THE LOW-DOWN ON THE TOWN Impudent, uncensored account By C. Castle

Confusion in the Community ?

Has anyone else wondered about how odd are some of the endorsements in Santa Monica City Council races nowadays?

We know the race is nonpartisan and that anything is possible in Santa Monica, but still…

In this month's election for the open seat on the council, Richard Bloom, a Democrat, has been endorsed by the Westside Greens - a group comprised of local members of the Green Party. What's odd is that Greens are among the harshest critics of Democrats and the nation's two-party power structure. What's even odder is that the party endorsed Mayor Pam O'Connor in the November election but did not endorse Bloom.

Odder still is that Jon Stevens, the only Green in Santa Monica's race, failed both times to get the group's backing.

Bloom also has been endorsed by SMRR. Yet, a faction of the renters rights political organization publicly opposed Bloom's endorsement two years ago - including co-chair Denny Zane.

In November's election, Green Party member Kevin McKeown, now on the council, was endorsed by Santa Monica's police union. The union's support is more than a little surprising considering the Green Party platform favors limiting police powers and the Greens are not known as friends of the police.

Meanwhile, members of the Democratic Club are said to privately have wanted to endorse McKeown in November's race but couldn't. He's not a Democrat and the bylaws of the California Democratic Party specifically prevent local clubs from endorsing non-Democrats.

We can only speculate…starting with the Westside Greens' endorsement. Stevens himself concedes that he is not a viable candidate and that he's running on a narrowly-focused agenda. Given that, why would the Greens back him?

Brand loyalty is important, but the Greens have the party's reputation to worry about. Stevens didn't have a prayer.

So, without a viable Green Party candidate in the race, who was left? Bloom. The Greens don't have the same restrictions as the Democrats about crossing party lines.

He may be a Democrat, but he is SMRR-endorsed…just like Councilman Michael Feinstein, who heads up the Westside Greens. And just like Councilman Kevin McKeown, another member of the Westside group.

Of course, Bloom does espouse the Greens' perspective on the environment, development, social justice issues and the like. Otherwise, the group would have shut the door as quickly on him as it did on Stevens.

The Westside Greens backed O'Connor in the November race because she had worked with Feinstein on the council and, with his prodding, the group trusted that O'Connor was in their camp. At that point, Bloom was still something of an unknown.

A myriad of reasons could explain the turn-around support that Bloom's candidacy has received from SMRR. Publicly, SMRR members say they have grown to understand Bloom better and realize they are more closely aligned with him on policies than they originally believed.

Privately, critics have wondered whether SMRR is backing Bloom, a homeowner, to further broaden its appeal and to shore up support among Santa Monica's property owners.

This is nothing new for the political organization - its position in last summer's debate over the construction of so-called monster mansions on the north side of the
city drew a number of homeowners to SMRR's side. Rent control, for all practical purposes, is on its way out. SMRR doesn't want to be.

As for McKeown's backing from the police union last November…

We'll never know whether he really did tell union leaders that he'd support efforts to oust Chief James T. Butts, Jr. (a charge McKeown firmly denies) or whether the rumor was a direct hit launched by McKeown's opponents.

Indeed, it could just as easily be that union leaders saw the power on the council shifting SMRR's way. And nothing is worse than being on the wrong side of power. Besides, Greens say McKeown is the third Green Party candidate in California who has received a police union endorsement and gone on to win an election.

Why some Democratic Club members might have opted for McKeown over one of their own candidates is unclear. Then again, the lines are getting so blurred in Santa Monica politics, it's hard to see clearly anyway.