Previewing the 2012 City Council Election

Karlo Silbiger

Yes I know that it has been just 5 weeks since the last local election and a week since our new school board members were sworn in. However, election season has returned to Culver City. Beginning this week, the Culver City Clerk has opened up the filing period for FOUR seats on our City Council. That’s right, 80% of our council members will be elected in just 4 short months and it is high time that this blog began to focus on the campaign ahead.

This is no ordinary race. The city attorney has been working overtime to research election law and the city charter, attempting to provide legal interpretations of sections that have never been used. The election has been pretty sleepy up to now, owing to the 3 relatively well-liked incumbents whose terms were up in April. However, with the recent resignation of Vice Mayor Scott Malsin (to my knowledge, the first resignation in the history of the city) and the news that former Mayor and current Council Member Chris Armenta is stepping down at the end of the term, this election has gotten interesting.

To date, there are 8 people who have either announced their candidacies or who are rumored to be considering a run. Let’s look at each, in as unbiased a way as I am capable of providing:

Jim Clarke: In little Culver City we are lucky to have so many people who are well-connected to the political establishment in this region (including staff people for elected officials and 1 of the 14 Redistricting Commissioners). However, Jim is probably the most well-connected of them all. He has served as the director of 2 state-wide non-profit organizations, as an officer for state and national political organizations (including Secretary of the California Democratic Party and Treasurer of Americans for Democratic Action), Chief of Staff for 2 members of Congress (including Diane Watson), and currently as the Director of Federal Relations for the City of Los Angeles.

Jim has a level of knowledge and connections that would certainly serve the city well and his connections to political officials should help him to run a legitimate campaign, should he choose to be a candidate. However, a lot of campaigning is who you know locally who can volunteer and it will be interesting to see what kind of a campaign organization Jim can put together at this late stage.

Saundra Davis: Sandra served as a school board member from 2001-2009, getting the most votes in each of her respective elections. She has been an activist in her Blair Hills neighborhood. She now runs a Workforce Development center, providing her with both management and economic development knowledge that could provide a platform for a council run. Saundra ran for State Senate in the 2009 special election that saw Curren Price take his seat. She came in a pretty distant 6th place and hasn’t run for or held office in the 2.5 years since.

Saundra has been rumored to be a candidate for city council repeatedly over the years that she’s been active and has never decided to take the plunge. What’s really going to be interesting if Saundra decides to run is to see who supports her. Saundra won overwhelmingly in her 2 school board elections thanks in part to strong backing from the progressive community, including the Democratic Club. She then supported other progressive candidates. In the days after the November 2008 election, an LA Times article came out quoting Saundra’s husband explaining why he and other African-Americans supported proposition 8 and opposed gay marriage. During Saundra’s 2009 Senate run, some progressives endorsed her opponents and since, Saundra has been endorsing more conservative candidates for local office. In this election, where will her base of support lie? That remains to be seen.

Micheal O’Leary: Micheal first came on the scene in 2004, when he attempted to run for city council. He had recently gotten his citizenship, but due to a technical error with his voter registration, he was unable to be a candidate. He tried again in 2006, placing third in a field of 3 candidates. While Micheal was a hard working candidate with the background of a successful business owner, his lack of community involvement or political know-how led to a somewhat substantial loss. Not giving up, Micheal continued to get more involved (most notably in the now-defunct Culver City Homeowners Association) and won a seat on the council in 2008, placing third in a field of 9 candidates.

As he begins his run for re-election, a couple of interesting analyses could be given for Micheal’s chances. He has generally maintained a visible presence in the community, attending many events (especially in 2011 as Mayor). He has tended towards a more civil tone on the council, working as an independent voice. He reminds me a lot of his political predecessor, Albert Vera, who was more interested in being visible within the community than of gaining support for any specific political philosophy. However,
Micheal’s third place finish in his last election would normally make him the easiest incumbent to remove from office. For him, the most pressing questions relate to what group will work on his behalf and whether his independent status will gain him a lot of 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) votes from those supporting his opponents.

Scott Malsin: Scott popped up on the political scene in 2001 when he was appointed to the planning commission. He quickly found roles in other community groups (such as the West Culver Neighborhood Association, the Culver City Democratic Club and the Ballona Creek Renaissance), leading many of us to correctly predict that he would run for City Council in 2006. In that same small field of 3 candidates, Scott placed second, winning a seat. He won a second term relatively easily 2 years ago. Of the current council members, Scott is definitely the most controversial. He is a lightning rod for those opposing over development, due to his vote in support of the Entrada project in 2008.

Under normal circumstances (as was the case 2 years ago), Scott would tend to be a shoe in for re-election. He has strong supporters and a history of involvement with a lot of diverse populations. However, this is not a normal circumstance. Scott resigned his seat on the council last week in order to maintain city health benefits for himself and his family. There is a lot of disagreement over whether or not a part time council member who served just 5 ½ years in office should get such benefits. There is also disagreement over whether his retirement and subsequent re-election campaign will be seen as gaming the system, both the retirement system and the voter-approved term limit laws. Given that this is such an unusual situation, Scott’s prospects for election are anyone’s guess.

Meghan Sahli-Wells: Meghan has probably become the most active non-elected official in this community. After running for city council in 2010 and losing by just over 30 votes, Meghan dove deep into community involvement, currently serving as the Chair of the Downtown Neighborhood Association, the Vice Chair of the Culver City Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, and the Vice President of the Culver City Democratic Club among other work. She has deep ties in her neighborhood and with school-age parents.

What’s most interesting about Meghan is her role as the runner up from the election 2 years ago. Over the past 7 city council elections, we have had 4 “runner up” candidates try again 2 years later (Carol Gross, Gary Silbiger, Micheal O’Leary, and Jeff Cooper), and all have won. I chalk it up to a mix of added name recognition and the value that voters place on continued involvement. Not only would Meghan fit right in the mold of the above candidates, but her first election was by far the closest.

Gary Silbiger: Obviously I have lots of insight into this particular candidate, but I am including my father on this list not because he is running, but because he has been rumored to be a candidate. Having been involved in the community for much of the 1990s, Gary won a seat on the council in 2002 and served for 8 years. He is beloved by many and vilified by many others, definitely the poster child for the progressive movement in this city. Under the city charter, Gary had to step down from his seat in 2010, but is eligible to run again next year. Since 1994, when term limits were added to the charter by the voters, only 1 candidate has attempted a comeback after sitting out the requisite time (Albert Vera’s successful third run in 2002).

During the past 3 city elections, 16 candidates have run for city council. Of those, Gary is the highest vote getter for his 2006 campaign. There is no question that he has a lot of passionate supporters. But given that he has been out of the news for 2 years and hasn’t been on the ballot for 6, a question remains as to how many people remember why they voted for him in the past.

Marcus Tiggs: Marcus began his political career by running for a seat on the City Council in 2004. A complete unknown, he placed a distant 6th place, but used that election as a spring board to get more involved in the community. He has been on the planning commission for almost 8 years now and chaired the Fiesta La Ballona committee. He has been rumored to be a candidate again in nearly every election since, but has always declined to run due to his military service that takes him out of town somewhat often.

What will be interesting about Marcus, should he decide to run, is that he is a republican running in an overwhelmingly democratic community (about 65% of voters in Culver City are registered Democrats). We have had Republicans in office (most recently Patricia Siever, Steve Rose, Mike Eskridge, Mike Balkman, and Jozelle Smith come to mind), but they are few and far between. Will Marcus’s community involvement be able to provide him with a way to get past potential ideological differences with voters?

Andy Weissman: Andy has been active in Culver City since at least the 1980s, when he made his first run for office. Although losing that bid, he remained active, serving on nearly every committee or commission available to him during the 20 years that followed. He tried again in 2008 and won. In that election, Andy had the support of practically every current or former elected official in the community (an amazing feat considering that he was not an incumbent and that there were 8 people running against him).

His nearly universal support may or may not be replicated next year. Andy had support from the Culver City Democratic Club and other progressive activists who may be unhappy with his successful bid to deny Gary Silbiger his turn as mayor in his final year on the council. However, thus far, he has received a lot of support from throughout the community and is the first candidate to officially kick off their campaign. He definitely has a head start over his likely opponents.

There are sure to be more candidates forthcoming, especially with 2 newly vacated seats. What will be interesting is to see how Culver City voters, who are far from predictable in local elections (as was shown in the recent school board campaign) will choose to capitalize on getting to pick 4 council members for the first time in history. One thing’s for certain, we can all expect to get a lot of political mail over the next 4 months!

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