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The Kid and The Old Man, Scott Zeidman and Steve Gourley, captured the two open seats on the School Board last night by running the most energized, most imaginative, most aggressive campaigns to decisively defeat three other candidates.

Inarguably, Mr. Zeidman was the youngest, most zestfully enthusiastic challenger in an equally weighted, unusually crowded field.

He and Mr. Gourley, the first former City Councilman to run for the School Board in Culver City, may have ranked as the longest shots, but for quite separate reasons.

[Editor’s Note: Second of two parts. See part one, “Is Gourley’s Second Surprise That He Is So Well-Armed?” Oct. 25.]

School Board candidate Steve Gourley — hoping to blaze the evidently unprecedented path from the City Council to the School Board in tomorrow’s election — wants voters to know he is a details person.

Like many residents, he tired long ago of seeing Culver City snubbed in film credits in favor of the axiomatic and generic designation, “Made in Hollywood, U.S.A.”

[Editor’s Note: The following interview was conducted recently with School Board candidate Scott Zeidman, contending for one of two open seats in tomorrow’s election.’]

Is it true that you have two or three dozen high school seniors working on your campaign?

I do. Many Culver City High School seniors are required to not only go to a School Board or a City Council meeting, but also to volunteer two hours on a political campaign. I started with one student (his mother and I went to Culver City Junior High and Culver City High School together). And it has blossomed significantly from there.

Even before the School Board race began in the late summer, Mike Eskridge had carved his own niche that would permanently distinguish him from his four rivals, regardless of what was said during the campaign.

He was Old Folks.

Mr. Eskridge is Mr. Comfortable, Mr. Hometown Boy, your favorite pair of shoes that you cannot part with no matter how much your spouse pleads.

Outside of the Board Room, no one heard much about Marla Wolkowitz during her eight years on the School Board.

No gossip.

No ragging.

The lone pure housewife on the Board, she never was the lightning rod two or three of her colleagues were.

But the President of the School Board is at least tied for first place in candor, and she may be in first place alone when judged on content.

Gone.

That is what the beloved nursery known as The Jungle was, as of 4:15 this afternoon.

From Culver City.

Probably forever.

The last evidence of 10 years of hometown history was evaporating silently as the sun slid lower in the cloudless western sky.

Closing out their month-long tour of Culver City yesterday, the five candidates for two open seats on the School Board showed one more audience, the Exchange Club, they won’t need cue cards after next Tuesday’s election.

Only two of the five have previously held office, Mike Eskridge and Steve Gourley. But the tone and substance of the presentations of the newcomers and the veterans have grown stronger and more confident each week.

At the dinner hour last evening, with three eager candidates for the School Board critically monitoring every move and utterance, the soon-to-be-broken-up School Board surprisingly rescinded a little-noticed decision made a month earlier.

By a 3 to 1 margin, the shorthanded Board sought to extinguish yet another growing controversy over the most volatile subject to hit the School District in years, the proposed transfer of hundreds of Ladera Heights students into Culver City.

By the end of last night’s tidily tailored Town Hall meeting held by the City Council for Culver Crest area neighbors at El Rincon School, two not terribly popular facts had emerged:

Despite the recently implemented cold peace between City Hall and change-resistant residents — giving some a feeling of muscular empowerment — redevelopment eventually will be ubiquitous in Culver City, and

Neighborhoods are not monoliths. No matter how widely held an opinion may be throughout a neighborhood, a stiff opposing view is bound to surface.

Controversial youth swim coach Patrick Moran today issued his first public statement since the City Council voted last week to summarily terminate the contract Mr. Moran and his Edge Swim Team had to use The Plunge outdoor pool.

He declined to enlarge on the 227-word open letter except to indicate that the thrust of his remarks were contained in the headline with which he closed out:

“Heart of Screenland” City Council Votes Out Kids’ Diverse-Outreach Program.