Christopher Armenta: A Dedicated Public Servant

Karlo Silbiger

It was a Wednesday night in February, just over 12 years ago, when I first met Chris Armenta.  My dad was a candidate for city council and we were headed to the first major debate of the season at the Culver City Democratic Club.  We knew city commissioners Alan Corlin and Carol Gross along with Chamber of Commerce President Steve Rose, but everyone was eager to hear from Chris Armenta, a relative newcomer to city politics.  Because receiving the Democratic Club's endorsement is as much about organizing supporters as it is about the actual debate, it is unusual for an unknown candidate to win.  However, as the night went on, it become clear that Chris was not your normal candidate.  He was a lifelong resident of Culver City, a graduate of our school system, a husband and father raising his family in town, a government accountant who understood public sector finance, really a person who loved our city and wanted to serve.

While Chris did not quite win the club's endorsement that evening (or the election in April), he made a significant impression on those of us who were watching closely.  Two years later Chris ran for and won the City Clerk's position, a role that he held for 6 years.  Four years ago he was elected to serve as a member of our City Council along with a year in the Mayor's chair.  That's 10 years of consecutive elective service, 10 years of Monday night council meetings, and five consecutive municipal elections with his name on the ballot.  At a time when so many politicians are rightly maligned for serving for the wrong reasons, Chris is a great example of what it means to be a public servant.

A week ago, Chris left his council position, causing me to consider the legacy that he has left on our community.  While there are many such areas, three in particular keep coming back to me.

1. Chris served as a true advocate of good government as our city clerk.  The city clerk’s position, back when it was an elective office, was a hybrid of sorts: part department head / administrator, part independent check on the power of the council and bureaucracy, part independent advocate on behalf of the electorate.  The clerk was expected to run our elections in a fair and efficient manner.  Chris oversaw 3 impeccably well-run elections just after his predecessor conducted elections that included ballots left unaccompanied at polling places and ballots flying out over the public streets on their way to city hall.  There is nothing more important than gaining the public trust that their votes are being counted fairly and Chris set a very high standard.  The clerk is also the public’s eyes and ears at the council meetings, keeping accurate minutes of the proceedings and helping members of the public in attendance gain access to the council.  While some other clerks saw their Monday evening duties as optional, Chris was in attendance nearly ever week, putting into place a variety of procedures to ensure that all could participate.

2. Chris was a leading voice in implementing two needed public safety improvements.  When Chris was elected four years ago, it came right after a string of injuries, some major, at Culver City’s skateboard park.  At that time, the kids who used the park were completely unsupervised, most were not wearing helmets, and the council was unwilling to put even minimal resources in place to protect them from injury.  Chris took a stand, worked with staff to rearrange existing resources, and has brought a policy to the city that will continue to protect the kids who use that facility.  At the same time, our animal services were being “provided” (and I use that term loosely) by the county.  They were inhumane in their treatment of animals and unresponsive to the serious public safety needs of the residents.  Chris, along with council members O’Leary and Silbiger, forged the way for a local animal services officer who, all now agree, has done an incredible job in providing better localized services.

3. Chris has twice over the past two years saved the Culver City Summer Concert Series.  Everyone agrees that the most successful cultural event in our community is our Thursday night summer concert series.  However, for both of the past two years, an attempt has been made by members of the council and/or staff to make severe changes to the program.  Two years ago, then Council Member Scott Malsin attempted to take the program away from producer Gary Mandell and instead give it to anyone else he could find!  Chris led the successful fight to keep the program consistently strong.  This year, staff and council members used the end of the redevelopment agency to try to cancel the entire concert series.  Chris fought back looking at every funding source to save this popular program.  Because of his work, there are likely to be concerts for this year and for the years to come.  Chris understood that city government is not just about keeping the streets swept and the trees trimmed, but that it is also about providing a quality of life that makes people want to live, work, and play here.

Christopher Armenta is not the type of showy politician who talks endlessly about their accomplishments.  That task, then, falls to the rest of us.  We thank Chris for his years of service and wish him well in all future endeavors, knowing that his legacy has made our city so much stronger.

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