Genser Mayor for Two Terms |
By Jorge Casuso
December 10 – Bucking a recent trend of jockeying
for power behind the scenes as well as on the dais, the City Council
Tuesday night elected Ken Genser as the new mayor with no drama
or debate.
The 6 to 1 vote came after no other candidate was nominated for
the mostly ceremonial post of mayor, a figurehead who guides meeting
agendas.
The only question was whether Genser would serve one or two years
– with Genser and the three other Santa Monicans for Renters’
Rights council members opting for four years and the three non-SMRR
members for one.
After the SMRR faction – Genser, Richard Bloom, Kevin McKeown
and Pam O’Connor – prevailed, Bob Holbrook and Herb
Katz, longtime opponents of the tenants group, changed their votes.
Shriver – who received the second-highest vote count in Santa
Monica history in November --was the only council member who did
not vote for the two year-term.
After the new mayor was seated, the council then unanimously elected
O’Connor to serve as Mayor pro tem for two years.
O’Connor had angered SMRR leaders in 2004 and 2006 when she
cast the decisive vote for Holbrook and Katz respectively to serve
as mayor in elections that were tinged with drama and intrigue.
("O'Connor
Returns as Mayor, Shriver to Be Future Mayor Pro Tem," December
15, 2004 and "Bloom
Picked as Mayor, Katz to Assume Top Post in 2008," December
6, 2006)
Genser, who had served two one-year terms as mayor in 1997 and
2000, had expressed interest in serving two years.
While council members often choose someone who hadn’t filled
the post, neither McKeown nor Shriver had the four necessary votes.
In every mayoral race, O’Connor has refused to back McKeown,
a fellow SMRR member who was the top vote getter in 2006.
And Shriver did not have the support of Katz, who viewed Shriver’s
endorsement of Ted Winterer as a slap in the face
Both Shriver and McKeown also backed Prop T, a failed initiative
that would have capped most commercial development in the city at
75,000 square feet a year for the next 15 years.
The other five council members staunchly opposed the measure, also
known as the Residents’ Initiative to Fight Traffic (RIFT).
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