Editor:
I am stunned by the hypocrisy of the City Council candidates who signed the transparency agreement ("Council candidates steer clear of unknown groups," Aug. 21). It has only been a few weeks since the Daily Press wrote articles about the complete lack of transparency in Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights (SMRR), and that two of the transparency agreement signers got endorsed by SMRR because a secret SMRR steering committee used secret bylaws to circumvent the election of its membership.
The problem in the last city election was that a pro-development PAC impersonated the Santa Monica police union, the Santa Monica firefighters' union, the Community for Excellent Public Schools, and the Santa Monica Democratic Club and sent mailings that lied about the endorsements of those organizations. It is likely that many of the signers of the transparency agreement will be accepting direct, or indirect, financial support from out-of-state corporations, who should have been punished for committing fraud in the 2010 City Council election.
Jeff Segal
Santa Monica
