Without a doubt, one of the more popcorn moments from Tuesday’s City Council meeting was the annual appointment voting to the boards and commissions within the City of Santa Monica. One of the most notable was with regards to the three positions available on the Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. (DTSM) board of directors.
In what really could only be described as a disorganized circus, members of council wrestled over the nomination and voting process for the three key council-appointed positions on the DTSM board of directors.
The nominees were Peter Trinh, Ericka Lesley (both incumbents) plus Kurt Isensee, Natasha Rusler, Jon Farzam, Berta Negari, Hudson Maudlin, Michelle Cardiel, Hodge Patterson, Andrea Salerno and Albin Gielicz.
Vice Mayor Lana Negrete first nominated Farzam, Councilmember Caroline Torosis nominated Lesley and Councilmember Oscar De la Torre nominated Trinh. However, in the first round of voting, De la Torre voted for Farzam, Torosis stuck by Lesley, Negrete also voted for Farzam, Councilmember Gleam Davis voted for Lesley, Councilmember Christine Parra voted for Farzam, Councilmember Jesse Zwick voted for Lesley and Mayor Phil Brock voted for Farzam. Consequently, in a vote along political lines, Farzam was appointed by a vote of 4-3.
In the next round, for the second seat, Torosis once again nominated Lesley, Negrete nominated Negari and Zwick nominated Patterson. De la Torre voted for Negari, along with Negrete, Brock and Parra, Torosis stuck with Lesley, while Davis and Zwick voted for Patterson. Thus Negari won 4-3. Then Zwick changed his vote, so the record will reflect a 5-2 victory.
Once more confusion had been overcome, the final round of voting for the third position began. Zwick nominated Trinh, Torosis once again nominated Lesley and De la Torre nominated Cardiel. Negrete was going to nominate Gielicz, but he required five votes since he’s a registered lobbyist, so that was out of the question. De la Torre voted for Cardiel, along with Negrete, Parra and Brock. Torosis stuck with Lesley and both Davis and Zwick voted for Trinh.
As such the three new, council-appointed seats on the Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. board go to Jon Farzam, Berta Negari and Michelle Cardiel.
Speaking to the Daily Press, Negrete said regarding her nomination for John Farzam, "He’s a hotel operator in the downtown area and we haven’t had one on the board yet. He’s also positive and has been wanting to be collaborative about helping our downtown area be clean and safe and see economic rebirth."
The results of the other boards and commissions votes were:
Airport Commission, one position available between Joseph Pertel (incumbent) and David Hopkins. Pertel won 7-0.
Architectural Review Board, two positions available between Craig Hamilton, Barbara Kaplan (both incumbents) and Howard Laks. Hamilton won 7-0 and Kaplan also won 7-0.
Arts Commission, two positions available between Ana Boghosian, Julia Carnahan, Bryan Carrigan, Elizabeth Dubelman, Kara Fox, Susan Jain, William Kairala, David Kaplan, Eric Warren, Laurie K. Yehia (incumbent). Both Yehia and Jain won with a vote of 7-0.
Building & Fire-Life Safety, four positions available, between Blair Calderhead, Tim Koutsouros, Charles Whitaker (all incumbents) and Tonia George. Each by a unanimous vote of 7-0.
Commission on Sustainability, Environmental Justice & the Environment, two positions available between Judy Abdo, Mark Gold (incumbent), David Lappen, Gerda Newbold, Ashley Oelsen, Olivia Walker. Council voted between Walker and Newbold and after some vote changing, Walker wins 7-0 along with Oelsen.
Disabilities Commission, three positions available, between Nasreen Asaria, Matthew Susman (both incumbents) Anya Baroff, Nancy Gordon, Zoë Muntaner, Paul Squire. Following some disorganization, changing of votes and nominations, Asaria, Susman and Gordon ultimately win 7-0.
Housing Commission, one position available, between Lydia Garcia, Timothy Gudgel, Edmund Ha, Shane Hixon, Lynda Rush, Analise Wells (incumbent). Brock nominated Wells and she was elected 7-0.
Human Services Commission, two positions available between Bruce Leddy, Tamara Kagel (both incumbents), Kevin Glover, Mark Jaffe, Maxine Koza and Zoë Muntaner. Torosis moved that both incumbents be selected and that passed unanimously 7-0.
Landmarks Commission, two positions available between Grant Keller, Jodi Summers (incumbent). A significant amount of confusion followed this seemingly simple equation because of the qualifications required for each position. Needless to say, Summers remains on the commission as the requirements weren’t met for the second role.
Metropolitan Water District, one position available, with Mark Gold vying for it. This passed unanimously 7-0. A similar situation unfolded for the Personnel Board , which also had just one position open with Dirk Van de Bunt applying for the role. He too secured the position with a vote of 7-0.
Planning Commission, two seats available between Leslie Lambert, Ellis Raskin (both incumbents) Peer Chacko, Al Dram, Jacob Wasserman. Torosis nominated Raskin and Brock nominated Lambert. Changing her mind following a 6-1 vote, Lambert ultimately won 7-0. For the second seat, no one scored four votes in the first round. As such a second attempt was made. Davis nominated Wasserman and Negrete nominated Chacko. De la Torre voted for Chacko as did Brock, Torosis voted for Wasserman as did Zwick and in a vote down political lines once again, Chacko won the seat, removing City Council contender Ellis Raskin from the role.
Public Safety Reform & Oversight Commission, two seats available between Manju Raman, Brian Stedge-Stroud (both incumbents), Xavier Banister, Stuart Graber, James Kennedy, Zoë Muntaner and Donald Singer. Torosis moved that both incumbents remain and that passed by a vote of 7-0.
Recreation & Parks Commission, three seats were available between Steven W. Johnson, Maryanne LaGuardia (both incumbents) Nikki Kolhoff, Jaleh Mirhashemi, Greg Morena and Larry Arreola. Brock nominated LaGuardia, who needed a minimum of five votes and instead received seven. In the second round, Negrete nominated Morena and that too passed unanimously 7-0. The third round saw De la Torre nominate Kolhoff, Torosis nominate Johnson and Negrete nominate Mirhashemi. Zwick and Davis voted for Johnson while Parra and Brock voted for Mirhashemi. However, since no one received four votes, another round was needed. Torosis once again nominated Johnson and Negrete nominated Mirhashemi. Zwick, Davis voted for Johnson, Parra voted Mirhashemi and in a refreshing break from voting along political lines, Brock joined De la Torre in voting for Johnson. After which, both Negrete and Parra changed their vote to Johnson so that the record would reflect a 7-0 win.
Library Board had one seat available between Daniel Cody, Nick Flaig, Dan Hugh-Jones. Brock nominated Cody and with no others, he secured the seat with a vote of 7-0.
Finally, the Santa Monica Pier Corporation had three seats available between Christopher Foster, Jeff Jarow and Randi Parent (all incumbents) Julieta Giner, Greg Morena and David Newberg. In the first round, De la Torre nominated Giner and Brock nominated Foster. Torosis, Negrete, Davis, Parra, Zwick voted for Giner, who won the seat 6-1. However, Brock changed his vote so that the record will reflect a 7-0 victory.
In the second round, Brock once again nominated Foster (who requires five votes to secure a third term) and Torosis nominated Parent. De la Torre, Parra, Negrete and Brock all voted for Foster while Davis, Zwick voted for Parent. However, five votes were not counted, so another round was required. Needless to say this resulted in a circus. It was decided that a simple vote would be taken to see if Foster could get five votes. Torosis voted no as did Davis and Zwick, so he could not.
In the next round, Negrete nominated Parent. Parra nominated Newberg. De la Torre voted Parent, before everything descended into chaos once again. Torosis wasn’t sure who she was voting for but ultimately opted for Parent, who was chosen on a unanimous vote of 7-0.
In the final round, Negrete nominated Newberg and Torosis nominated Jarow. De la Torre, Parra and Brock voted for Newberg, Davis and Zwick voted for Jarow, which meant that the seat, in a somewhat unexpected fashion went to Newberg and Jarow lost out, 4-3 along political lines.
