By Jorge Casuso

June 4, 2012 -- Mayor Pro Tem Gleam Davis became the first incumbent to announce a bid for re-election in the November race for four open City Council seats.

Davis, who announced on Friday that she would seek her first full term, is the third candidate to formally announce, joining former Lookout columnist Frank Gruber and activist Jerry Rubin, who is making his fifth council bid.

“In my next term, I will continue to fight to keep our Police Department and Fire Department the best in the county,” Davis said in a statement, “and I want work to ensure that Santa Monica’s mix of housing, including affordable housing, meets the needs of all residents.”  

Davis said she also wants "to keep Santa Monica moving on its path to economic, environmental and human sustainability, including ensuring the City’s continuing economic strength in this difficult and tenuous economic climate.”

Davis was selected by the council in 2009 to fill the seat left vacant when Herb Katz died and was elected to a two-year term the following year.

Also expected to run for re-election is Council member Terry O'Day, who also is finishing a two-year term after being selected in early 2010 to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Ken Genser.

The picture is not as clear when it comes to incumbent Mayor Richard Bloom and Council member Bobby Shriver.

Bloom is running in Tuesday's Democratic primary in the newly created 50th Assembly District and will not seek re-election if he makes it into a run-off in November.

Shriver has not indicated whether he would run for a third four-year term on the council.

Before joining the council Davis -- who is corporate counsel for AT&T and supervises all of its litigation in the Los Angeles area -- was a member of the Planning Commission and was co-chair of Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights (SMRR), the city's powerful tenants group.

Before joining AT&T, Gleam prosecuted civil rights violations as a Trial Attorney in the Civil Rights Division in the United States Department of Justice and was a partner at the law firm of Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp. 

Davis’ early endorsements include California Assembly member Julia Brownley and former mayors Denny Zane and Nat Trives.