Democratic Club Postpones Mall Vote

By Jorge Casuso

March 31 -- The Democratic Club on Wednesday postponed a vote to oppose the redevelopment of Santa Monica Place, effectively putting a temporary halt on a canvassing campaign to lobby the City Council to oppose a development agreement.

The vote to postpone the resolution "to oppose any massive expansion of Santa Monica Place" came after some of the three dozen members present at the meeting engaged in a brief debate.

Proponents of the resolution argued that the community had been locked out of the key decisions made by City staff and the Macerich Company, which owns the 24-year-old mall.

"I'm upset this has been worked on by City staff" behind the scenes, said Laurel Roennau, a member of the board of directors. "Now they're back doing something behind closed doors at City Hall. I think we should be there sitting at the table."

Opponents argued that, although they opposed "the massive redevelopment" of the mall, the club was taking a position on a project that is the subject of an ongoing public process that has not yet resulted in a proposal.

"The City Council just opened the process," said Steve Alpert, a longtime member of the club. "The plans that are part of it are going into a public process. It just seems a little bit strange to me (to vote) if we don't know what it is.

"Since we know the council members, and they are for slow growth," Alpert added, "we should at least see what the process is."

After a brief debate, a substitute motion was made to postpone the vote for one month.

"I did not realize we would be discussing it at the meeting," said Patricia Hoffman, who made the motion. "This is such a key issue in Santa Monica. We need to discuss what has happened in the process."

"I'm concerned because I see (The Lookout) sitting here," said Nancy Greenstein, noting that she had received calls after an article was posted on the web site. "There was no mention of this proposal and that we would vote. Let people debate it."

Had the resolution been approved, the Democratic club was poised to move forward with the canvass of voter households across Santa Monica.

A flyer calling on Santa Monica residents to "Join Us in Urging the Santa Monica City Council to Reject Any Massive Expansion of Santa Monica Place," already had been printed.

The flyer claims the proposed redevelopment would add "more than 500,000 new sq. ft. to the 560,000 sq. ft. Santa Monica Place" and "double the amount of development by adding 450 luxury condos and apartments in three high-rise towers."

The flyer appears to be referring to a proposal that included three 21-story condo towers that was scrapped in January by the City Council.

The council unanimously voted to begin negotiations with Macerich, but only after starting with a blank slate and seeking extensive input from the community.