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By Jorge Casuso

August 2 – Ending weeks of speculation, Council member Bobby Shriver has decided to run for reelection, saying he has unfinished business to complete on the council.

Shriver, who was elected four years ago with one of the largest vote counts in modern Santa Monica history, pulled papers shortly before City Hall closed on Thursday.

“It’s gonna be hell. It’s gonna be fun,” Shriver told The Lookout.

“I just felt there were a couple of things I had to complete, or I would have felt I hadn’t done them,” Shriver said.

He cited his effort to convert three vacant buildings on the Veterans Administration grounds in Westwood into housing and services for mentally ill homeless veterans and said he also wants to continue to help clean up Santa Monica Bay.

Shriver became the final incumbent to pull papers to run for reelection, making next Friday the final deadline for potential candidates to submit the 100 signatures of local voters needed to make the ballot.

As a challenger in 2004, Shriver easily defeated the three incumbents who are once again seeking another term on the seven-member council, garnering 23,260 votes, followed by Mayor Pro Tem Richard Bloom, with 16,710 votes.

Mayor Herb Katz, who is running for a fifth four-year term, finished with 14,475 votes in 2004, while Ken Genser, who is running for a sixth term, received 13,408 votes.

A member of the Kennedy family who decided to run for office after the City threatened homeowners with hefty fines for tall hedges, Shriver has been a maverick on the council.

On key development issues, he has sided with the slow growth faction of Santa Monicans for renters’ Rights (SMRR), voting to oppose development standards that would allow for taller buildings in select parts of the city.

Shriver, who was backed by the City’s business community, said he plans to attend the SMRR convention Sunday to gather signatures.