesday night’s meeting, an investigation is underway. It was triggered by a complaint filed by the Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City (SMCLC) with the City Attorney before the election, forwarded to the Los Angeles D.A.’s office following the election by the City Attorney, and has been sent on by the DA to the State Fair Campaign Practices Commission.

Fred Huebscher has been identified as president of SMQG. He was also Davis
and O’Connor’s political consultant.

SMQG’s campaign financial statements are under fire on several counts, as is its inclusion of Santa Monica Police and Firefighters Association insignia in the fake mailers.
A couple of the candidates featured in the mailers have denied knowing anything
about them, though a SMQG statement claims that all the featured candidates “paid for and authorized their appearances.”
Two residents appeared Tuesday night and asked the Council to name McKeown
mayor. As they said, he has been on the Council for 12 years and is the only member of the Council — except newcomers Davis and O’Day — who has never served as mayor, and in 2006 and again this year, he got more votes than any of his colleagues. In addition, the two advocates said, he attended more board and commission meetings and community forums and events and responded more often to residents’ concerns than any other Council member.
When City Clerk Maria Stewart called for mayoral nominations, O’Connor immediately nominated SMRR Richard Bloom, who did not run this year.
Mayor Bobby Shriver, an independent, then nominated McKeown, who
refused the nomination. But when votes were cast, he joined Shriver and
Davis to vote for himself, but Holbrook and O’Day joined O’Connor and
Bloom to give Bloom four votes and the mayor’s gavel for the next two
years. He has been mayor at least twice before, and is said to have his sights
set on a run for State Assembly next year.
When Stewart called for nominations for Mayor Pro Tem, Shriver again
nominated McKeown, and he refused again. Holbrook then nominated first term
winners Davis and O’Day to split the two-year term. But, after a series of votes,
Davis was named Mayor Pro Tem for the full two years.
She and O’Day both have to run in two years for full four-year terms, but as
Mayor pro tem, Davis will be more visible than O’Day.
All in all, it was a bad night for the democratic process, Santa Monica and simple civility.