Last week, the City of Santa Monica was honored for “creating a culture of health” and released a report showing the City was ahead of its goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This week, theLos Angeles League of Conservation Voters (LALCV) Voters announced it was supporting three of the four incumbent City Councilmembers seeking re-election: Terry O’Day, Gleam Davis, and Ted Winterer.
“The Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters is proud to endorse these three superb councilmembers,” said LALCV President Tom Eisenhauer in a press statement. “They will not only defend Santa Monica’s best-in-the-nation environmental policies; they will push the envelope to make Santa Monica even more environmentally responsible.”
While LALCV praised each of the incumbents endorsed, it reserved its strongest praise for Terry O’Day.
“Councilmember Terry O’Day is arguably the strongest environmental leader in public office in California,” said Eisenhauer.
According to the League, O’Day’s many accomplishments include advocating for low-income housing in transit-oriented development. He led the Big Blue Bus transition to zero carbon and championed the groundbreaking policy to move Santa Monica off imported water by 2020. O’Day is also an outspoken critic of Measure LV, the ballot box planning measure, which LALCV also opposes.
LALCV praised Davis for her work on the Expo Construction Authority, City Planning Commission, and Santa Monica-Malibu School District Facilities Committee, where she championed incorporation of sustainability into all new construction and renovation projects.
Winterer was praised for his leadership improving mobility, increasing open space and fighting to turn Santa Monica Airport into a public park.
The only incumbent absent from the endorsements was Mayor Tony Vazquez. There are four City Council seats up for election this year, but the League only endorsed for three spots, passing over Vazquez as well as challengers Oscar de la Torre, Terence Later, Jon Mann, Armen Melkonians, Mende Smith and James T. Watson
