SANTA MONICA—On Tuesday, December 8, City Clerk Denise Anderson-Warren certified Santa Monica’s 2020 election results and swore in Councilmembers Christine Parra, Oscar de la Torre, Gleam Davis, and Phil Brock for four-year terms as well as Councilmember Kristin McCowan for a two-year term. Sue Himmelrich was selected by the newly installed Santa Monica City Council to serve a two-year term as Santa Monica’s mayor.
“We have an opportunity to move our community forward past this deadly virus, past our differences, and toward a future that we can all be proud of and one that reflects the best of who we are as Santa Monicans. I look forward to doing the hard work ahead with my colleagues and to opening lines of two-way communication with community members at a time when connection is harder than ever,” said Mayor Sue Himmelrich in a statement.
Mayor Sue Himmelrich joined the city council in 2014 and was re-elected in 2018. She will be taking the place of Outgoing Mayor Kevin McKeown. McCowan was also selected as mayor pro tempore for a two-year term.
“Members of our community have supported each other through a truly challenging year, and we must commit to each other’s health and safety for another few months until we all have access to COVID vaccines. Being your Mayor this year has been difficult, certainly, but a great honor. Based on the work we’ve done together, Santa Monica is poised for resurgence as the pandemic recedes and the economy recovers. Led by a new Council and a new Mayor, we will discover a reinvented Santa Monica that proves our commitment and our resilience,” stated outgoing Mayor Kevin McKeown in a statement.
As part of the 2020 election certification, Caroline M. Torosisand and Anastasia Foster will return to the Rent Control Board. Jen Smith will join Maria Leon-Vazquez and Jon Kean as the newest member of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board. Rob Rader, Margaret Quinones-Perez, and Susan Amanoff will stay on the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees. Measure SM which will increase the real estate transfer tax paid on property sales over $5 million to fund City services was certified, as well as Measure AB, which will allow for advance equity-based hiring.
