Another local group, Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City, advocated for the newcomers but did not raise money.ĭespite all the cash at their disposal, Santa Monica Forward leaders had a hard time developing effective campaign techniques, with the pandemic limiting their ability to canvas door to door, co-chair Abby Arnold said.Īs the council campaign was getting underway, city leaders were struggling with budget and policing issues.Īmid heated debates about cutting city personnel and community programs, City Manager Rick Cole resigned in April. The only PAC to spend all its money on the newcomers was Santa Monicans for Change 2020, with about $18,000. Though politically influential, the renters’ rights group was not a large player financially, spending nearly $44,000 spread out among council, school board and other races. With Himmelrich and McKeown, who were elected in 2018, SMRR-supported candidates maintain a narrow 4-3 edge on the council. This year, Davis and McCowan were the only winning candidates backed by the organization, which primarily advocates for tenants and promotes affordable housing. “įor more than 30 years, a majority of the City Council has been endorsed by Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights, according to the group’s co-founder and co-chair, Denny Zane. The committee’s website states that it is in favor of “a thriving local economy,” more affordable housing and a “cleaner and greener city. While individual candidates raised cash, the biggest financial push came from a PAC called Santa Monica Forward, which spent more than $196,000 on behalf of Davis, McCowan and the three losing incumbents, according to the most recent campaign finance disclosures. ![]() ![]() In Santa Monica, city politics involves fairly big money. “The community felt unsafe and really felt unheard, and they were looking for someone - anyone - that would hear them and represent them and be them up on that dais.” “It’s very simple,” said Parra, 48, who is the emergency preparedness coordinator for Culver City. In a shift away from tonier parts of the city, De la Torre, McCowan and Parra are residents of the historically Black neighborhood of Pico. Davis’ biological father is Mexican American, and she was adopted at birth by white parents.īrock, De la Torre and McCowan all grew up in Santa Monica. De la Torre and Parra are Latino, and McCowan is Black. The new council will be the most racially diverse in Santa Monica history, according to city spokeswoman Constance Farrell. Himmelrich and Kevin McKeown did not run in this election and remain on the council. Incumbents Terry O’Day, Ted Winterer and Ana Maria Jara lost, as did a member of the new slate, Mario Fonda-Bonardi. ![]() Kristin McCowan ran unopposed for the two remaining years on a seat she filled when a council member resigned. Four seats went to the top vote-getters: Brock came in first with more than 19,000 votes, followed by incumbent Gleam Davis, Parra and De la Torre. With 22 council candidates on the same ballot as the presidential election, turnout was 79% in the city of 90,000. We don’t want to become an extension of downtown Los Angeles. But I want our change to be in concert with the residents’ desires to have a low-rise, diverse, comfortable beachside city,” said Brock, 66, a talent manager active in community organizations. In their second council meeting last week, they joined with Mayor Sue Himmelrich to end negotiations with the developer of the controversial Plaza project. And the new council members’ slow growth mantra will be put to the test as they try to put the brakes on commercial development yet fulfill a campaign promise of creating more affordable housing in a city where 72% of residents are renters and real estate prices are sky high.
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