By Jorge Casuso

August 16, 2024 -- There will be a showdown for four Council seats in November, with one potential spoiler among the ten candidates left in the race, while the elections for Rent Control Board and College Board have been canceled.

The City Clerk released the final list of candidates in four races that also include the School Board, and it amounts to the smallest field in recent memory.

In less than two weeks, the number of Council hopefuls dropped from 21 to 10, while five candidates in two Board races will be sworn in without an election.

The two candidates for Rent Board -- incumbent Kay Ambriz, who was appointed to the Board in June, and Phillis Dudick -- will assume seats on the five-member board after the number of candidates submitting nominating petitions equaled the number of open seats.

A similar outcome played out in the race for three seats on the seven-member College Board where three candidates -- incumbents Margaret Quinones-Perez and Rob Greenstein Rader, along with Rent Board Commissioner Anastasia Foster -- made the ballot.

Zoe Muntaner was disqualified after failing to submit the 100 signatures of registered voters required.

Meanwhile, in the race for three seats on the School Board, four candidates submitted nominating petitions and qualified -- incumbents Jon Kean, Maria Leon-Vazquez and Jennifer Smith and challenger Christine Falaguerra.

The hotly contested race for four Council seats will pit four challengers backed by Santa Monica's Political establishment against four candidates, including two incumbents, running on a pro-law enforcement platform.

Mayor Phil Brock and Councilmember Oscar de la Torre, who are members of the Council's 4 to 3 Change majority, will be joined by newcomers Dr. Vivian A. Roknian and John Putnam, who are backed by Santa Monicans United (SMU), a newly formed group focused on public safety.

The staunch law-and order slate avoided the prospect of diluting the votes of residents focused on public safety after four candidates who share similar views, including incumbent Christine Parra, dropped out of the race.

The slate will face four candidates backed by the political establishment, which includes Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights (SMRR), the local Democratic Club, Santa Monica Forward and CEPS (Community for Excellent Public Schools).

The slate -- composed of College Trustee Barry Snell, Planning Commissioner Ellis Raskin, Natalya Zernitskaya and Pier Corporation Board Chair Dan Hall -- were endorsed two months earlier than usual in an effort to present a united front.

But the plan is jeopardized by the candidacy of Rent Board Chair Ericka Lesley, who entered the race after failing to win the backing of SMRR and the Democratic Club, and qualified for the ballot on Thursday.

Her candidacy has the potential to siphon votes from the pro-justice reform slate, which is composed of all renters who are expected to focus on tenants' rights.

The slate must win two of the four open seats to regain control of the Council, which SMRR has dominated for most of the past four decades.

The only other Council candidate to qualify for the ballot is "Guitar Guy" Wade Kelley, a street performer on the Promenade.

In addition to the races for Council and School Board, voters will weigh in on three local ballot measures, far fewer than the eight measures on the 2022 ballot.

This year's measures include a $495 million bond to repair and improve School District facilities in Santa Monica and an 8 percent increase in the Parking Facility Tax for private lots and structures expected to generate about $6.7 million a year.

Also on the ballot is a Business License Tax Modernization measure that decreases tax rates for most retailers and restaurants, raises the corporate headquarters rate to 0.25 percent, removes auto dealer tax exemptions and restores a business license processing fee.

If approved, the measure is expected to generate approximately $3 million a year.