Santa Monica’s New Liberal Majority Elects Zane Mayor

Members of the liberal Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights political faction, back in power on the City Council after a 4-year interlude, elected two of their own to the posts of mayor and mayor pro tem Tuesday night.

To no one’s surprise, former schoolteacher Dennis Zane, 41, was elected unanimously to a 2-year term as mayor after an attempt by the three moderate council members to elect Councilman Herb Katz failed by a 4-3 vote.

A subsequent attempt to reelect Katz as mayor pro tem also failed when the liberal faction voted instead for another one of its members, Councilman David Finkel.

Katz, the leading vote-getter on Nov. 8, said he was disappointed at not being elected mayor pro tem.

“I didn’t expect to be elected mayor,” he said. “But I am disappointed at not being elected mayor pro tem. I’m mostly disappointed for the voters who supported me. I think they would have wanted it that way.”

Denies Snub

Zane, however, said Finkel’s election as mayor pro tem was neither a snub of Katz nor a show of power by the new majority.

“The office has traditionally been awarded to the senior city council member who has not been mayor or mayor pro tem,” said Zane, who was elected to his third term on the council earlier this month.

Newly elected Councilwoman Judy Abdo echoed Zane’s views, but acknowledged that Finkel’s political affiliation played some part in his election.

“Well, he was elected because he’s part of the majority,” she said, adding that Finkel and Zane will both “work very hard to include all the members of the council.”

Veteran Councilwoman Christine Reed, one of the three rival council members, was skeptical.

“I’ve been here before with a (Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights) majority and it was contentious,” she said. “I’m hopeful that it won’t be as contentious this time, but it remains to be seen.”

Tuesday’s installation of Zane and new council members Abdo, a longtime community organizer, and Ken Genser, a youth hostel development coordinator and former planning commissioner, gave Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights its first majority on the seven-member council since 1984.

The moderate All Santa Monica Coalition won the majority that year, then lost it in 1986 when the rival factions came out of the November elections with an equal number of council seats. Independent Alan Katz held the seventh seat.

Katz announced his retirement early this year, opening the way for Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights to restore its majority by winning three of the four open council seats on Nov. 8.

But the top vote-getter was rival Councilman Herb Katz, a politically moderate architect who was affiliated with the now-disbanded All Santa Monica Coalition.

He hoped his strong showing at the polls would persuade his rivals to share their power, symbolically at least, by electing him mayor pro tem.

It did not.

Zane, however, said residents can expect the new council to work together to solve problems such as overdevelopment, traffic, and pollution in Santa Monica Bay.

“We will be an activist government,” he said. “But we will be a responsible government and an even-handed and fair government.”

Zane succeeds former Mayor James Conn, a Renters’ Rights council member who did not seek reelection this fall.

Conn, a Methodist minister, has been credited by some with reducing much of the bitterness and tension between the business community and those favoring progressive city policies toward rental housing and development.

Some of Zane’s opponents said they fear a liberal majority and mayor on the council will lead to a renewing of these tensions.

But Zane said he intends to follow Conn’s lead in trying to work cooperatively with everyone in the city.

“Jim, I think, set a standard for accessibility that I will replicate,” he said. “Jim also set a standard for civility. The council has really become a collection of energetic, opinioned and thoughtful people and my job is to try to get the most out of all of them.”