October 5, 2010 -- The Lookout Staff submitted questionnaires to the 23 candidates running for seats on the City Council and Board of Education. The candidates were given the same timeframe to answer the questions and were limited to 150 words per answer.

During the next several days, the Lookout News will publish the candidates’ answers verbatim. The profiles for the four-year City Council race will be published first, followed by the two-year City Council race and lastly the Board of Education race. They will appear in alphabetical order based on the candidates’ first names.

Name: Jon Mann
Running for: 4-year City Council seat
Status: Challenger

How long have you lived in Santa Monica? In what neighborhood do you live?
31 Years first in PNA, then Sunset Park and presently Ocean Park.

Why are you running for office and why should residents vote for you?
I’m running because I’m fed up with special interests dominating policy and determining who gets elected. Residents should NOT vote for ANY incumbents, any candidates with special interest endorsements, or any Republicans. Who does that leave? If I was on the council, I would audit the budget, clean house and cut taxes, and then spend the hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue on the people.

That would get more people to come and learn that true, cost effective, democratic socialism is for the people! If you're tired of "The Man" wasting our money? Vote for a new Mann, for a real difference. Free bus transportation, and free WiFi linked to moderated public forums on the City Hall website, for the first municipal electronic village. Now that is how to implement transparency and accountability in city government, and empower the residents so our voices are heard loud and clear

Why do you enjoy living in Santa Monica?
I love the beach, which is half a block from where I rent.

How would you rate the current City Council? What particular decisions stand out for you that made you form that opinion?
The entire city council, except for Bobby Shriver (who has no need) is indebted to SMRR, city employees, developers and various other special interests. All of their decisions are determined by that constituency rather than by the residents; everything from development, to traffic, to taxes, etc. That has to STOP! Taxes are from the people and should be spent for the people, not the #@^&*%$! bureaucracy!

What is the most frequent complaint you hear on the campaign trail? What do you plan to do about this issue?
I’m sad to say that many residents are apathetic and completely unaware of how their city is being run. Those that know how corrupt, and incompetent our City Council and staff are feel powerless to do anything. The voters need to wake up and take the city back. The ONLY way to change this status quo is to throw the bums out. People need to realize that the good times are over. America has been on a binge and it’s time to tighten our belts. We can start by downsizing City Hall and outsourcing the council and staff!

Should Santa Monica residents be allowed to vote on major development agreements? Why or why not?
Absolutely, but developers have a lot more money to campaign for more growth under the guise of “Smart” or “Slow” growth. RIFT came VERY close in spite of that, no thanks to most of the council. They are already starting to chip away at LUCE.

Where do you stand on Measure Y, the half-cent sales tax proposal, and Measure YY, the companion measure that would recommend 50 percent of the tax revenue go to education?
I’m against ALL tax increases. Santa Monica already has a huge budget and yet neighboring cities get by on much less, AND their schools do better! We need to find out what they’re doing right! SMC is supposed to be a community college, yet it has a budget higher than many universities. Students who went to school in this city have no priority at registration and have to compete for classes with students paying extremely high out of state tuition.

Solve the traffic problem in Santa Monica in under 150 words.
Instead of raising bus fares I would make them FREE; now THAT would reduce traffic. We all know what increases traffic, the same things that bring in more tax revenue. The more taxes the more bloated our bureaucracy; more employees driving to work. More shopping stretching from Rose Ave to Montana. Look, enough is enough; the roller coaster is on its way down! What’s going to happen when all that revenue starts to trickle down? We need to start cutting out waste, NOW!

If you were emperor with absolute authority for a day and could do one thing for Santa Monica, what would it be?
The very first thing would be to Implement FREE broadband WiFi linked to moderated public forums on the city website, AND require the council and ALL department heads, or staff, from the city manager on down, to respond to reasonable questions (especially about the budget) complaints and suggestions from the residents. It would be a Virtual Town Hall to implement REAL transparency and accountability in government It would empower the residents so our voices would be heard loud and clear , and provide anonymity to protect whistle blowers.

IF YOU’RE TIRED OF THE MAN. TELLING YOU WHAT TO DO; VOTE FOR A REAL MANN AND MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE. JON MANN FOR CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 2, 2010!