And Now for Something Duller
Before swinging into the beefy portion of his appearance, the very comfortable Mr. Bauman, a reformed New Yorker, polled the audience for fellow expatriates. That was fish-shooting at barrel time. Striding to the Dem Club podium as if he were launching his own nightclub gig, he posed one of those questions to which everyone in town knew the answer. In enthusiastic response, almost more people raised their hands than there were Dems in the room. Moving on, “why,” Mr. Bauman asked, playfully, “did you invite me here to talk about something as boring as the propositions on the ballot?” A whopping 13 props will confront, if not overwhelm, the casually informed voter. Between his patter and his deep grasp of the ballot measures, Mr. Bauman sprinted through the dense field before anyone could nod off. It was like describing, in painful detail, the height differences among blades of grass. He split the huge prop crop into three categories — “a cluster of infrastructure bonds, a cluster of tax measures and a couple of oddities.” Mr. Bauman, who feeds his family by sunlighting as the Deputy Insurance Commissioner in the administration of John Garamendi, kept his listeners awake by periodically sprinkling salty observations on the arcane, bone-dry measures. He also introduced each proposition with objectivity and clarity — as much as one can keep from glazing over Prop. 1-B, for example: “The Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality and Port Security Bond Act.” That did not spark any rolling in the aisles or uncontrolled applause. Interestingly, Mr. Bauman did not even vaguely attempt to convince the Culver City Dems to back or oppose any measure.
A Little Controversy, Please
Only two propositions sport personality. Prop. 85, making a return visit to the statewide ballot, forbids a minor to obtain an abortion until 48 hours after parental notification. Prop. 90 would narrow a government’s ability to claim private property through eminent domain while more clearly defining the terms of “just compensation” to the private property owner. In both cases later in the evening, the Culver City club voted to oppose the propositions. Here is the outcome of club voting on the other 11 propositions:
- 1-A (Transportation funding), yes.
- 1-B (Highway Safety-Traffic Reduction Bond Act), yes.
- 1-C (Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Act), yes.
- 1-D (Kindergarten/University Public Education Facilities Bond Act), yes.
- 1-E (Disaster Preparedness/Flood Prevention Bond Act), yes.
- Prop. 83 (Sex offenders/restrictions-monitoring), no position.
- Prop. 84 (Water quality/safety-supply), yes.
- Prop. 86 (Cigarette tax), yes.
- Prop. 87 (Tax on oil producers), yes.
- Prop. 88 (Real property parcel tax), no.
- Prop. 89 (Campaign financing), yes.
DEM CLUB NOTES — With Andrew Lachman at the helm, the 55-year-old Democratic Club has opened its first offices just north of the community, at 3314 Overland Ave., north of National Boulevard, at the corner of Rose Avenue. Telephone (as of tomorrow): 310.559.3636… A rarity: Herb and Diane Rosenberg, years’ long stalwarts of the Culver City club, both missed the meeting due to illness…Police Chief Don Pedersen, who has been in office 4 months, 6 days and 2 hours, will be the featured speaker at the Oct. 11 meeting…Two candidates for judicial offices who came to the meeting seeking the club’s endorsement were rewarded: Janis Barquist and George Montgomery…Club Treasurer Eric Fine reported that the August fundraiser netted $560…Club member Ken Lock is a candidate for the position of Director, Division 4, of the West Basin Municipal Water District…The Democratic Club will present its first annual Social Conscience Spotlight Award to 1150 AM radio talk show host Stephanie Miller on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2 p.m., at the Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Blvd. For information: ccdemclub.org…