In the Lead — It’s Gotta Be Measure V

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

            Refining last week’s season-opening debate over Measure V to a point of irreducibility, the attorney Andy Weissman, debatably, may be declared the winner.
            Dueling candidly, calmly and convincingly with City Councilwoman Carol Gross before a Chamber of Commerce business audience, Mr. Weissman and his rival acquitted themselves with matching brilliance.
            Even at gunpoint, neither would consider switching sides.
When Ms. Gross affixes her name to an April 11 ballot, she will vote against the steaming-hot, all-in-one Charter Reform measure, and she may attach at least one exclamation mark for emphasis.

In Defense of Saundra Davis

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

          The more one learns about the pettiness of several members of the School Board, the more one wonders how they can face the public with a straight face every other Tuesday night.
            They act like washer women, hanging over an unpainted back fence, gossiping
about the woman they love to criticize, Board President Saundra Davis.
     As if they were windy, latter-day Hedda Hoppers, they gossiped darkly about Ms. Davis in the Board Room at District Headquarters during a very public community meeting.
     This occurred — should we say naturally? — when Ms.  Davis was not in the room.

Why She Opposes Measure V

Ari L. NoonanLetters

     Tom Camarella recently went to great lengths to dispel purported misconceptions regarding Measure V – the City Charter Reform Amendment. 
     However, Mr. Camarella neglected to address a situation that has occurred by placing the Charter amendment on the ballot as a single document.
     The majority of the people I know are joining me in voting against Measure V. They are doing so for the plain and simple fact that it allows for no disagreements. 
     There are several hot-button issues contained in the ballot measure that we feel should be voted on as separate items.

Council Candidate Mehaul O’Leary

Ari L. NoonanNews
City Council candidate Mehaul  O’Leary, who opposes Measure V, the Charter reform measure, on the April 11 ballot, presented his arguments against V at a picnic for his backers last Saturday at Carlson Park . He also talked about redevelopment in the Hayden Tract and in West Culver City . Mr. O’Leary’s address: vote4mehaul.org.

 

 

Book Sale on Saturday

Ari L. NoonanA&E

              The Friends of the Library are promising a sweetheart deal — in honor of Valentine’s Day — at Saturday’s six-hour book sale at the Julian Dixon Library.
            Videos, audio cassettes, DVDs, CDs and magazines will be available during the 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. book sale, as well as hardcover books and paperbacks.
            Starting Wednesday, Feb.15, the library will be closed for two weeks, reopening on Thursday, March 2.
            The library is at 4975 Overland Ave.
            For information, or to become a member of the Friends, go to www.ccfol.org or contact the Friends of the Library at 310.559.1676.

If Ursula Will Give Her Blessing

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

            Having had a day and a half to think over an impulsive announcement at Monday night’s City Council meeting, Mayor Albert Vera said this morning he still has not decided whether to run for re-election. 
            He may. He may not.
After reversing himself for the second time in twenty-four days, he promised thefrontpageonline.com that he will make a final, final decision by the end of the week.
            Before performing his daily ritual of raising the two American flags in front of the Sorrento Italian Market this morning, Mr. Vera again linked his conclusion to his ailing wife Ursula.

Ladera Heights Appeals to the State

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

            Hoping to overturn last month’s ruling by the County Board of Education, Ladera Heights families seeking to transfer their children from Inglewood to Culver City filed an appeal yesterday with the state of California.
            “We feel that we wrote a very convincing statement of reasons for the appeal,” Cheryl Cook, one of the movement’s primary leaders, told thefrontpageonline.com.
            “But, as I have learned, politics is tricky, to say the least.
            “Of the three conditions that the County said we did not meet, we have strong arguments to support our claim that they were met.

Black Will Not Be the Next Chief

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

            Capt. Cerris Black will not be the new Police Chief — for one logical reason.
            But Asst. Chief Hank Davies, Capt. Scott Bixby, Lt. Dean Williams or one other veteran may.
            After the first round of cuts was determined on Tuesday afternoon, four members of the home team, the Culver City department, remained in the fierce competition.
            The original field, believed to contain sixty-eight candidates, was whittled to fourteen by the Sacramento executive search firm of Bob Murray & Associates.
            The next interviews start on March 6. 
         This means that Mr. Davies, Mr. Bixby, Mr. Williams and The Other Candidate will be automatically reminded of the job they all yearn for every time they encounter each other during the next month.

Bosh Brothers’ Suspect Is Charged

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

          The prime suspect in the cold-blooded assassination of the Bosh brothers two and a half years ago stands charged this week with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. 
         He could go to trial this summer for the gang-style slayings of Michael Bosh, twenty, and Timothy Bosh, twenty-one, in Culver West Park on the evening of Sept. 27 of ’03, just as the park was closing.
         Culver City Police Lt. Ron Iizuka told thefrontpageonline.com that Anthony Covarrubias was only returned to Los Angeles last week from New Mexico where he was convicted of a federal violation of  narcotics transportation laws.

Vera Says He Will Run — Will He?

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

          Did Mayor Albert Vera fool ‘em again, all those people who believed him last month when he declared he would not stand for re-election?
          Once a predictable populist, he has shattered the mold near the end of his twelfth year on the City Council.
          Reversing himself for the second time in twenty-four days, Mr. Vera stated publicly during Monday night’s draining City Council meeting, and privately afterward, that he will run, as a write-in candidate, for a fourth term.
          He first belched out his vow to run in a swirl of anger near the end of the meeting. Furious that a majority of his colleagues staunchly opposed his bid to again delay a controversial street-parking ban on recreational vehicles, Mr. Vera exploded.