By Lookout Staff

December 8, 2010 – Council member Kevin McKeown -- the top vote getter in the 2006 and 2010 City Council races – once again failed to win the four votes necessary to become Santa Monica’s mayor.

Instead, Richard Bloom, who has his sight set on a State Assembly seat, will be mayor for the third time since joining the council in 1999. Bloom, who will replace Bobby Shriver in the mostly ceremonial seat, will serve a two-year term.

Bloom was nominated by Pam O’Connor and had the support of Council members Bob Holbrook and Terry O’Day, as well as casting a vote for himself.

Holbrook was declared the winner of a showdown with Ted Winterer for the third council seat. The veteran council member, who has served on the dais since 1990, beat Winterer, who would likely have backed McKeown, by 57 votes.

McKeown had the support of Shriver and Gleam Davis, who was selected to serve as mayor pro tem.

McKeown, who has served on the council since 1998, had at least one neighborhood organization lobbying on his behalf. The Wilshire/Montana Neighborhood Coalition sent an email Tuesday urging the council to pick the four-term council member, who frequently attends City commission and neighborhood group meetings.

“Mr. McKeown is well-known to residents because he is directly involved in things that concern us,” wrote Wilmont’s Chair Valerie Griffin. “He supports our neighborhood groups… He listens to us.

“He also contributes insights based on his years of experience working with the City,” Griffin wrote. “We believe it is time for that to change.”

McKeown – a staunch supporter of renters’ rights and a slow growth advocate – had 16,337 votes in last month’s race for three open four-year seats, nearly 2,000 votes more than second-place finisher Pam O’Connor, who had 14,535.

McKeown was also the top vote getter in 2006 with 14,000, despite a well-funded campaign by developers to oust him. O’Connor finished second with 13,315 votes.

Bloom has said he plans to run for Santa Monica Assembly woman Julia Brownley’s seat when she is termed out in 2012.