Alan Katz to Face Santa Monica Voters in Fall City Council Race

Santa Monica City Councilman Alan S. Katz will not have to run for reelection until November even if apartment owners qualify a local initiative for the June ballot, according to City Atty. Robert M. Myers.

Some city officials had said that Katz, who was appointed in October to fill the unexpired term of the late Councilman Ken Edwards, would have to run for the post in June if the apartment owners forced a special election.

But Myers said that, under the City Charter, Katz is not required to run until the November general municipal election when Mayor Christine E Reed and Councilmen David G. Epstein and William H. Jennings face reelection.

Katz welcomed the decision, saying it gives him more time to raise funds and prove himself to the voters.

Apartment owners in a group known as ACTION (A Coalition to Insure Owners’ Needs) are gathering signatures for a measure that will permit them to charge unlimited rents on vacant apartments, which is currently prohibited under the city’s rent control law. They must gather 6,000 signatures by the end of February to have the measure considered for the June ballot.