Early Kick-off to 2006 Council Race

By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer

March 11 -- With the dust barely settled from last November's City Council election, a powerful new player in local politics is wasting no time gearing up for the next council race nearly 18 months away.

Santa Monicans for Sensible Priorities this week blanketed the city with nearly 40,000 glossy, two-page "news" flyers criticizing the council's stances on public drunkenness and a new living wage law.

The mailings come just days after The Lookout revealed the group –- which is a non-profit issue-oriented organization -- intends to change its legal status to become an ever-present force in local politics.

"Santa Monicans can expect flyers like these as issues arise over the next year," said Seth Jacobsen, a spokesman and organizer for the group. "You can expect to see more like these in the coming months to keep the council and staff's feet to the fire."

In addition, the group plans to launch a door-to-door campaign, Jacobsen said.

The full-color flyer holds out hope that Mayor Pam O’Connor and Council members Bob Holbrook and Bobby Shriver “will offer a much needed new perspective" to the council. (Shriver is the only newly-elected member.)

The flyer also specifically bashes Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights Council members Kevin McKeown and Ken Genser's backing of a new living wage law enacted in February by a vote of 5 to 2.

"This new ordinance will cost taxpayers anywhere from $500,000 to several million dollars," reads the flyer.

"Most of the criticism for the council's hurried action has been directed toward Council Members Kevin McKeown and Ken Genser who pushed the measure forward without any fiscal analysis or data on how much it would cost," the flyer said.

Genser and McKeown took issue with the flyer's message and the group behind it, which, as a non-profit, does not have to reveal its source of funding or its members, according officials with California's Secretary of State.

"These are statements made by an anonymous group behind an anonymous flyer," said Genser, who was reelected to a record fifth four-year term last November.
"I invite them to make themselves known to the public."

Genser said it was interesting that the flyers tend to categorize certain council members in a more favorable light, while deriding others.

Genser and McKeowen noted that three other council members -- including O'Connor, Shriver and Richard Bloom -- voted last month for the living wage increase for workers who are contracted with the City.

"Five council members voted to give City workers the dignity of a living wage," said McKeown. "We did so knowing the range of costs and having budgeted for it. We required a report back on the actual costs as they become available."

Jacobsen said the two council members were signaled out because they, along with former Council member Michael Feinstein, were the driving force behind the law.

"We know they were the ones really pushing this item forward," he said.

McKeown -- who is seeking a third term in 2006 -- was surprised that the attack came so long before the next election season.

"Somebody's got a lot of money to burn with eighteen months left before the next election," McKeown said.

Campaigning so far in advance is an interesting new twist to local politics, McKeown said. Even SMRR, which has been the dominant political force in local politics for a quarter century, does "not have that kind of money to burn," he said.

“This sounds like transparent political spinmeistering for the usual anti-worker suspects," said McKeown.

Who makes up Santa Monicans for Sensible Priorities will eventually be revealed, Jacobsen said.

"It's not like we're hiding anything here," said Jacobsen. "When we are fully organized, we will be more than happy to tell people specifically who's involved."

Although he declined to give names, Jacobsen said some of the group’s current backers include hotels and the other members of Santa Monica's hospitality industry, as well as some Chamber of Commerce members. Jacobsen, however, explicitly denied that the group is "chamber-backed."

The group, Jacobsen said, may choose nor to disclose the amount and source of its funding.

As the next election draws closer, Santa Monicans for Sensible Priorities will seek to add a political arm, or Political Action Committee (PAC), to its non-profit status, although they do not intend to do so "for the foreseeable future," Jacobsen said.

As a non-profit, the group is currently restricted from expressly campaigning for or against candidates, according to experts. The PAC arm, Jacobsen said, will allow the group to be more explicit in its political speech.

As a PAC, state and local laws dictate that the group must reveal the amount and sources of its contributions.

Jacobsen said the current round of flyers went out to "thousands of Santa Monicans... the universe being anyone who voted in the last election," but refused to disclose how much the group spent on the mailers.

In addition to the group's issue-oriented campaign and its status change, SMSP plans to launch a door-to-door campaign similar to the one that SMRR has employed successfully for two decades, Jacobsen said.

"We hope to launch a door-to-door campaign as well later in the year," Jacobsen said.