The race for the Santa Monica City Council continues to shape up, as incumbent Council member Kevin McKeown became the first candidate to qualify for the Nov. 4 ballot on Monday. Recreation and Parks commissioner Phil Brock became the second candidate to qualify on Wednesday.
In all, 15 people have pulled papers between July 14 and time of posting this article, effectively expressing their respective intentions to seek one of three seats up for election this year (the seats of Kevin McKeown, Pam O’Connor, and Bob Holbrook).
Since the last edition of The Mirror, Jon Mann (July 17), Terence Later (July 18), and Jessica Miller (July 24) are the latest potential candidates to pull papers for the City Council race.
Those three and 10 others have also pulled nomination papers, but they have yet to join Brock and McKeown in filing their respective nominations.
As of July 24, the 13 people who pulled papers but have yet to file include Whitney Scott Bain, Nick Boles, Michael Feinstein, Frank Gruber, Sue L. Himmelrich, Jennifer Kennedy, Later, Mann, Miller, Richard McKinnon, Pam O’Connor, Ken Robin, and Jerry Rubin.
The notable name still missing from the list of potential candidates: current Council member Bob Holbrook, who sits on one of the three council seats up for election this year.
According to the City Clerk’s office, the nomination period ends Aug. 8 if all incumbents file their respective papers. If neither O’Connor nor Holbrook files their respective nominations with the City Clerk by Aug. 8, then the nomination period extends until Aug. 13.
The California Secretary of State will determine the name order of the Nov. 4 ballot on Aug. 14.
In addition to the City Council race, there are three other boards with seats up for grabs, including the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) Board of Education, Rent Control Board, and Santa Monica College Board.
No new names were added to last week’s list of potential candidates who pulled nomination papers. However, Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein was the first person to officially file his papers with the City Clerk.
There are also at least three ballot measures for Santa Monica voters to consider: an initiative potentially impacting the future use of Santa Monica Airport; a measure proposing to alter City law to allow two medical marijuana collectives to operate; and, a proposal to increase a real estate transfer tax in order to fund local affordable housing programs.
The Mirror will continue monitoring how the Nov. 4 ballot continues to take shape during the next few weeks.
For more information, visit smvote.org.
