THE LOW-DOWN ON THE TOWN Impudent, uncensored account By C. Castle

Vazquez Vies for Assembly Seat

From Santa Monica City Council to the Assembly -- with a mighty long break in
between -- Tony Vazquez is in the race for the 41sst Assembly District.

Vazquez, who has been in Mexico for several days with family members after the recent death of his younger brother, Pete, has formed an exploratory committee. Sources say, however, that Vazquez is more than exploring - he has pretty much decided to run.

The 41st Assembly seat became a wide open opportunity once rumor spread that
Sen. Tom Hayden, who had eyed the district, had decided to run in the 42nd instead. Some political insiders say Hayden, who will have to move into the 42nd district in order to run, thought he had a better chance in the more Democratic district.

Vazquez, a member of SMRR who ran on the organization's ticket, is likely to gain the group's support. The issue for Vazquez is what else he brings to the race.

Vazquez served as Mayor Pro Tem in the early 1990's, but his political career in Santa Monica came to an abrupt end in 1994, when the police union attacked him in hit pieces and derailed his campaign. After that, Vazquez kept a low local profile, rarely attending city council meetings, rarely speaking out on issues.

Behind the scenes, however, Vazquez was working. He staffed the district office for now-Senator Richard Alarcon when the lawmaker was on the Los Angeles City Council. And he has organized voter registration drives for Southwest Voter Registration Education Project - the Latino voter registration group credited in large part with Alarcon's victory over Richard Katz.

Indeed, his affiliation with Southwest Voter could only help Vazquez - although, in a district like the 41st, Vazquez will need more than Latino voter support to win the seat. Sources say he already has the backing of several unions and they point out that he was popular with homeowners groups in Santa Monica during his time on the council - support he will look for again.

His can expect hefty competition from David Freeman, director of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and a known environmentalist; Fran Pavley, a former mayor of Agoura Hills and former member of the California Coastal Commision and attorney Ed Tabash. Both Freeman and Pavley came knocking last weekend and looking for Santa Monica's support when they showed up at SMRR's annual convention. Flattering, but it would be hard to imagine SMRR turning its back on one of its own.

A victory for Vazquez would make him the first Latino Assembly member ever elected on the Westside.

A Curious Bench Debate
The quips were cute when councilmembers talked Tuesday about cuddling on bus
benches. Funny as they were, however, the comments reflected an interesting shift in Santa Monica politics.

The discussion on the dais began as a reflection on bus bench styles after Council member Michael Feinstein said he opposed a proposal to install benches that have ready-made seat dividers. The dividers, he said, make romantic cuddling difficult - a comment that encouraged a few giggles in the audience.

The follow-up's from Councilmembers Kevin Mckeown, Ken Genser and Paul
Rosenstein were even funnier.

What never came up, however, is that bus benches with dividers make it impossible for people - namely, homeless people - to lie down. What better way to discourage sleeping in public than installing benches with wrought iron arm rests that break-up horizontal comfort?

Of course, one could argue that the opposition to the bus benches was there on the council. The thing is, a discussion about the impact on Santa Monica's homeless population was not - and that's exactly where the discussion would have been five years ago.