Gleam Davis, candidate for Santa Monica City Council in the November election, was endorsed July 10 by Community for Excellent Public Schools (CEPS), a political action committee “dedicated to the preservation and betterment of public schools.”
CEPS chair Shari Davis stated, “Gleam Davis understands the value of having excellent public schools, and the benefits our whole community reaps when high quality K-12 schools, early childhood education and community college opportunities are a top priority.” She added, “Numerous policy decisions come before the Santa Monica City Council related to educating and enriching the lives of the children in our community. Gleam has the experience and know-how to maximize the impact the City can have on education.”
There are three City Council seats to be filled for four-year terms in the November election. The filing period opens July 17 and runs through August 11, but it already appears that there will be at least five candidates, including three incumbents, for the three spots. Gleam Davis ran unsuccessfully for the Santa Monica-Malibu Board of Education in 2000; this will be her first bid for elective office in the City proper.
CEPS, which has advocated increased funding for public schools at the state and local levels, rated candidates for City Council and Board of Education in 2004 based on their commitment and record in supporting public schools, but this is the first political endorsement by the organization.
Candidate Davis is a 1981 graduate of Harvard Law School who worked in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and now serves as legal counsel at AT&T. A Santa Monica resident since 1986, she is married with a nine-year-old son, and has been active in community affairs including service as chair of the School District Advisory Committee on Child Care and Development and on the CEPS Steering Committee.
