POLITICS : Ailing Reed Rejects Move to Rename Park for Her

Former Santa Monica mayor and councilwoman Christine Reed responded to efforts to rename Lincoln Park in her honor with the wit and political savvy she demonstrated during her 16 years on the City Council: She declined the honor.

Reed, 51, said she could not in good conscience go along with the “lovely” idea because she had steadfastly opposed renaming parks after people during her years in office. “It would be hypocritical of me,” she said.

Besides, Reed, who is battling cancer, instantly foresaw a political fight over any attempt to honor her.

Such a fight could have come about even though the effort, spearheaded by ally Councilman Robert T. Holbrook, had the approval of her political foes, Mayor Paul Rosenstein and Councilwoman Judy Abdo.

Reed said she is concentrating fully on battling the enemy within her body. Aggravation and pain from a political brouhaha could only interfere.

“I don’t need controversy swarming around me,” said Reed, who is recuperating from brain surgery to remove a golf ball-sized tumor. “It wouldn’t help my goal of getting better.”

But when word spread over the weekend that the proposal was on Tuesday’s council agenda, opposition surfaced at a steering committee meeting of the city’s powerful pro-tenant political organization, Santa Monicans for Renters Rights.

The extent of that opposition is subject to interpretation, though several sources, who requested anonymity, said two council members affiliated with the group were considering opposing the proposal.

Nancy Greenstein, chairwoman of the renters organization, emphasized that group leaders did not oppose naming a city landmark after Reed.

“She’s made a significant contribution to the community,” Greenstein said. “The park would not be the first choice” because Reed’s accomplishments are not associated with it.

But by Monday, Reed said she had heard “from several reliable sources” that members of the renters organization “freaked out” at the prospect of having something “meaningful named after me.”

“I don’t think they would mind naming some alley after me,” she quipped.

Reed was one of Santa Monica’s first environmental activists. She became involved in civic matters in 1971 in a successful effort to block a plan to replace the pier with a causeway that would have led to a 35-story hotel on a fake island in Santa Monica Bay.

Known as a “crazy environmentalist” by a City Council then run by the Chamber of Commerce, Reed later found herself labeled a conservative after candidates affiliated with the rent control movement gained a majority on the council in 1981.

Ironically, Reed was defeated for reelection in 1990 after being attacked as pro-development, then lost a bid to serve in the state Assembly in 1992.

Her four terms totaling 16 years on the council set a record, and it was this public service that Holbrook said he wanted to honor.

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Santa Monica City Manager John Jalili said he considers Reed’s approach to civic matters “refreshing.”

“She has the guts to step in when something is unpopular,” he said.

Reed did so again just this week in a long letter urging the council to impose a new fee on property owners to pay for storm water treatment. In that letter, Reed asked the council to withdraw the proposal for Reed Park, suggesting that, if they insisted on the gesture, they choose something more modest.

At the meeting, Holbrook withdrew the proposal from the agenda, choking up as he recounted Reed’s accomplishments--including her early service on the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission.

Lincoln Park--named after the street, not the president--is across the street from St. Monica’s, the Roman Catholic church that Reed has attended since she was a child, Holbrook said.

Though his plan for the park fell through, Holbrook had another suggestion for those who want to pay tribute to Reed.

“She needs our affection and prayers for a complete recovery,” he said.