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2007

Bloom-Katz: Now that's the ticket

By Kevin Herrera, Santa Monica Daily Press

February 19th, 2007

CITY HALL — It was a night of new beginnings here on Tuesday as the City Council appointed a new mayor and mayor pro tempore after certifying the results of the Nov. 7 municipal election.

In front of a capacity crowd, comprised largely of elected officials and their friends and family, the council selected fellow Councilman Richard Bloom to serve for one year as mayor. Councilman Herb Katz was appointed mayor pro tem. The two will trade positions next November. Bloom, who was elected to the council in 1999, served as mayor from 2002 to 2004. Katz, who served as mayor pro tem from 1986 to 1988, has never been mayor. Both are residents of Sunset Park.

“ It’s an honor to be back in this chair,” said Bloom, after taking the mayor’s seat in the middle of the dais. “It’s a great town I know we all love and we will be working together in the best interest of everyone.” Ditto for Katz.

“ I’m very honored with this and looking forward to working with Mayor Bloom,” said Katz. “I think it’s going to be a good cohesive council.” By majority vote, the council chooses its mayor, who is then charged with presiding over council meetings and is recognized as the head of city government for ceremonial purposes.

Bloom and Katz have at times been at odds while serving on the council. Both are backed by two very different constituencies — Bloom is a member of Santa Monicans for Renters Rights (SMRR), the city’s leading political party, while Katz has traditionally been backed by local business interests, including the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce.

Former Mayor Bob Holbrook, who was re-elected in November along with councilmembers Kevin McKeown and Pam O’Connor, nominated the Bloom-Katz ticket because he felt a compromise was appropriate. “ Herb has served for 14 years and has never had a chance to be mayor, so I felt I really wanted to support him,” said

Holbrook, who served as mayor following O’Connor’s one year stint in 2005. “I tossed out Richard’s name because I felt he was a good mayor, a middle-of-the-road guy who is part of the SMRR team and has been faithful to their agenda.

“ I just thought it was a good compromise to have someone from SMRR and another perspective,”Holbrook said. “I thought it would be good for the city. I think they are practically neighbors and will do a fine job working with each other over the next two years.”

Councilman Ken Genser had nominated McKeown to serve as mayor for two years and Katz to serve as mayor pro tem. O’Connor nominated Bloom for a two-year term as mayor and McKeown for mayor pro tem — the lone proposed SMRR ticket.

Genser’s nomination received two votes, as did the O’Connor nomination, while Holbrook, Councilman Bobby Shriver and Katz voted in favor of the Bloom-Katz ticket.

O’Connor changed her vote in favor of a Bloom-Katz combination, casting the deciding vote in favor of Holbrook’s nomination. O’Connor, a SMRR member, also cast the swing vote last time around, making Holbrook mayor, leading to calls within her own party to remove her from office.

There are those who feel McKeown should have been selected, given the fact that he has never served as mayor during his first two terms and received the most votes in last month’s election.

Denny Zane, a co-founder of SMRR and former mayor, said he lobbied behind the scenes for McKeown and Katz to be mayor and mayor pro tem, respectively, however, he said he is supportive of Bloom and believes he will make a great mayor.

Zane said those selected mayor have to take on more responsibilities than their council colleagues, but with the position comes respect and a sense of accomplishment that is attractive to most elected officials.
“ It’s a way of being recognized by the council and the community,” Zane said.

Former Mayor Michael Feinstein, who attended the meeting and was seen smiling following the vote, said there are no guidelines for selecting mayor. It typically comes down to personalities and relationships.

“ Being mayor is primarily a ceremonial function and they are in charge of chairing the meetings and playing that important role in ensuring public business gets done,” said Feinstein.

“ So when you look at it, the council majority is going to go with whom they feel comfortable with facilitating them. If the council members are not going to feel comfortable on the dais with the manner in which they are facilitated week in and week out, there are few things that could be worse.”

McKeown seemed disappointed at being passed over for a second time, however, he said shortly after the vote that he was not going to let the outcome bring him down.

“ Many people have told me they voted for me because they think I make a good councilman,” McKeown said. “I will continue to do my best to be a very good council member. ”