The Value of Informed Dialog

Karlo Silbiger

Over a year ago I wrote an editorial for the local Culver City newspapers using the disaster in the city of Bell as an important reminder of how a lack of an involved citizenry almost always leads to horrible abuses of power by those in public service (http://www.thefrontpageonline.com/articles1-7953/ALessontoUsAllTheInextricableLinkBetweenApathyandCorruption). I pleaded with my neighbors to become active, or at least informed, so that we could ensure that Culver City did not hit such terrible lows. I used a perk-laden City Manager’s contract as proof that we as a community were not doing our job. I hoped that it would awaken people throughout the city at a level not seen for decades.

I’m sorry to say that in the year since, I have seen no real change in the level of interest within our community. The same 20-50 people come to City Council and School Board meetings. The same handful of gadfly’s (and I say that in the most positive of respects) read every public document to bring out any funny business that our elected officials or staffs are trying to pull. And the rest of us are content enough to sit back and hope for the best. It’s been a disappointing year.

Then it hit me that part of the problem might not be city-wide apathy or a lack of true investment in our local governments, but instead a lack of a real forum to share and discuss our common ideas for how to PROGRESS our community. Those who read the local media (both the print and online varieties) know that they are primarily a mix of:
- Writers unfamiliar with local issues
- Editors more interested in drumming up controversy than proposing real solutions and
- Publishers who want so much not to offend anyone (for fear of losing needed advertising revenue) that they report factual occurrences with no attempt at any real analysis.

The problem was not with the people in Culver City, it was with the forums for communication. It is unreasonable to expect people to watch a 4 hour meeting or read a 100 page agenda report. The only way that we are going to substantially improve the level of involvement is by creating easy access to information about the goings on within the community, but also by providing detailed analyses of those happenings. We need a real, legitimate place for conversation, with many voices and viewpoints. We need a communications outlet unencumbered by the overbearing editor, the out of town writer, or the money-crunching publisher. We need our own blog.

My dad, former Mayor Gary Silbiger, and I developed this idea last summer and have spent the past few months brainstorming how we can best deliver a forum for such a discussion. While both of us will serve as editors and contributors, this is NOT a place for us to overpower legitimate debate and discussion with our singular viewpoints (we are trying to increase dialog, not decrease it). Every week, we will strive to bring you postings from active members of our community commenting on the work that is currently being done in every facet of Culver City’s political and social life, while also suggesting ideas for how we can collectively make our community stronger, how we can PROGRESS. It is an exciting venture and I am optimistic of the impact that this forum can have. However, communication is only the first step. If 5 of us write every week and 40 additional people read and understand our writing, but no one actually changes their behavior, then this is all for naught. Remember that the ultimate goal is to use dialog as a catalyst for engagement, as a vehicle for social change. With that, let’s get started.

Karlo Silbiger is the Co-Editor of the Culver City Progress Blog, the Vice-President of the Culver City School Board, and the President of the Culver City Democratic Club.