At the sun-dappled lunch hour today on shady, walking-friendly Main Street, the middle aisle of Stellar Hardware, days away from closing for good, was a scene out of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” or Sinclair Lewis’s “Main Street.”
Everybody was there.
Bustling.
Crowded.
Almost gone forever.
City Councilman Gary Silbiger’s bizarre rhetorical thrust into history officially ended, ingloriously, around 10 o’clock last night in Council Chambers.
Less than 24 hours after blockily and grumpily curving into an unprecedented filibuster that was intended to bulldog a controversial building project past a City Council whom he hoped would be dazed and befuddled by his unanticipated maneuver, the ever unpopular Mr. Silbiger was stopped.
Having been annoyed a few times in my life, I am bemused when angry people sputter and vent in public places. They often embarrass themselves because they argue with their hearts instead of their minds.
A kingsized example landed in the middle of Council Chambers last night:
As speaker after speaker trooped to the microphone in the City Council hearings to protest the planned but not yet official Entrada Office Tower project, many speakers expressed two rock-solid, inflammatory and absolutely unverifiable convictions:
A jury awarded former Culver City police officer Christie Maddox a split decision last Friday, finding that she was wrongfully terminated three years ago by former Chief John Montanio but declining to give her back her job.
The six-day trial, that included two days of deliberation, left the plaintiff with mixed feelings.
Ms. Maddox badly wanted to don the Culver City uniform she last wore three years ago when she had her final run-in with Mr. Montanio. Weeks later, the chief announced his own departure for a vague federal assignment.
[Editor’s Note: This presentation by a retired Culver City academic is typical of the more than 100 spoken and written comments — overwhelmingly opposed — entered into the record last night when the City Council was charged with approving or rejecting the 12-story Entrada Office Tower proposal. The meeting was adjourned until 6 this evening in Council Chambers.]
Mayor Corlin and members of the City Council:
I have been a resident of Culver City since 1969 and, now that I have retired, I am pleased to be able to serve the city on the Landlord-Tenant Mediation Board.
Only an extraordinary event could have interrupted the much-watched deliberations of the City Council 7 hours into last night’s meeting and forced the disgusted, fatigued members to return to Council Chambers this evening at 6 to presumably vote up or down on the disputed Entrada Office Tower proposal at the southern tip of Culver City.
With often self-isolated Councilman Gary Silbiger suddenly commanding a rare position of leverage over his colleagues, a determinative vote is no cinch this time, either.
The program describes KLÜB as an existential comedy in which actors trapped in a play must audition to get out. To some extent, this is an accurate summary. Like a theatre of the absurd, KLÜB is a place outside the normal space/time continuum, a metaphorical stand-in for life and the acting profession, a continuation of Camus, Beckett and friends. A troupe of actors, harassed by the unseen, god-like voice of the Director, stages desperate performances in an effort to escape the paradox of an existence in which the only rule is that there are no rules.
I hope the City Council votes against authorizing an exemption to the 56-foot height restriction for the Entrada Tower, which is four times the Culver City height limit.
It is clearly not in the best interest of the city and the community to have this project approved “as planned.”
The Environmental Impact Report is misleading as well as inaccurate in several areas. The Carlyle Group Developers, whom I believe to be representing primarily foreign investors, attempt to dismiss anything and everything potentially negative brought to the public’s attention.
Tough call to make on the outcome of the vote on the proposed Entrada Office Tower at tonight’s monster City Council meeting.
The more people I talk to, the wobblier a prediction looks.
I stand here poised, with a bucket of water. But I am not sure which side’s enthusiasm to dampen.
Can the will of City Hall be thwarted? Yes, it can.
After 20 years with the School District and eight years as the principal of Lin Howe School, Rosie LaBriola today announced her retirement, effective July 1.
“Retirement is bittersweet for me,” Ms. LaBriola said.
“I have had a wonderful experience here. I have been fortunate to work with an incredible staff, and I honestly looked forward to coming to school every day because of the amazing students, staff and parents at Lin Howe.
