SANTA MONICA—For over a century now the Kennedy family has been involved in public service and politics all across the nation. On Tuesday night at the Santa Monica City Council meeting, representative Bobby Shriver, who lives in the city, was appointed mayor on a 4 to 3 vote. Shriver, who is the nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy and the late Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, is 56-years-old. He replaces Mayor Pro Tem Pam O’Connor, who was appointed temporarily to assume the mayoral duties after Ken Genser, then Santa Monica mayor, became ill in October. Mayor Genser died in January.

Mayor Shriver’s term will run through November of this year, when five of the seven city council members (not including Shriver) will be up for reelection. After the November election, another vote for mayor will have to be taken from the new board at the first council meeting in November.

Shriver has been a resident of Santa Monica for many years and was first elected to the city council in 2004. He became well known for fighting City Hall over the hedge heights regulations they had on the books. Garnering the most votes of that year of any Santa Monica councilman, he won reelection four years later. During his elections he has counted on two family stalwarts that will not be able to help him this time around. They include his mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who founded Special Olympics, and her younger brother and Mayor Shriver’s uncle, Senator Edward Moore (Ted) Kennedy. Shriver is also the elder brother of California’s First Lady Maria O. Shriver.

Shriver has spoken recently of his plans as mayor, which include to continue his effort to free up unoccupied buildings on the West Los Angles Veterans Affairs campus as housing for the homeless veterans. Santa Monica has the highest population of homeless vets in Los Angeles County.