What if they gave a party – especially in a high-tech Fox Hills setting – and no one came?
Alright, one lady strode in 32 minutes late.
She could sit, however, on only one chair on the second floor of a jumbo-sized office building.
Hundreds of tidily arranged straight-backed chairs at a right angle patiently awaited sitters last evening in the brilliant glow of the sanctuary of the Newsong LA Covenant Church (info@newsongla.net) on Green Valley Circle.
This was a novel, hastily arranged candidates forum for the seven contenders for three City Council seats in Tuesday’s election.
God help Culver City if the invisible crowd is a harbinger of the steadily declining voter turnout on Election Day.
The less-than-perfect candidate turnout slightly exceeded audience – Thomas Small, Göran Eriksson, Marcus Tiggs and Scott Wyant.
Elections-watcher the Rev. Jim Burklo, associate dean of Religious Life at USC, organized, to deploy the term loosely, what could have been an imaginative and instructive evening.
Newsong LA of Culver City, a fascinating story itself, merely loaned its facilities for the evening — that mostly wasn’t.
Optimistically, the Rev. Burklo scheduled the program for 180 minutes, 7 o’clock to 10. That meant there were 179 more minutes than attendees.
This would be a better story if he had forgotten to tell non-candidates of Culver City that he was throwing a pre-election party.
Perhaps that was the case.
The Messrs. Wyant, Eriksson, Tiggs and Small said they only had been notified a day and a half in advance.
The one-lady audience may have overheard of the program quite by coincidence.
She was not lucky enough to have received the following email that belatedly was sent to the City Council candidates:
“This is to remind you, if you did not already know, that there will be an interfaith forum, open to all, on CC election issues tomorrow night, 4/7, Thurs, 7 pm, NewSong LA Church, 5875 Green Valley Circle.
“The structure will be issues-oriented, with citizens speaking about the candidates in regard to the issues that matter to them – making reference to the scriptures of their religious or spiritual traditions. Candidates won’t speak, but are urged to be present to talk informally with citizens after the forum conversation. We will be following the model of forums held before all elections by NewSong LA Church, but in this case opening it up to people of all faiths (or no religious background).
“Any questions about the format, contact Pastor Adam Edgerly, who will host the event: adam@newsongla.net”
The innovative format was supposed to be an attraction, especially to parishioners of Newsong LA. They are accustomed to speaking out at services.
The resourceful, impressive young pastor of Newsong LA, Adam Edgerly, picked up the scattered pieces of the sparse evening.
Gathering the four candidates on stage, along with the Rev. Burklo and elections-oriented Nate Kaplan of SeePolitical, Pastor Edgerly reversed course.
He interviewed the candidates for video purposes, and presumably their comments will be aired at Sunday morning’s 9 o’clock and 11:15 services. Given the setting, three of them alluded to their own religious preferences.
On behalf of Newsong LA Church, I want to thank the candidates who came to the forum last night. We are always happy to make our facility available for communuty gatherings, or to serve the city in any way we can.
The responsiveness, patience and flexibility of the candidates made me grateful to be a part of the Culver City community.
It would have been just as easy to applaud the one person who showed up to support the Candidates Forum, rather than commenting on when she arrived. The candidates were willing to stay to speak with that ‘lady’ and I have heard, on good authority, that she contributed to the program and elicited rich discussions in response to questions about the benefits of diversity on the City Council, improving police interaction with residents, and recommendations on how the faith-based community can support Culver City in it’s Centennial Celebration.
That ‘lady’ thanks the Newsong LA Covenant Church and Pastor Edgerly for opening their doors to host the forum. As chair of the Culver City Interfaith Alliance, I plan to encourage our members to get out and vote on April 12 and I look forward to providing a platform to candidates in future elections.
Rev. Carolyn Wilkins
Chair, Culver City Area Interfaith Alliance