This letter is in response to the latest falsehood and political attack against my candidacy for Santa Monica City Council. SMMUSD School Board member and candidate Jon Kean alleged that I made an outrageous statement in 2019 which is a lie designed to smear my name and reputation. I never made that remark and have stood up against antisemitism and hate all my life. After five years, why is this being presented to the public for the first time? The alleged comment is so offensive that Mr. Kean would have had a moral and ethical duty to publicly repudiate anyone for making such a comment when it allegedly occurred. No elected official should get a pass for hate of any kind.
Why not bring it up in my re-election to the SM City Council in 2020? Why now? Clearly, it’s a political attack timed to coincide with the religious holiday but is filled with falsehoods aimed at tarnishing my reputation and hurting my candidacy. Moreover, it is irresponsible to use one’s role as an elected official to foment division between groups. I want to set the record straight as to who I am and why I have dedicated my life to public service.
In 1991, I along with every Latino family whose children were enrolled at Santa Monica High School received a hate letter from a group calling themselves the SAMOHI Association For The Advancement of Conservative White Americans. I was 19 years old leading a press conference in front of SM City Hall with residents and Assemblyman Tom Hayden calling for a stepped-up investigation into the largest hate crime ever committed against Latinos and Jews in Santa Monica. The letter made horrible statements against Mexicans and named me personally.
I will forever remember the threat made in the letter: “We’ll gas you like Hitler gassed the Jews.” That hate crime taught me that the ideology of white supremacy will always attempt to divide, oppress and disparage. It also taught me that Latinos and Jews must always stand in solidarity against hate. I saw what that letter did to our community, families were devastated reading the racism, hate and lies. Unfortunately, to this day the hate crime remains unsolved.
This hurtful incident led me to commit my life to fighting racism and hate. In my senior year at Samohi I participated in a life changing retreat sponsored by the National Conference for Christians & Jews that inculcated in me the values that I uphold in fighting for diversity, equity and inclusion. For more than 30 years I have fought tirelessly combating racism, discrimination and hate. In 1999 I worked with Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels to organize a Latino-Jewish Holocaust Remembrance event that we hosted at Saint Anne’s Catholic Church. We organized this event to build solidarity between the Latino and Jewish communities against oppression and discrimination. We discussed historic parallels of oppression such as the Nazi supported Nuremberg Race Laws and the anti-immigrant law Proposition 187 that was approved by California voters in 1994.
Unlike some of my critics, I have worked to bring diverse communities together to deepen our understanding of each other’s culture, history and collective future. In his letter Mr Kean ridicules the alliance I forged between Latinos and Jews in the creation of the Pico Youth & Family Center. I truly believe that leaders should strive to build unity amongst diverse constituents. It is shameful to see a member of the local school board engaging in such divisive tactics to score political points. The students and parents of our community deserve better than what Jon Kean is exhibiting as an elected official.
What is behind this latest political attack by Mr. Kean? Mr. Kean supports the at-large election system within the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District where political power has been concentrated North of Wilshire since the creation of the School District. I on the other hand have advocated for district-based elections within the City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District to ensure that historically marginalized families have an opportunity to have permanent political representation on the school board, city council, rent control board and SMC college board.
It is no surprise that the “establishment City Council candidates” that have been endorsed by Mr. Kean all oppose district-based elections. This is the real problem that Mr. Kean would like to distract from. The fact of the matter is that without adequate political representation SMMUSD has sustained a consistent achievement gap that relegates low income and students of color to an inferior position within our public education system and I have been met with derision by Mr. Kean for being a vocal advocate against institutionalized racism within SMMUSD.
It is hurtful and shameful that Mr. Kean is bringing this false allegation against me now because I am running in opposition to the slate of establishment candidates that he supports. I am running to enhance public safety, and his establishment slate endorses George Gascon in the DA race. I am running to stop LA County’s needle distribution program in our public parks and his chosen slate supports the distribution of needles and meth pipes in our parks. Knowing that most voters in Santa Monica support my campaign for enhanced public safety Jon Kean is using falsehoods to hurt our efforts to continue the progress we are making. The establishment that Jon Kean is loyal to for his own position on the school board cannot defeat us on the merits of our policies or approach, so they deviate into mudslinging, falsehoods and dirty politics.
Oscar de la Torre, Santa Monica City Councilmember
