On his way to the airport to attend the first National Convention of the officially certified Green Party in Philadelphia this week, National Committee member Kevin McKeown talked about saving one of Santa Monica's older landmarks, the Aero Theater on Montana Avenue. Built in 1939 by Douglas Aircraft to provide an entertainment outlet for their workers, the city's last neighborhood theater has been struggling financially for years. In concert with property owner Jim Rosenfield and the theater's operator, Chris Allen, McKeown, the Mayor Pro Tem of Santa Monica, is working energetically offstage to put together a package that will keep the Aero open. For several years, saving the theater has been a favorite project for McKeown, who is delivering a major Green Party address this afternoon on the virtues of the Living Wage Ordinance.

"We aren't working against anyone," McKeown told the Bay Week. "Rosenfield, Allen, everyone who is involved is committed to making the Aero a success." Rosenfield has taken losses to keep the relic, a single-screen, 550-seater open, McKeown said.

Since there are not rival factions, and everyone from present ownership to the Montana Avenue Merchants Assn., to individual residents agrees that the Aero must live, there is no doubt that it will, said McKeown. He is convinced that emotional support and committed business persons will trump limited parking.

At the monthly meeting of the Wilshire Montana Neighborhood Assn., last Saturday, Councilman McKeown, former chair of the group, asked the audience of about 75 how many of them loved the Aero Theater.

Every hand shot up.

But when he asked how many had seen a move at the Aero in the last 30 days, only four arms were raised.

And that presented a handy segue for McKeown into his topic, inspiring residents to become more involved.

As a longtime resident of the most heavily populated neighborhood on the Westside, McKeown seeks to make his point by his physical presence all around town and by the pro-worker content of his messages.

To show how much importance City Hall attaches to groups such as WilMont, on a day off from the office for nearly everyone, there was a hefty political presence. City Manager Susan McCarthy, Planning Director Suzanne Frick and Building & Safety Director Tim McCormick were present along with Judy Rambeau from the city manager's office and City Councilman Richard Bloom.

A staple at neighborhood meetings and more public occasions for as long as he has been at City Hall, McKeown told his audience there were three ways for them to make a difference in a community that is already is one of the most activist in America.

"The first is for you to get together with each other," he said, "to sit down and talk seriously about issues that are important to you so that you don't feel isolated in your neighborhood.

"The second is to do things together with the city. We are a civic culture that encourages and enables participation of groups. Every decision we make comes out of workshops and public hearings, with plenty of community input.

"The third is to work together with businesses," and, as an example, McKeown talked about playing a role in the campaign to save the Aero Theater.

In preparation for next Tuesday's City Council meeting, the peripatetic McKeown, sympathetic to the Martin Luther King Westside Coalition, is helping coach the group to make a presentation for naming the new Main Library in Dr. King's memory.

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