The field is set for the City of Santa Monica’s municipal election.
Nominations for the City Council, Rent Control Board and Santa Monica College board ended last week but the deadline for the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District board was extended to 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 17 as at least one incumbent did not file. At the close of the day, four residents filed paperwork to compete for three seats.
Phil Brock, Jason Feldman, Jon Kean, Maria Leon-Vazquez (incumbent), Ralph Mechur (incumbent) and Paul Whitehead all pulled paperwork to run. However, Brock and Whitehead did not file by the deadline.
Brock’s potential run for school board was a surprise as he had been expected to make a second run for City Council. When he pulled papers for the school board, he said his heart had always been in education and he wanted to find a way to extend the work he’d done with the City’s Recreation and Parks Commission. He was appointed to the City’s Arts Commission earlier this week.
Feldman, Kean, Leon-Vazquez and Mechur returned paperwork last week. Kean, Leon-Vazquez and Mechur have already qualified. Feldman returned paperwork on Aug. 12, the initial deadline for all candidate qualifications countywide.
As it’s the County’s job to check signatures and their employees are working through the wave of statements returned last week, officials said it could take several more days before Feldman’s paperwork is processed.
Ballot order for all candidates will be determined by a random drawing by the State on Aug. 18. Officers at the California Secretary of State’s office randomly draw letters of the alphabet to determine the ballot order. If “Y” is the first letter drawn, candidates with last names that begin with “Y” will be listed first with subsequent letters drawn for subsequent positions.
Residents that decide to run for office after the nomination period can still do so through the write-in process. Qualification requirements for a write-in candidate are identical to those on the ballot. Potential candidates must pick up a packet from the City Clerk’s office, gather at least 100 signatures from registered voters and pay a registration fee. However, write-in candidates’ names will not appear on the actual ballot.
The write-in nomination period runs from Sept. 12 to Oct. 25.
With the candidate field set, the election calendar focuses on arguments for ballot measures. Arguments and rebuttals for the Land Use Voter Empowerment measure have already been submitted as have arguments for/against the City’s proposed tax increase and revisions to the City’s anti-corruption laws.
Rebuttals to the arguments for the tax and ethics measures are due on Aug. 22.
Applications to vote by mail are due by Oct. 10 and Oct. 24 is the last day to register to vote.
The City Clerk’s office will host several voter registration drives at the Farmers Market in October. Workers will be at the Downtown market on Oct. 19 and 22. They will also be at the Main Street market on Oct. 23.
For a comprehensive election calendar and additional information, visit www.smvote.org.
