Dear Editor,
Charles Andrews has written two pieces since July 31 in which he accuses former mayor Kevin McKeown of writing letters to local newspapers making false claims about the self-anointed “Change Slate” councilmembers. Charles would do well to look in the mirror before making these complaints about Kevin, as he’s been repeatedly pushing a major whopper of his own in the very same pieces: “And let me remind our ex-mayor that the Change Slate is three people, never a majority on a seven-seat Council.”
What universe is Charles living in where Lana Negrete isn’t the fourth Change Slate councilmember? To give just the highlights reel, Lana was nominated for her initial appointment by the Change Slate councilmembers; she voted with them to not investigate a criminal Brown Act leak; in her 2022 election campaign she was endorsed by the other Change Slate councilmembers and backed by the same PACs as supported the rest of them in 2020; and most recently she was on their side when another criminal Brown Act leak occurred that instead of investigating, councilmembers should get to commit unlimited crimes with impunity until the new council is seated in December.
Furthermore, her fellow Change Slate councilmember Christine Parra recently attacked councilmembers Gleam Davis, Caroline Torosis, and Jesse Zwick as being in the “liberal minority” on council. This comment necessitates that Christine recognizes that there’s currently a conservative Change Slate minority on city council constituting herself, Lana, Phil Brock, and Oscar de la Torre.
I’ve seen Phil pushing this same alternative fact about never having had a majority on council on social media. I can only assume that this concerted disinformation campaign is intended as apologetics for Phil and Oscar’s reelection campaigns to cover for the fact that the “Change” majority has failed to accomplish anything of note other than letting crime run amok in city hall and giving us the builder’s remedy.
Jason Mastbaum, Santa Monica
