Last week, an outfit called “Santa Monicans for Responsible Growth” sent rather detailed questionnaires to all the confirmed City Council candidates that raised questions and led to instant assumptions about it and its members.
The Lookout only knew the name of one member of the group, Ivan Perkins, and didn’t know much about him – beyond the fact that he’s a Wilmont resident, one of the 2,000 members of Santa Monicans Against the Miramar Expansion, and spokesman for the group, but it lept to the following conclusions.

The Lookout described SMRG as “a new anti-development Political Action Committee (PAC) that expects to be a player in the race for four City Council seats, and has ties to Miramar’s opponents.” According to the Lookout, the new group was formed sometime over this summer. “We’re still nailing down who wants to be in this group officially,” said Perkins. Its members remain unknown to the public because, Perkins said, he doesn’t have everyone’s permission to reveal their names.

The Lookout nattered on, “Although Perkins said the group did not want to focus its platform on the Miramar, the ambitious redevelopment of the hotel is the only development project specifically mentioned in the questionnaire sent out to candidates.

“The Miramar ‘brought some of us together,’ Perkins said. ‘We’re not trying to make it a centerpiece, but for some of us it is.”

The Lookout goes on to say, “In addition, the group has ties to Miramar’s opponents, including the owners of the Huntley Hotel, which has been spearheading the opposition.”

There has been a sustained effort, crafted by Miramar officials and their allies, apparently including the Lookout, to portray the Huntley as organizing and financing a sinister plot to block the Miramar expansion.

According to the Lookout, “Susan Burnside, a political consultant hired by the Huntley to oppose the Mirarmar project, ‘has been a part of the introduction process,’ Perkins said.
But, according to the Lookout, “Burnside…said that although she sometimes gave the new group advice, she didn’t introduce the members to one another.

“She said that most of the 15 knew each other from other groups, adding that she knew at least three of them well.

“Perkins said that he has worked with Manju Raman, the general manager of the Huntley Hotel, although he could not say whether she was involved with the group.

“’I’m happy to work with whomever I may be aligned with,’ Perkins said, adding that the Huntley may be opposed to the Miramar redevelopment for different reasons.”

In fact, the effort to paint the Huntley as somehow conniving to bring the Miramar down is ludicrous. In the first place, it would be foolish of the Huntley not to oppose the proposed Miramar expansion, which would demolish almost all of its existing structures, construct a new complex that would double its size to 556,000 square feet, and add several floors, a cluster of condominiums and 6400 square feet of “new retail.

In sum, the Miramar wants to build a tall, broad wall directly across Second Street from the Huntley, casting a perpetual shadow over it and obliterating its light, views of Palisades Park, the beach and the ocean, and the fresh sea air that washes over it now.

If their positions were reversed, there is no question that the Miramar would use everything in its arsenal to stop the Huntley.

Naturally, the Huntley, and the thousands of residents who live nearby oppose the expansion, and the Huntley has been forthright from the beginning about its opposition, working openly with residents of the area.

Adding an intriguing twist to the drama, the Lookout subsequently reported, “In an official letter sent to SMRG Tuesday council candidates Shari Davis, Gleam Davis, Terry O’Day, Frank Gruber, Tony Vazquez, Jerry Rubin and John Cyrus Smith rebuffed the organization for failing to disclose their members.

“Just as voters have a right to expect transparent politics from us, voters and we have a right to expect that organizations requesting information from candidates do so with transparency themselves, the letter reads.
“There should be ‘enough information so that we and the public know who controls the group, such as a list of board of directors or steering committee members,’ the letter said. The council candidates also asked for the group’s ‘FPPC (Fair Political Practices Committee) ID number and name of Treasurer, if it is a PAC.’

“’I think it’s legitimate to ask these questions,’” said Perkins, adding that he should have had this information available but that he is still learning about the process.

“Perkins said that not having a list of members ready was a ‘rookie mistake’ and that he hopes to have all the information available to the public by the end of next week.”

The candidates’ rather righteous demands for universal transparency is, at best, tardy and disingenuous. Five of the seven current Council members have taken contributions from developers, and two of them – O’Day and Gleam Davis – who are seeking re-election this fall, not only accepted contributions from but took part in a bogus ad campaign run by a bogus organization, Citizens for Quality Government, that hi-jacked Police and Fire Department insignia, among other things.