Why am I writing an essay of the same tone about City Councilman Gary Silbiger that I wrote in his first year on the dais, his second year, his third year, his fourth year, his fifth year, and now in his sixth year?
There only has been a slight variation in the lineup of dead horses he has beaten over the years.
As with many liberals, Mr. Silbiger is disinclined to prioritize his causes by degree of importance.
Savvy, sadly, is missing.
His stubbornness has made him the least effective, least influential City Councilman for the last 5 1/2 years.
Too bad.
He advocates for several meritorious causes. But he treats them as donkeys that he insists on riding the same way every week without possibility of compromise.
Blindly, Mr. Silbiger approaches all of his causes as if they were airtight, absolutes as irreversible as 3-plus-3-equals-6.
Objectivity is not in his portfolio.
The Worst, the Worst and the Worst
Since every cause is a fire engine red, four-alarm emergency, Mr. Silbiger has come nowhere close to making a dent in his agenda.
His four colleagues have. They learned early to bend, to flex, to build little coalitions. By my memory, Mr. Silbiger never has done this.
He was back at the tired old wheeze of a lemonade stand at Wednesday night’s City Council meeting, banging the same unimaginative drum.
I am disappointed to report that Mayor Alan Corlin was Mr. Silbiger‘s co-conspirator in a weak moment.
The Air Was Smothering
The degree of strangeness that frequently pervades Council meetings was stronger than usual this week when the spotlight issue was about a businessman trying to overturn an expansion project the Planning Commission earlier rejected.
From inside a cloud jammed with hot air, the deadly tandem of loquacious, disorganized Council members and overheated residents blew 4 1/2 hours debating the fairly mundane subject of Jin Kwak installing an automated car wash at his neighborhood gas station.
Mr. Silbiger, you should know, is the quintessential ideologue. His points of conviction are brief, they are narrow and they are permanently immutable. No change. Nowhere. No time.
Come to the Fair
“You’re not being fair” is one tinhorn cause that is lodged for life in Mr. Silbiger’s hip pocket.
That always is a winner because, like many crucial pieces of liberal philosophy, it sounds terrific until you inspect it.
For 5 1/2 years, Mr. Silbiger sincerely but wastefully has played to the crowd at Council meetings.
He pushes buttons that will draw unrestrained cheers from his claque of fellow narrow ideologues and admiring glances from the rest of the community for his apparent red-white-and-blue posturing.
Hear Ye? Hear Who?
Given his cradle-to-grave political philosophy, public notification another dead horse always good for a Silbiger whack.
Even though the Monday night City Council meetings have been the most public, most regularly scheduled event in Culver City for years, Mr. Silbiger appears to believe there is a conspiracy perpetrated by the rest of the Council and all of City Hall to hide the Council’s meetings from his fellow liberals.
Deserved Punishment
I hope the person who taught Mr. Silbiger how to interpret the U.S. Constitution either is in jail or receiving treatment.
A City Hall regular volunteered a definition of Mr. Silbiger’s conviction posture the other day. “Gary is absolutely in favor of everything he wants – except it must not be shaded in the least. And he absolutely will not vote for what he opposes.”
Which brings us to the Marx Brothers portion of last Wednesday’s Council meeting.
Came time for Mr. Kwak and his team of specialists to summarize the evidence they hoped would convince the Council to reverse the Planning Commission.
Who Is Not Playing Fairly?
Mr. Silbiger complained sternly, off-stage, that residents protesting the targeted car wash had been treated unfairly. They had not been given enough time at the public microphone, he claimed, even though several conducted themselves clownishly or as boors once they were given the floor.
No evidence needed by Mr. Silbiger. Just part of the DNA, pal.
He makes this charge instinctively, about the side he favors. The other side somehow has conspired to gain an unfair advantage.
Mr. Corlin, a polished professional, as we have said before, also is a friend of our old pal Achilles. Not far beneath the surface, he is a softie.
Breaking with Tradition
Routinely in the past, the mayor has shined a dark lamp on Mr. Silbiger’s mechanical maneuvering.
Not this time. The mayor ran up a white flag. “I acquiesced,” Mr. Corlin said. Although he didn’t use the phrase, the mayor seemed to be breaching policy for the sake of a peacemaking gesture.
The gesture was unworthy of Mr. Corlin.
I strongly disagree with the departure from regular practice for no rational reason. I hope one success does not encourage Mr. Silbiger to use the same tactic the next time. Wanna bet I am wrong?