By Jason Islas
Lookout Staff

November 23, 2011 -- Residents thinking about running for office in Santa Monica will have to collect twice as many signatures, or pay an in-lieu fee.

The City Council voted to require 200 signatures from residents who want to run for office, or collect 100 signatures and pay $100.

The ordinance is designed to offset election costs – such as printing ballots and allowing candidates airtime on City TV -- as well as to increase the investment in the election process for each candidate, City officials said.

Mayor Richard Bloom did not think the change was necessary.

“I think we're making [the process] a little more confusing,” Bloom said Tuesday. “A hundred signatures has been the bar for many, many years here. People understand the rule.”

Bloom wasn't alone. “I think this is a solution in search of a problem,” said Council member Pam O'Connor.

The idea of instituting a filing fee was first floated at the March 22 council meeting, with staff recommending that the City adopt a flat $200 filing fee.

However, at that meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Gleam Davis voiced her concern about putting up “any barriers to having people run.”

At that meeting, Council member Kevin McKeown argued that Santa Monica is “extraordinarily generous with resources for candidates” and suggested there should be a system to assure that candidates have real public support, such as requiring them to raise the filing fee in small donations.

Earlier this month, staff brought a revised version of the idea before the council.

Council members rejected a proposal they thought it was too complicated that would require potential candidates to raise the $200 filing fee in $5 donations from residents whose signatures they solicited.

For most on the dais, requiring an extra 100 signatures wasn't a serious impediment.

Council member Bobby Shriver was absent for Tuesday's vote.