Santa Monica Council Candidate's Letter Shows "Disingenuous Political Hypocrisy"

August 24, 2012

Dear Editor,

This letter is in response to the letter attacking Santa Monicans for Responsible Growth printed in the August 22, 2012 edition of the Lookout and signed by City Council Candidates Terry O'Day, Gleam Davis, Shari Davis, Frank Gruber, Jerry Rubin, Tony Vazquez, John Cyrus Smith. ("Letters: Why not Respond to Questionnaire," August 24, 2012)

The residents behind Santa Monicans for Responsible Growth are to be commended, not attacked. 

I refused to sign onto the proposed letter because it represented, in my opinion, the disingenuous political hypocrisy that saturates our city.  It has, in my view, nothing to do with transparency, but is instead intimidation against a group of residents who simply want to limit development.

Council members O’Day and Davis in fact have personally and willingly benefited from a lack of transparency numerous times over the years, but are now jumping all over residents for trying to become active in community affairs. 

I remember Councilman O’Day leading the deceptive developer-backed campaign against Proposition “T” in 2008 that the Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City placed on the ballot in an attempt to control the massive over-development that is crushing the city’s residents. 

The public did not know who was behind the campaign, or that the developers had poured almost $1 million into defeating that initiative.  Mr. O’Day did not seem to be concerned with transparency at that time.  He was subsequently appointed to fill a vacant council seat by presumably grateful incumbents.

Council members O’Day and Davis took part in a bogus ad campaign in 2010 run by a secretive developer-backed organization cynically named “Santa Monicans for Quality Government.” SMQG targeted Council member McKeown and Council candidate Ted Winterer, going so far as to use phony depictions of Santa Monica’s Police and Fire Department insignias in its advertisements to provide an illusion of credibility.  Neither Ms. Davis nor Mr. O’Day seemed concerned about transparency at that time.

Council members O’Day and Davis recently voted to not make a booklet of their state filings available in the council chambers for the public to consult.  Is this transparency?

What is transparent is the attempt to intimidate responsible residents who have had enough of the manipulation and Orwellian buzzwords that have become business as usual.

The residents behind Santa Monicans for Responsible Growth are to be commended, not attacked.

Bob Seldon

Santa Monica