Hometown Hero: Senator Barbara Boxer. American Voter.

Barbara Boxer stood at a makeshift podium in the sand at Santa Monica Beach this past Saturday. Santa Monica Mayor Bobby Shriver stood by her side, along with Councilman Bob Holbrook, Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, actors Hector Elizondo and Valerie Harper, small business owner Richard Chacker, and Sierra Club Western Director Bill Cocoran. The blue of the Pacific sparkled in the California sun.

Senator Boxer talked about her mother’s reverence for voting and about being a little girl and going with her mother into the voting booth. “She’d take me by the hand and we’d go to vote. She would pull the black curtain around the booth. It was so exciting and mysterious and my mother said, ‘Honey, this is what it means to be an American. You have a vote and it’s private.’ And then my mother made a little joke and said, ‘So don’t even tell Daddy how I voted.’

“When my mother passed away I found her citizenship papers and I knew it was a message from my mother about how important it was to her to be an American.”

In startling contrast, Scripps News, in an August 2009 story asks if Senator Boxer's opponent, Republican Carly Fiorina, "passes the Citizenship 101 test? Fiorina, has a spotty California voting record and never cast a ballot in two other states where she lived, according to public records." In June 2009 the San Francisco Chronicle reported that "Fiorina had voted in just five of 18 national, state and local elections in which she was eligible to cast a ballont since she registered in Santa Clara County in 2000, according to public records."

Barbara Boxer not only votes, she leads. Her understanding of the issues was essential to her endorsement by the Editorial Board of the LA Times “for values promoted by this editorial page: individual rights, equality, environmental protection and constructive engagement by the federal government with national economic problems, including the crisis in healthcare.”

To the great benefit of Santa Monica, Boxer understands the crucial environmental issues of our times. She has led the fight to make sure that there is no offshore oil drilling. Boxer was strategic in securing funding for: the South Bay Water Recycling Project, land acquisition in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, land acquisition of the Upper Ramirez Canyon in the Santa Monica National Recreation Area, and the purchase of 15,000 acres to help complete the Backbone trail for the Santa Monica National Recreation Area. (For a more complete LA area list go to Project List)

Her opponent has commented on Boxer’s hair, saying it is “so yesterday.” Boxer says, “It is her policies that are ‘so yesterday.’ My opponent says she wants to drill. We went back through the decades to find the last United States Senator, either Democratic or Republican who wanted to drill off our coast. It takes you back to the ‘80s and S.I. Hayakawa. My opponent wants to repeal the ban on assault weapons. The assault weapons ban was passed by the State of California in the ‘80s."

Pointing to our beautiful beach Boxer said, “From Humboldt Bay to San Diego, ocean-related tourism, recreation, and fishing generates a $23 billion economy for California every year and 400,000 jobs. So if anybody, any candidate for office says to you that they are for jobs, but yet they are for drilling off our coast, they have launched an attack on 400,000 jobs. They have launched an attack on our health.

“You know what, I want to see the words ‘Made in America’ again, don’t you? My opponent wants to keep the tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas just as she did at HP. I want to see clean energy technologies made in America, for America, exported all over the world. And I want to say goodbye to those countries that don’t like us that are taking a billion dollars a day for oil.

“You’re known by the people you walk with, right? I walk with you. My opponent walks with Sarah Palin; my opponent walks with Karl Rove. My opponent walks with the far right and with big oil and dirty coal. And my opponent is the only major statewide candidate to endorse Prop 23. "

Barbara also has another quality, the quality of compassion. Barbara told a story of a letter she received from a 91 year old Californian, enclosed was a check for $25, saying this was the last check she could send this year. She wanted Barbara to know she was praying for Barbara and for the President. Her address and phone number were under her signature.

Barbara called her to thank her and told her to watch the new TV ads as she thought they would make her feel good. The woman told her she had an ‘80’s Zenith TV that had stopped working. Barbara sent her a new TV.

Issues matter. Compassion matters. Barbara Boxer has earned our trust and our respect with her principled leadership on behalf of California. Barbara Boxer, my candidate for U.S. Senate and, I hope, your candidate as well.

photo credit: Maureen O’Sullivan

What Say You? Hometown Forum: An Evening with City Council Candidates

The ideal of democracy was expressed in real time on Monday night at the Martin Luther King Auditorium in the Santa Monica Main Library. City Council candidates, a field of 15 for 5 seats, answered questions the Santa Monica Mirror had solicited from the community at large and from neighborhood and local business associations.

Mark Gold, of Heal the Bay, asked if Santa Monica could have a self-reliant water supply which he believes would save money and be protective of ecosystems. Candidates Ted Winterer, Kevin McKeown and Terry O’Day, in their responses, said, “yes”, showed their knowledge of the Santa Monica water system and their commitment to sustainability and the environment with their proposals for water self-reliance, storm water infiltration and water conservation.

Santa Monica resident Dana Cleasby asked the candidates if they would support expanding the network of parks in the City. There was a united chorus of support. Santa Monicans love their parks and are rightfully proud of them and Council candidates are Santa Monicans. Candidate Pam O’Connor showed her support and understanding of the park system by including the concept of a network of green streets and the vision of the “City As Park.” Ted Winterer talked about community benefits and fees from development as reasonable sources of funds.

Budget questions highlighted differences between candidates. Candidate Gleam Davis strongly supports Measures “Y” and “YY” saying that Santa Monica residents have high expectations for City services and for City support for education and that the only way we have to ensure that those expectations can be met is for the measures to pass.

Opposition to Measure “Y” came from Candidate Susan Hartley. She expressed her commitment to using City funds to support education but had objections to the language and structure of the measures and stated she would look for other ways to provide funding for education.

Pam O’Connor said that was why it was so important to have transparency in the budget and the budget process, people had to be able to see what had been cut already, what would be at risk if the measures didn’t pass.

Candidates Jean McNeil Wyner, Daniel Cody and Jon Louis Mann also oppose the measures and thought any necessary cuts could be made by actions such as cuts in city staff salaries and other city expenses.

Candidate Bob Holbrook stated that there would have to be choices made between services and fees and he thought it was important these measures be on the ballot –so the voters could express their will.

As questions were asked and answered, candidates demonstrated knowledge and caring. It was wonderful to see the generosity each showed by their willingness to run and to serve. It also became clear Gleam Davis, Bob Holbrook, Kevin McKeown, Pam O’Connor, Terry O’Day and Ted Winterer had the stronger command and the greater breadth of knowledge of the issues before the City.

But having many candidates and many points of view made the discussion sharper and the issues clearer. Susan Hartley combined a lawyer’s attention to detail with her understanding of the budget and a compelling, common sense approach. We could all benefit from Jon Louis Mann’s suggestion for citywide wifi. Jean McNeil Wyner’s idea of having seniors ride free on the Big Blue Bus is an idea that should be carefully considered. Daniel Cody, David Ganezer and Robert Kronovet are all concerned about excessive intrusion of City bureaucracy into business. My local business friends tell me that is a concern City decision makers need to hear. Terence Later talked about the importance of community work. Linda Armstrong’s focus on helping the homeless population out of homelessness is a long-standing and on-going issue in Santa Monica. Jerry Rubin’s advocacy for trees and the urban forest have already made an important contribution to the City.

The questions the Mirror received reflected a shared understanding of what Santa Monicans care about. Education, the importance of taking care of our children, consideration and opportunities for our large senior population, transparency in budget and government decision making, staying on track with our new parks, protecting our neighborhoods, creating real alternatives to traffic congestion, relations between City Hall and City residents, sustainability, environmental stewardship, local businesses, the future of the Santa Monica Airport, the role of development. In their answers the candidates drew on a commonality of Santa Monica, its character, history, and ethos.

We, at the Mirror, want to do our part to support the democratic discussion. The full video of the Hometown Forum is available on the Mirror website. www.smmiror.com Candidate profiles and other election stories are also on the Mirror website at www.smmirror.com Who will you vote for and why? We welcome your comments on the candidates and the election. Send your comments to election@smmirror.com.

I say, VOTE. It’s your city, your right and your responsibility.

What Say You?

Contact Susan Cloke

opinion@smmirror.com