By Jonathan Friedman
Lookout Staff

May 12, 2010 --The City will be without a mayor for at least another two weeks. The City Council on Tuesday evening was unable to break a 3-3 tie to select somebody for the mostly ceremonial position. The item was continued to the May 25 meeting.

Council member Terry O’Day wanted the mayor selection postponed to the next meeting because the choosing of a mayor pro tem (second in command on the Council) was not also on the agenda. He was only able to get support from Council member Richard Bloom for delaying the vote until the selection of both positions could be placed on the agenda. So the vote for a mayor proceeded.

O’Day abstained in the mayor selection, again stating he wanted a continuance. This created a 3-3 tie for those who voted for Council member Bobby Shriver (Shriver, Kevin McKeown and Robert Holbrook) and Mayor Pro Tem Pam O’Connor (O’Connor, Bloom and Gleam Davis). With no winner, O’Day got his wish, and the item was forced to the May 25 meeting.

O’Connor began serving as the de facto mayor in October when Mayor Ken Genser was sent to the hospital. She continued in this role following Genser’s death in January. The selection of a mayor had not been placed on the agenda until this week because the Council had a difficult time getting all seven members to attend a meeting at one time. If the Council selects a mayor at the next meeting, that person will serve until the first Council meeting after the November election, in which five Council seats will be contested.

The mayor of Santa Monica has no more voting powers than the rest of the Council. As mayor, the person runs the Council meeting and gets to cut the ribbons at community events. The mayor represents the City and is often quoted in regional, national and international media coverage of Santa Monica.

Despite the role being a ceremonial position, the decision for selecting the mayor is often controversial and highly political. Some political observers say the person holding the title has an advantage in City Council elections.

McKeown, who has been on the Council since 1998, has never served as mayor. He has been nominated for the post, but has been unable to get enough support from his colleagues to win the title. Shriver, who has been on the council since 2004, has also never served as mayor. Holbrook, O’Connor and Bloom have been mayor more than once. The Council’s most recent members, Davis and O’Day, were attending their first meeting on Tuesday at which the mayor vote was on the agenda.

Several other Cities that have the ceremonial mayor position do not have the controversial politics with the selection like Santa Monica does. For example in nearby Malibu, the mayor is appointed based on an established rotation. Although a vote is taken every year to name a new mayor, that decision is always unanimous and the vote is ceremonial. The order of the rotation is usually based on the City Council election results.