Light Rail Station Light Years Away?

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

     Alan Corlin, probably the most straight-ahead talker on the Redevelopment  Agency, predicted this week that a permanent, above-ground light rail station at Venice and Robertson may be built. But it only will happen far into the future.
     “I just hope it will be built in my lifetime,” said Mr. Corlin. He describes his stage of life  as “early middle age.”

O’Leary Enters City Council Race

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

     Wearing the map of Ireland on his smiling newlywed face and armed with the richest Irish brogue on the Westside, Culver City pub owner Mehaul O’Leary on Tuesday, Dec. 27, declared his intention to run for the City Council in next April’s election.
     As the second challenger for the two available seats, he joins Planning Commissioner Scott Malsin who made a large splash at City Hall on Monday, Dec. 19, when he announced his candidacy.

Steven Gourley: What Is an Elected Official Worth?

temp117OP-ED

The matter of what an elected official is worth is a loaded question. Many people would respond that elected officials are worth nothing. Some would agree that full-time elected officials should be paid a living wage. Others would not.
     The question has been raised (indirectly) in this media often over the last two years, most frequently in connection with medical benefits received by members of the School Board.
     We have also seen the question examined in larger media, in connection with corruption in cities like Carson, Compton and Lynwood. Compton, if I remember correctly, was paying its members about $40,000 each per year, plus expenses. Lynwood had a system where the City Council members were paid an annual salary and a per diem for each meeting. This encouraged them to have many meetings.

Glasser: When Behavior Is Not Ethical

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     Is ethical conduct important in government, among both elected and non-elected officials? Does the public care whether a government official acts in an ethical manner? While these may appear to be rhetorical questions, the answers for too many government officials (and members of the public) is no.
     Just ask Bob Taft, the governor of Ohio; Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico; Bill Frist, U.S. senator from Tennessee; Tom DeLay, U.S. representative from Texas; Randy (Duke) Cunningham, the former U.S. Representative from California; or Lewis (Scooter) Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney.

You Know Who Goofed

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

If you are or were married, you doubtless have engaged your spouse in a disingenuous argument that you regret.
    As an advocate of multiplicity in wives, I have often found myself in the iron grip of centrifugal forces that drive me the wrong way in a dispute. Carelessly, I make an errant statement. I realize my gaffe immediately. But the momentum and the bitterness of the disagreement, not to mention my ego, prohibit me from making a self-correction. Heaven forbid. So you keep running at full speed in the wrong direction, knowingly.
     This was exactly the kind of embarrassing, self-induced mistake that the City Council committed in October when it clumsily blew the task of enshrining the memory of Richard Alexander.

Malsin: Why He Is a Classical Candidate

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

     Symbolic of the efficiency, laser-like focus and professionalism that he brings to his first citywide run for office, the activist Scott Malsin demonstrated the value of firstness last week. It fetched for him the kind of voter attention every new candidate yearns for. Typical of his thoroughness, he planned each step this way, attempting to plant the impression he will be a first-tier challenger.

To Burck or Not to Burck?

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

     The most delicately positioned public figure, arguably, in Culver City this winter is the Interim Police Chief Bill Burck.
     He finally has the job that every lifetime officer wants — but will it last or will it evaporate in the bloom of spring?
     This is the conundrum confronting Mr. Burck in what may be the twilight of his long police service.

Four Want to be Chief

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

    At least four Culver City police officers, and possibly a fifth — among them several surprising names — this week are chasing the most elusive prize in Westside law enforcement, becoming the chief of the Police Dept.
     Unsurprisingly, the drama surrounding the I Wanna Be Chief Derby one month before the filing deadline is thicker than the belly of an oldtime Irish police chief.

George Laase: The Way It Was in ’03

George LaaseOP-ED

     In the School Board election two years ago for two seats, Roger Maxwell, a parent from Farragut School ran against the incumbents Marla Wolkowitz and Stewart Bubar. The two Board members ran their ;pw-key campaigns as if they felt quite assured of the outcomes until about a month before voters went to the polls.  It was publicly disclosed that some Board members were taking more than twice the legal limit in healthcare benefits.
     When confronted with the fact at two public meetings of the School Board, members remained silent, not even acknowledging the truth. They did not offer any public explanation, remaining unresponsive. I guess they thought it would better for them politically to maintain silence since it was so near to Election Day. 

Passionately, The Page Returns

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

     In this final week of December, The Front Page resumes its quest to become the No.1 community journal in America, introducing an imaginative, full-service news concept for West Los Angeles, thefrontpageonline.com.
     Sassy, irreverent and responsibly provocative, The Page, a literary-oriented journal, will pioneer another breakthrough for our town daily online updates.
     Distinguishing itself from more than ninety-nine percent of thecommunity newspapers in this country, The Page is committed to scrutinizingand reporting objectively, aggressively, passionately  the daily political life in Culver City and West L.A.