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

A Family Affair

With a field of 24 applicants vying for an open seat on the City's Arts Commission, it seems to be coming down to a decision that's all in the family.

One week ago, in a little noticed early morning vote, the City Council deadlocked 3 to 3 over the nomination of two council family members -- Councilman Robert Holbrook's wife, Jean Ann Holbrook, and Mayor Ken Genser's sister, Harriet Beck.

The nominations put some council members in a delicate - even awkward - position.

"I don't want this to be a battle of the relatives," Genser said after the vote. "If she (Beck) is nominated by another council member, I'm willing to vote for her. But I've not suggested that council members vote for her. I don't feel comfortable lobbying for her.

"I was surprised to hear her nominated (by Councilman Kevin McKeown), and was happy to vote for her," Genser said. But, he added, "When council members ask me about her, I refer them to her."

Holbrook nominated and spoke on behalf of his wife at the June 20th meeting, but the council agreed to delay the vote because Jean Ann had turned in her application late. Holbrook, too, says he has mixed feelings about his wife's bid.

"I frankly wish Jean Ann wouldn't do it," Holbrook said. "I don't want to subject her to 4 to 3 votes, but she wants very much to be appointed."

Holbrook said he wasn't aware the issue would be seen by some as a family feud. "I wasn't aware she (Beck) was his sister," Holbrook said.

The vote also put Councilman Richard Bloom in an uncomfortable position. Bloom, a close friend of Mayor Genser, voted for Holbrook.

"I voted for her because I knew she had a longstanding interest and had participated by going regularly to the meetings," Bloom said. "It certainly was an unusual situation, and Harriet is a supporter of mine and I certainly hope the way the vote went is not viewed as a sign of disrespect.

"Part of the discomfort of the situation is that Ken is my oldest ally on the council," Bloom said. "Now Paul (Rosenstein) might be the deciding vote."

The final decision could come down to Rosenstein, who left before last Tuesday's vote. Rosenstein had nominated Donna Block, a sculptor and Mid City activist, two weeks earlier.

It takes... boxes?

After the last issue of The Dirt (#6) - in a smaller format - hit the streets, we figured we should set the record straight.

An item on what to do with the giant hole excavated for the new public safety facility asked readers to send along their suggestions to surfsantamonica.com. Don't get us wrong, we're happy to get as many clicks as possible and welcome any suggestions from our readers (after all, we uncovered the hole, which could cost the city $10 million more to fill than expected).

We just don't want people to think we're behind a publication whose source we're still trying to determine.

So, we submit as evidence a word that appeared in an item blasting new Chamber of Commerce president Karen Bauer for being "one of the community's most vocal advocates of the homeless."

"Do they (the business owners) have the cajones to confront the Chamber Board of Directors...?" the Dirt asked.

Having a few native Spanish speakers in our office, we'd like to point out that cajones is Spanish for boxes (which we're sure are plentiful in most business establishments). The word "The Dirt" meant to use is spelled with an "o" not an "a" and the phrase is the equivalent of "They've got guts" (though the organ in question is lower on the male anatomy), and not "They've got boxes."

On second thought, this disclaimer may be a futile exercise. We're sure some readers will suspect us of misspelling the word on purpose to throw off the conspiracy theorists and give us something to write about.