No one might be showing today at the Neighborhood Council, as most people have asked that the meeting be postponed. Never underestimate the power of an election. Also, never underestimate the power of a conflict in which none of us wants to be involved. We will meet again when both have passed through the next step. Still, we should be be aware of the meeting at Tricia’s place on Sunday, when Bob Seldon will join John C. Smith as the two candidates recognized by Peggy Clifford of the Dispatch as the logical candidates besides Ted Winterer and Richard McKinnon to get many of your votes.

I will add this note to you all. I suspect that Santa Monica Mid City Neighbors is the only group to send out notices of Meet and Greets and other opportunities for the public to meet the candidates. If any other neighborhood association is doing this, no one has bothered to let me know. Still, you should know that what we have done has changed the dynamics of how candidates conduct their gatherings with the public. Steve Duron just realized that, thought this network of communication, he could let people know that they could meet him at various coffee houses around the city.

As well, you should know that most campaigns have not contacted me directly about Meet and Greets. Jerry Rubin, the candidate most likely to appear at a City Council meeting is also the candidate most likely to inform me of the details of meetings where candidates have been invited to meet the public. Had we not entered into this venture, I certainly would not have known which meetings take place and how.

If we were meeting tomorrow, I would ask you to recognize that we have only 19 days before the election and that you might consider how to get people to know which candidates are worthy of their votes.

I will also say that my own voting has been changed by this process. So has my awareness of the process, which I hope to share through blogging on the Santa Monica Patch.

I hope you will follow everything as closely as you can. Personally, I am grateful for the day off. But I hope you will all examine the candidates and consider how important this election is to the future of Santa Monica and the issues we have been working on together over the last several years.
Best regards to all,
Gregg

P.S. As of October 31st, I will be out of town until November 21st. Please be sure that I have any information about opportunities for the public to meet candidates before I leave town. I hope to return to find a City Council that has a greater orientation to residents than the one we have right now. I hope you will all do your best to make that happen.