By Lookout Staff

Editor’s Note: The Lookout News sent several questions to the 14 candidates running for City Council. Each answer was limited to 125 words. The Lookout is publishing the candidates’ answers over several days. In each posting, the candidates' answers will be shown in the same order as their names appear on the ballot or in reverse order.

October 16, 2014 -- Question: In May, City Manager Rod Gould rescinded the offer made to Santa Monica’s newly hired Chief Communications Officer Elizabeth Riel. The move came after information surfaced that Riel was involved with political activities of slow growth advocates. What’s your take on the Elizabeth Riel affair?

See stories:
“Offer Rescinded to Political Activist for Santa Monica’s Top Communications Job,” May 29, 2014
“Allegations Fly in Wake of Santa Monica Hire and Fire Episode,” June 6, 2014
“Santa Monica Hire-Fire Episode Flares,” June 11, 2014
“Santa Monica Sued for Hiring and Firing Information Officer,” June 19, 2014

Name: Sue Himmelrich
Status: Challenger
Occupation: Attorney at Western Center on Law and Poverty
Answer: I believe the Elizabeth Riel affair is the result of political careerism and lack of term limits. The city veered off course badly when it hired and then fired Ms. Riel; we went even more awry when we hired a city insider for Ms. Riel’s job who was not even subjected to the same hiring process. Incidents like this are the reason I support term limits of 16 years.

Name: Jerry Rubin
Status: Challenger
Occupation: Peace Activist
Answer: No comment. I understand it is being evaluated through the legal system. But I do support our hardworking dedicated City Staff and appreciate our civility policy and commitment to hearing all points of view.

Name: Pam O’Connor
Status: Incumbent
Occupation: Historic Preservation Planner
Answer: as a member of the City Council, I cannot comment on the merits or substance of pending litigation. Procedurally, it is early in the case. I expect that the City’s legal team will advise us about options and the Council as a body will decide the future course.

Name: Terence Later
Status: Challenger
Occupation: Entertainment Consultant
Answer: We live in a time of city government where retribution from city hall is not uncommon. People fear placing a lawn sign on their property or business because of retribution from the city government. People fear making a donation to your campaign because of retribution by the city government. Mrs. Riel’s situation is neither uncommon nor unique. Our city government and the machine that has run it since 1980 have been known for their thuggery, uneven distribution of decision-making, and pay-for-play tactics which have been commonplace for three decades.      

Name: Frank Gruber
Status: Challenger
Occupation: Urban Affairs Writer and Lawyer
Answer: As someone who is not privy to all the information that the Council has on this issue, I am not fully-qualified to have an informed opinion. From what I do know, I wish that City Manager Gould had been aware of Ms. Riel’s past involvement in city politics when he made the appointment, so that he could have factored that into his decision. He still might have hired her, with the appropriate conditions. But once he hired her, I believe he should have stuck with the decision, while making it clear that she could not be involved in politics while working for the City.

Name: Phil Brock
Status: Challenger
Occupation: President/CEO of Studio Talent Group
Answer: Elizabeth's prior political activity would have no bearing on her performance of duties for the City Manager and our residents. Obviously, Mayor Pam O’Connor applied pressure to the City Manager because Elizabeth had opposed her 2006 campaign. The only yardstick for the hire should have been Elizabeth’s fitness for the job advertised. Our Mayor should know this is not acceptable behavior for Santa Monica politics. With this incident and her acceptance of donations from the Hines Company to retire her previous campaign debt, Ms. O'Connor is not setting the bar very high. I firmly believe that this hiring/firing of Elizabeth Riel is a travesty orchestrated by the City Manager and the Mayor. We must do better.

Name: Nick Boles
Status: Challenger
Answer: Occupation: Regardless of whether past political affiliations played a role in the decision to withdraw the job offer, the city should have been well aware of her background prior to her recruitment. In addition, the vetting process and final decision for a high ranking representative of our city, overseeing the primary methods of information dissemination to local residents and media outlets, must be absolute. In short, the application process should have exposed the candidates’ potential weaknesses, and if it didn’t or they were disregarded for other reasons, it should be addressed immediately.

Name: Whitney Scott Bain
Status: Challenger
Occupation: Journalist
Answer: Elizabeth Riel was wronged by pettiness on behalf of childish people. She should be offered the position she is qualified for with a stipend for her trouble or the City will lose, paying an astronomical amount if they are foolish enough to go to court as they violated her First Amendment rights.  

Name: Zoë Muntaner
Status: Challenger
Occupation: Founder/Chief Compassion Officer, Writer, Creative Activist, Chief Strategy Officer
Answer: Well, it is an example of a hostile city management that treat its citizens as subjects, not as masters. Hostile attitude by present powers that be.

Name: Kevin McKeown
Status: Incumbent
Occupation: Apple Technology Consultant for Local Public Schools in Santa Monica and Malibu
Answer: I had no involvement whatsoever in Ms. Riel’s recruitment, but once she’d been hired I told our City Manager he had made a great choice of someone I knew to be perfectly suited and qualified.  I immediately and transparently shared with him that Elizabeth had been a supporter of mine, and that a picture of her remained on my website from my 2006 campaign.  That did not seem to be a concern.
Some weeks later, Elizabeth was summarily un-hired. Pam O’Connor told a local paper she “might have commented” to our City Manager about her experience with Elizabeth. I hadn’t known Elizabeth had contributed to a mailer against Pam. All this was public before a lawsuit was filed.  I cannot comment on anything after that.

Name: Richard McKinnon
Status: Challenger
Occupation: Business Owner
Answer: A series of very bad decisions were made in Town Hall that directly and adversely impacted an obviously highly qualified, highly skilled and competent person. These decisions will result in the City being held accountable for what seems to been largely a political decision.

Name: Jon Mann
Status: Challenger
Occupation: Teacher
Answer: In my opinion, Mayor Pam O'Connor and  City Manager Rod Gould engaged in a conspiracy to fire Riel for political reasons. I believe Mayor O'Connor met with Gould to demand he find a pretext to fire Riel for her past public criticism of O'Connor and City Hall. Gould emailed and spoke with Riel, berating her for her political affiliations, and attempted to bully her into announcing her voluntary resignation.

Name: Michael Feinstein
Status: Challenger
Occupation: Author/Writer
Answer: It's a legal/personnel matter and at present I don’t have all the facts. If elected, I would be briefed about it in closed session, and would form an informed opinion at that point.  

Name: Jennifer Kennedy
Status: Challenger
Occupation: Manager/Consultant
Answer: I think what happened is unfortunate because our city is a well-run city but there is distrust in the community about our public process and this has added to it. The lawsuit will run its course but I am very interested in improving our city’s public process to create more effective, truly meaningful community engagement and to help City Hall be more open  and accessible.