Dem Club Endorses McKeown, Davis

By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer

September 12 -- In what some described as a referendum on the hot button issue of development, incumbent City Council member Kevin McKeown and newcomer Gleam Davis captured the backing last week of the newly beefed up Santa Monica Democratic Club in the November race for three council seats.

After three rounds of voting Thursday, three-term council member Pam O’Connor and planning Commissioner Terry O’Day – widely viewed as more moderate on local growth – failed to win the endorsement of the group, whose ranks, group leaders say, have swelled in recent years.

Neither O’Day nor O’Connor could garner more than 60 percent of the vote needed to land the endorsement, which could bring cash and a campaign force, according to club leaders.

The key issue, club leaders said, was growth.

“I think members perceived (O’Connor and O’Day) to be softer on commercial development than the other candidates,” said Julie Dad, a member of the club’s board, who, along with its president, Jay Johnson, sits with O'Day on the Plannng Commision.

“I think they looked to the membership as not being as responsive to residents’ concerns over neighborhood development,” Dad said.

With three council seats up for grabs, Dad said she was “surprised” after club members endorsed only two candidates, although they were following the executive committee’s recommendation to back only McKeown, who last year switched from the Green to the Democratic Party, and Davis.

“I think the membership backed (McKeown) because he is viewed as being close to his constituency, and reflects their values,” said Dad, suggesting it was his views on development in particular that earned him the endorsement.

And the club supported Davis, she suggested, because the corporate counsel “is in that same mold” as McKeown.

Thursday’s vote come one month after McKeown and Davis, along with O’Connor, won the backing of Santa Monica for Renters’ Rights (SMRR), the city’s dominant political group which has retained control of City Hall for most of two decades. (see story)

Although the SMRR slate is presenting a united front in its effort to hold on to a one-vote majority on the council, there are longstanding tensions between the two incumbents, whose relations have been strained for years.

McKeown went so far as to endorse Davis, but not O’Connor in a move widely seen as an effort to block the SMRR endorsement. (see story)

O’Day – who heads an environmental non-profit – flirted with the idea of seeking the SMRR endorsement, but opted to remain an independent. He, along with Mayor Bob Holbrook, who has traditionally headed an anti-SMRR slate, won the endorsement of the Chamber of Commerce last month. (see story)

The Democratic Club endorsement -- along with those of SMRR, the chamber and the Police Officers Association -- is one of the most sought after endorsements in Santa Monica politics, many insiders say.

And this election year, the club is looking to increase its impact.

An intense door-to-door outreach has netted a number of new members over the past two years, Dad said. The group, she suggested, has nearly 1,400 registered members and 500 to 600 active participants.

Yet exactly what the club will do with the increased financial and volunteer support is yet to be decided, though a direct mail campaign and precinct walking are possibilities, Dad said.