Today is the final day to register to vote in California for those who want to participate in the November 4 election. This upcoming election is critical for the future of our city, with three City Council seats up for grabs and four important measures on the ballot.While it’s easy to feel like our voices don’t matter at election time, Santa Monica is a relatively small city and elections here are decided by the tens and hundreds of votes, not thousands. So please register today, vote on November 4th, and encourage your friends and colleagues to do the same. If you’re not sure if your voter registration is up to date, you can check it here.
Incumbent City Council candidates Pam O’Connor and Kevin McKeown are running for reelection. Councilmember Bob Holbrook announced he would not seek reelection, leaving one seat wide open. There are currently 14 candidates in the race, including O’Connor and McKeown.
Santa Monica’s future success is contingent on having public officials who understand the nuances of municipal government, balancing a city budget, and who support smart, transit-oriented growth that provides more housing and encourage a multimodal city, with accessible light rail, reliable bus service, and safe bike facilities.
You can hear from the candidates themselves on particularly issues, thanks to Santa Monica City TV’s election video grid. And, in partnership with The League of Women Voters of Santa Monica Education Fund (LWVSMEF), City TV will host round one of a live candidate forum on Monday October 20 (today!) at 7 p.m., with round two airing at the same time on Monday October 27.
The program will be available to those in Santa Monica on cable channel 16 and digital broadcast channel 20.2. It will also be broadcast online at citytv.org and at smgov.net/citytvlive for mobile devices.
Santa Monica Next does not take positions on candidates, but we have taken positions on four of the measures that will be on November ballot.
Ballot Measures
NO on D, Yes on LC
Measure D is a deliberately deceptive initiative placed on the ballot by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), a national aviation lobby group, that would take control over land use decisions at the airport out of the hands of the City Council, essentially making it impossible to make even the slightest changes at the airport.
Measure LC was put on the ballot in response to Measure D and would maintain Santa Monica’s right to manage the airport in order to decrease noise and air pollution, and increase safety. Read Next’s full editorial here.
YES on H & HH
These companion initiatives would create a new, desperately needed local revenue stream for affordable housing by increasing the transfer tax that is paid when any residential or commercial property over $1 million is sold. Again, you can read our full editorial here.
