Mayor’s
Seat Up for Grabs |
By Jorge Casuso
December 9 – Most City Council members are keeping
mum, but when they take the dais to pick a new mayor Tuesday night,
chances are it could be a showdown between Ken Genser and Bobby
Shriver for the mostly ceremonial post, according to sources familiar
with the proceedings.
And the way the votes are lining up, it could take some strange bedfellows
to elect the longest sitting council member – Genser was first voted into
office 20 years ago – or its latest arrival, Shriver, who is embarking
on his second four-year term.
“Ken wants to be mayor for two years, and I also know Bobby would like
to be mayor,” said Council member Robert Holbrook, who has been mayor
twice. “It’s easy to get three votes.”
Genser, who has served twoone-year terms in 1997 and 2000, confirmed
he would like to once again hold the post that serves as the City’s
figurehead and guides meeting agendas.
“I don’t know how things are going to play out, but I’m certainly
interested,” said Genser, who finished third in the November 4 race for
four council seats. “We’ll just have to wait till Tuesday night.”
Mayor Pro tem Richard Bloom declined to disclose how he would vote, though
he is expected to back Genser, a friend who urged him to jump into the political
arena a decade ago.
“I’m keeping my thoughts to myself right now,” said Bloom,
who finished second, more than 4,000 votes behind Shriver, and who served as
mayor in 2007. “I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be me.”
Like Bloom, McKeown and Katz declined to even discus the issue.
Holbrook, who has been on the council since 1990, was the only council member
who would say how he would vote – Shriver. But he has no clue if the four
necessary votes are there for any council member.
“I started making a chart of who wouldn’t vote for whom, and it
was mind-boggling,” Holbrook said. “I don’t know what’s
going to happen.”
For years, personal and political differences have erased the traditional divide
between council members backed by Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights (SMRR)
and opponents backed by the city’s business interests.
Current Mayor Herb Katz, a staunch opponent of SMRR, won the top post thanks
to the backing of Pam O’Connor, who bucked SMRR two years ago to oppose
Kevin McKeown, the top voter getter in the 2006 election.
O’Connor, who also angered SMRR leaders in 2006 when she cast the decisive
vote for Holbrook, the long-time leader of SMRR’s opposition, declined
to say who she will back.
“I don’t talk about my votes ahead of time,” O’Connor
said. “I have my hierarchy prioritized.”
O’Connor -- who once again is not expected to vote for McKeown -- also
declined to predict the outcome.
“I will find out on Tuesday,” she said. “Sometimes I can
second guess my guys,” she added referring to her council colleagues,
“but sometimes they surprise me.”
She did, however, give a glimpse into her thought process.
“Like any kind of personnel decision, it’s also a question of timing,”
O’Connor said. “Sometimes it’s the specifics of
the time period.
“Everybody (on the council) has the basic skills to be mayor,”
she said. “What’s the mix of the characteristics of
the times? That's the question.”
Holbrook believes it’s clearly Shriver’s time to be mayor -- he
won handily on November 4 with the second-highest vote total in
Santa Monica history and is the only council member except McKeown
who has not served as mayor.
In addition, during perilous economic times when cities are jockeying for funding,
Shriver has strong connections in both Sacramento and Washington,
Holbrook said. (Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger is Shriver’s brother-in-law
and he is a member of the Kennedy clan, which should be a plus in
Capitol Hill under Democratic control.)
“He’s got family members that are going into the (Obama) administration,”
Holbrook said. “I think he would be a terrific mayor.”
Shriver declined to say whether he wants the post and refused to predict who
would win.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” he said. “I’m for
whoever runs the meetings well. I didn’t want it last time. We’ll
see what happens.
“I think Herb did a good job last time,” Shriver said. “He
can do it again.”
Katz, who is wrapping up his first year as mayor after 16 years on the council,
is one of the wild cards Tuesday night.
Katz declined to say how he would vote, but sources privy to his thinking say
he will not back Shriver, who like Katz is not a member of SMRR.
That’s largely because Shriver gave a last-minute endorsement to challenger
Ted Winterer in the November 4 race for four open council seats,
a move that, according to sources, Katz viewed as an attempt remove
him from the council. (Katz finished fourth, more than 5,000 votes
ahead of Winterer.)
Shriver also alienated most of his colleagues when he joined McKeown in backing
Prop T, a failed measure staunchly opposed by the other five council
members that would have capped most commercial development in the
city at 75,000 square feet annually for the next 15 years.
“It has made some people thrash their teeth,” Holbrook said.
“Maybe it’s about politics, and maybe it’s about power,”
Holbrook said. “It’s not supposed to be logical. There’s no
logic in politics.”
|
