Aranda Runs for Santa Monica City Council Despite dogged determination and unceasing effort, Josefina Aranda did not finish in the top three for three seats on election day.by Kevin McKeown Santa Monica, with two Greens already leading its City Council (then-Mayor Mike Feinstein and Mayor pro tem Kevin McKeown), tried for a third Green seat in November. Thirty-year-old city native and Latina teacher/activist Josefina Aranda, daughter of a bus driver and a janitor but newly credentialed with a Master’s degree from Columbia University, campaigned as a Green to be the first Councilmember in half a century from Santa Monica’s ethnically diverse Pico Neighborhood. Despite sharing the same ballot with McKeown’s reelection and the Living Wage ordinance he helped author, meant to help working class families in Santa Monica’s affluent tourism industry, Aranda was denied the crucial endorsements of the living wage and renters’ rights coalitions. At the deciding convention in August, Aranda was out-gunned by a Democrat whose supporters cast almost fifty “bullet” votes. Aranda’s considerable credentials were acknowledged, however, with ringing endorsements from the Sierra Club, the National Women’s Political Caucus, and Southern California Americans for Democratic Action. McKeown was endorsed by the police, fire and teachers’ unions, as well as the Sierra Club, the A.D.A., the County Federation of Labor AFL-CIO and Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights.  Running a less than perfectly unified campaign behind McKeown and two Democrats, labor and renters sent voters a confusing message. On the one hand, their spokespeople openly criticized Aranda for being Green. On the other, they strongly backed McKeown, a very vocal and visible member of the Green Party of the United States national committee who showed up at campaign events in his electric hybrid car with the license plate, “GRN VOTR”.
Other members of the City Council progressive majority released statements questioning what they called an “inappropriate” endorsement of a more pro-growth candidate compared to Aranda. Observers saw the rejection of the Green Party’s Aranda -- young, Latina, and from a working class family -- as favoring developers rather than diversity. L.A. County’s Westside Greens local ran an ambitious and effective precinct operation for Aranda, McKeown and the Green Party state slate. Volunteers fanned out daily to drop candidate literature and the state campaign newspaper. In selected precincts, bilingual walkers made personal contact and verified yes votes for Aranda and the other Greens. Both Aranda and McKeown offered voters online access to their positions. Aranda’s campaign website is www.votejosefina.com. McKeown’s is www.mckeown.net, and includes links to video interviews on major campaign issues. As part of the Green Party’s “Peace Weekend” in September, the Westside Greens organized a “Peace at the Beach” march and speakers’ rally on the Santa Monica Pier. In October McKeown also spoke on behalf of the Green Party to thousands gathered at a “Not In Our Name” anti-war protest outside the Los Angeles Federal Building in Westwood. Both Aranda and McKeown had strong direct mail campaigns through The Gilpin Group of Seattle, who have consulted winning Green campaigns in the past. Fundraising was difficult for first-timer Aranda. McKeown spent almost $35,000 from about 350 grass-roots supporters, including many Greens, with no corporate donations. On Election Day, Greens stood waving McKeown and Aranda campaign signs at major Santa Monica intersections. Despite dogged determination and unceasing effort, Josefina Aranda did not finish in the top three for three seats on election day. Neither, however, did the Democrat chosen by labor instead of Aranda. McKeown was fewer than 200 votes from being top vote-getter in the field of nine, over 2000 votes ahead of the third-place finisher, also an incumbent. Precinct returns showed that Aranda’s strong campaign had buoyed McKeown as well, particularly in the ethnic precincts of the Pico neighborhood. What’s more, the “Green Party slate” campaign mounted by the Westside Greens had doubled the vote for Peter Camejo and most of the state slate compared to the rest of L.A. County. In Santa Monica, with 2% registered Green, Camejo polled almost 9%. After the election, Aranda was appointed unanimously to Santa Monica’s Pier governance board. A Democrat denied McKeown the Mayor’s seat many had thought he would take, but he was reelected Mayor pro tem, and the Green on Santa Monica’s Rent Control Board, Jeff Sklar, was elected vice-chair. Besides McKeown, Sklar and Feinstein, and Aranda on the Pier board, there are now almost ten other Greens on various Santa Monica Boards and Commissions. In 2004, there will be four seats open on the City Council, not just three, and Santa Monica Greens will be ready.
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