By Jonathan Friedman
Lookout Staff

February 24, 2010 -- Planning Commissioner Ted Winterer said after the meeting that he had no expectation of winning the vacant council seat coming into last night’s competition.

“I knew it was over before it even started,” Winterer said. “I had heard that one particular council member, whose vote I was hoping would be my fourth, he said he would not vote for me. So at that point I could do the math.”

Winterer declined to name the council member. But with Council members Kevin McKeown and Bobby Shriver being backers and the likelihood of Council member Robert Holbrook supporting him being slim, one could guess he was referring to Councilmember Richard Bloom. Bloom supported eventual winner Terry O’Day in nearly every round and backed Rent Control Board member Jennifer Kennedy for one vote.

This was the second consecutive year that Winterer competed for the appointment for a vacant seat on the council. One month after the death of Council member Herb Katz, Winterer was in the running to fill that position. He several times came just one vote shy of the four votes needed for an appointment. This year, Winterer did not fare as well, never receiving more than two votes in a round. In four of the last five rounds, he had just one vote.

“For me, personally, it was remarkably reminiscent of last year, where I started out with some votes, but then lost them,” Winterer said.

He said he will run in November. Winterer was in the 2008 race, finishing fifth in the competition for four seats. Many of his supporters noted this as the reason he should be appointed.

Board of Education member Oscar de la Torre received one vote in the appointment competition. Council member Bobby Shriver supported him in the fifth round after consistently voting for Winterer in 12 consecutive sessions (including all eight rounds in last year’s appointment and four rounds this year).

De la Torre also was supported as a second choice by Councilmember Robert Holbrook in a round when the council members noted their back-up preferences.

“I was surprised with me being somebody who has committed to work with SMRR (Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights) for so long, I didn’t get any support from the SMRR people,” de la Torre said. “And my support came from two individuals on the dais that are not involved in SMRR.”

De la Torre said he had no idea what to expect prior to Tuesday night because “people held their cards very close.” He said the only one he was sure of was McKeown, who made it clear he would be supporting Winterer. Because of this, de la Torre said he was surprised to see McKeown switch his vote to Jennifer Kennedy for four of the final five rounds.

Winterer said he was not offended that McKeown switched sides.

“He was testing the waters, probing to see how other people would vote if he shifted his vote,” Winterer said. “That thing ended up going south anyway. I knew what he was doing.”

De la Torre said he also plans to run in November, and if he wins, he would become the first person from the Pico Neighborhood and only the second Latino ever elected to the council. But for now, he said “only good could come” from O’Day being a Pico Neighborhood resident on the council.

“Every one’s a product of their background,” de la Torre said. “He has a different upbringing than I do. I believe my perspective [on the council] would have been different. But for sure, he’s going to stand for defending the Pico Neighborhood from undesirable development, I hope.”