Sierra Club Endorses Four Candidates for Santa Monica City Council

For immediate release                                                

Sierra Club Endorses Four Candidates for Santa Monica City Council:  

Richard McKinnon, Ted Winterer, John C. Smith and Terry O’Day

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012, Santa Monica, CA…Sierra Club has announced its endorsements for the Santa Monica City Council election, to be held this November in conjunction with the U.S. Presidential election.  The venerable environmental organization, which has endorsed in previous City Council elections for many years, and after an exhaustive and complete process, has selected current Santa Monica Planning Commissioners Richard McKinnon and Ted Winterer, City Council incumbent Terry O’Day and what Club leaders refer to as “a refreshing, strong and clear voice for the environment,” John C. Smith, who had been a leader in the organization in the 1990s in the effort to protect the Ballona Wetlands from being completely displaced under a sea of concrete and development.

“Out of the 15 candidates and after interviewing 9 of those who completed questionnaires for consideration for endorsement, we believe these candidates best reflect the ideals of Sierra Club that John Muir would be proud of and who can lead the City of Santa Monica in its next stage of being a truly green city,” stated Darrell Clarke, a former Santa Monica  Planning Commissioner who is also a former chair of the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter and is currently co-chair of the national Sierra Club’s “Beyond Oil” campaign.

Pollution and health concerns caused by Santa Monica Airport, overdevelopment and traffic issues, regional wildlife protection (including Santa Monica’s continuing partnership with Sierra Club on protection of the Ballona Wetlands), leading-edge sustainability, energy & water conservation, and tree-protection in the city were some of the significant issues the candidates discussed with Sierra Club leaders and which appear to have emerged as some of the central issues in the election campaigns, according to Marcia Hanscom, a former member of Sierra Club’s national Board of Directors and a member of the Club’s Political Committee for the Angeles Chapter.

“We are heartened to see that important environmental issues are being discussed throughout the city, and we are confident that some of Santa Monica’s serious overdevelopment issues, Ballona Wetlands wildlife protection and pollution concerns related to the Santa Monica Airport will be addressed properly by the Santa Monica City Council if our chosen endorsed candidates are elected,” stated Hanscom.

As a resident of Sunset Park, which is directly in the airport’s flight path, as well as serving as a cut-through traffic thoroughfare, long-time community leader and Sierra Club Airport Marina Group Conservation Chair Kathy Knight is especially concerned about this election.

“This is one of the most important elections the City of Santa Monica has had in a long time; we believe that if our endorsed candidates are elected, they will provide the leadership to get the city back on track and focused on protecting our quality of life and nature in the city.  My neighbors and I are very concerned about the increased influence of developers and how big construction projects have overshadowed the neighborhoods.  We urge everyone to get out and vote for McKinnon, Winterer, Smith and O’Day,” stated Knight.

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