Daniel Larios
Staff Writer

July 15, 2014 – The slow growth group Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City (SMLCLC) announced Monday they will back Councilmember Kevin McKeown and Planning Commissioners Sue Himmelrich and Richard McKinnon for three open City Council seats in November.

On the opening day of the candidate filing period four months before the general election, SMCLC became the first local political organization to make endorsements for the City Council race.

The early endorsement may be an attempt to make an impact in the election and to influence the Santa Monicans for Renter’s Rights endorsement process during the powerful tenant group’s convention on August 3, according to political observers.

“Kevin, Sue and Richard have been passionate about protecting Santa Monica from overdevelopment,” reads a Coalition email sent to supporters.  The three have “repeatedly sided with residents, standing up to developers, their consultants and City planning staff,  in opposition to massive or poorly designed projects.

“Each has shown a respect for residents' quality of life and the character of Santa Monica that has lately suffered from excessive, piecemeal, and unsustainable development,”  Coalition officials wrote.

According to the email, all three candidates have pledged not to take money from developers and, if elected, would be part of a slow-growth majority on the council along with Councilmembers Ted Winterer and Tony Vasquez.

Richard McKinnon called the endorsement “a major vote of confidence in my approach on the Planning Commission and our Santa Monica community to controlling development and putting residents first.”

McKeown told the Lookout Monday, “It’s exciting to come home from filing to run at City Hall, and find out I’m already endorsed!”

“My hometown is in the crosshairs of over-development,” McKeown said. “I have a long record of representing residents, not land speculators.  I want to keep working to protect all of us and the community we love.”

The Coalition’s early endorsements are also viewed as paving the way for an expected campaign to oust Mayor Pam O’Connor in her reelection bid.

O’Connor, who filed to run Monday morning, has been the target of multiple campaigns by SMCLC, which sees her as too “pro-development.” One such SMCLC campaign in 2006 attacked O’Connor for accepting donations from developers.

The campaign  likely contributed to the City rescinding the hiring of Elizabeth Riel as its Communications Chief after it was revealed she had contributed to the mailer.

In addition to the three candidates who were endorsed, SMCLC met with three other candidates during its endorsement process -- Parks and Rec Commissioner Phil Brock, Planning Commissioner Jennifer Kennedy and former Mayor Mike Feinstein.

Feinstein was the first candidate to file his papers to run Monday morning.

“I very much enjoyed the lively exchange of view with the SMCLC members that I interviewed with, and I look forward to continuing to meet with as many of our 90,000 Santa Monica residents as possible,” said Feinstein, was recently been endorsed by former Los Angeles City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl.

Phil Brock, who is positioning himself as a slow growth candidate, actively courted the group’s endorsement.

“There were a number of good candidates,” said Brock.  “I would have loved to have their endorsements, but it didn’t go my way and it’s fine.”

The coalition’s track record is mixed. In 2010, the group endorsed Ted Winterer, Kevin McKeown and Susan Hartley. Only McKeown was elected.

Two years later, the Coalition again endorsed Winterer, who won, along with McKinnon, who failed in his bid for four open council seats.