Labor Group Adds O'Connor to Slate

By Jorge Casuso

August 28 -- In a belated move that should boost her chances for reelection, the political branch of the living wage movement this week added incumbent Pam O'Connor to its slate of candidates in the November race for three City Council seats.

The nearly unanimous endorsement Monday by 26 members of the fledgling Committee to Protect the Living Wage will give O'Connor -- who joins Councilman Kevin McKeown and Abby Arnold on the pro-labor slate -- the support of more than two dozen pro-union ground troops who will staff phones and knock on doors.

Comprised of members of Santa Monicans Allied for Responsible Tourism (SMART), the group had initially snubbed O'Connor when it endorsed a slate on July 31, reportedly because she had not strictly towed the party line on the Living Wage ordinance also on the November 5 ballot.

Committee leaders said they delayed making the decision public pending notification of O'Connor, who along with Mayor Michael Feinstein is attending the U.N. summit on development and environment in Johannesburg, South Africa. Group leaders said O'Connor was pleased to accept the endorsement when she was contacted by phone Wednesday afternoon.

"When we first endorsed two candidates, we didn't know if SMRR would endorse two or three candidates," said SMART leader Vivian Rothstein, referring to Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights endorsement of Arnold, O'Connor and McKeown earlier this month. "We really feel strongly about Pam, and we feel the slate of the three people we endorsed will be real strong."

"I couldn't be more delighted that SMRR and the coalition are running the same slate of candidates," said Patricia Hoffman, a long-time community leader and former School Board president who belongs to both groups.

In its initial closed-door meeting to pick a slate, the pro-labor committee's 36 delegates cast only one vote for O'Connor, compared to 31 for McKeown and 25 for Arnold.

O'Connor is said to have upset SMART members when she voted for the Living Wage but pushed to lower the threshold from $10.69 to $10.50 an hour if benefits are included, arguing that the proposed amount -- which had become a union rallying cry -- was divisive.

O'Connor also opposed an anti-worker discrimination ordinance, which was approved with four votes, arguing that it would be expensive and difficult to enforce and that the key protections already were in place.

Monday's endorsement is widely viewed as a way to bridge the divide between SMART and SMRR that developed after the labor group mounted a well-orchestrated effort to place Arnold on the tenants group's slate. Longtime SMRR leaders who support O'Connor called the labor group's move "disrespectful" and a "hostile takeover."

Rothstein played down the rift but said she expects O'Connor's endorsement will be a unifying force.