A spate of applications to fill the City Council vacancy occasioned by the January 7 death of Councilmember Herb Katz were filed with the City Clerk on the February 17 deadline for submitting the applications.
The City Council will consider making an appointment to the vacant seat at its February 24 meeting. If no appointment is made at that time, a special municipal election must be called to fill the partial term that runs through November 2010. (Although Katz’s term ran to 2012, the City Charter provides that his replacement – whether appointed or elected – will only serve until the next regular Council election, at which time the then-remaining two years of the term will be on the ballot.)
It is not necessary to file an application in order to be appointed, reports the City Clerk’s office – the Council can appoint anyone on February 24 who is willing to serve, whether they have filed an application or not; the application simply serves to demonstrate the candidate’s interest and provide background information to the Council.
Before the February 17 deadline, two applications were filed by:
Christian Boyce, a Pico Neighborhood self-employed computer consultant; and
Jean McNeil Wyner, a community/physician liaison at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital who served on the boards of the Pier Restoration Corporation and the Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Then on February 17, 25 more applications were filed by:
Barbara Elizabeth Andres, a Sunset Park medical reporter who is a past president of the local Soroptimist International club;
John Blakely, entrepreneur and actor, who finished eleventh in the field of 13 candidates for Council in November 2008;
Melinda Culea, a self-employed writer who has been active in the education community;
Gleam Davis, a lawyer, Planning Commissioner, and education advocate who co-chairs Santa Monicans for Renters Rights (SMRR) and who ran for the Council in 2006, finishing fifth in the race for three open seats with 8,162 votes;
Myung Deering, a curator at the Senior Arts Foundation who wants to “represent those unmet needs and unsung people in our community”;
Oscar de la Torre, executive director of the Pico Youth and Family Center and last year’s president of the SMMUSD Board of Education who has been a major leader in the Pico Neighborhood;
Matteo Dinolfo, a medical doctor at UCLA Medical Center who ran for the Council in 2002;
William Nole Evans, a lawyer with a background in the entertainment industry;
Ann Greenspun, a registered nurse and former board member of the Bayside District Corporation who chaired the Chamber of Commerce board in 2001-2002;
Susan J. Hartley, a lawyer and Airport Commissioner who co-founded Treesavers and ran for the Council in 2008, finishing sixth in the race for four open seats with 7,578 votes;
Patricia Hoffman, board member of the Bayside District Corporation and the Community Corporation of Santa Monica and active in a variety of community organizations who co-chairs SMRR and made a strong run for the Council in 2004;
Dinah Minot Hubley, a documentary filmmaker active in education issues;
Richard Kale, an executive and lawyer in the senior housing industry; Daniel Klein, a 2004 UC Santa Cruz graduate who works in corporate finance for a biomedical company; Michael Kovac, a small business advisor who finished seventh in the 2008 Council race with 5,022 votes; Tim Maher, a Sunset Park self-employed accountant who offers “a broad and unique perspective”;
Jonathan Louis Mann, a perennial Council candidate who ran for the ninth time in 2008 and finished last in the field of 13;Terry O’Day, executive director of an environmental organization and Planning Commissioner who ran for the Council in 2006, finishing fourth in the race for three open seats with 9,927 votes; Linda Piera-Avila, a physical therapist and Treesavers member who finished ninth in the 2008 Council race; Gordon Potik, a retired LAUSD math and computer teacher; Gwynne Pugh, an architect who chaired the Planning Commission; Steven Rodman, a retired forensic examiner in financial matters; Herbert Silverstein, a retired stock broker and active Treesaver who finished tenth in the 2008 Council race; Kecia Brooke Weller, a disability advocate for the Westside Regional Center in Culver City who has served on various organizations for the disabled in Santa Monica and the Los Angeles region; Ted Winterer, a Recreation and Parks Commissioner who is president of the Ocean Park Association and one of the authors of last fall’s RIFT initiative; he finished fifth in the 2008 Council race for four open seats with 9,760 votes.
