By acclamation last night, Bill Wynn, the Quiet Gentleman, was elected precedent-setting President of the Culver City Democratic Club.
He is the first African American to lead the 60-year-old club, which has a sprinkling of black members. A lifelong Democrat, starting in the cradle in Camden, N.J., Mr. Wynn has been a club member since moving to Culver City seven years ago.
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Widely active in the community, the Quiet Gentleman is known for the unobtrusive industry with which he accomplishes tasks that others talk about. His most immediate assignment is Sunday’s all-day Martin Luther King Jr. program, from 11 to 7, at the Senior Center.
“I am the type of person, like when I was working in corporate America, who doesn’t come in and try to change the culture,” Mr. Wynn said. “I am testing the waters. I am trying to find consensus, where I fit.
“I have been able to find that out in Culver City by being a member of the Democratic Club. No one invited me to join. I picked up the Culver City News, and I heard they had a Democratic club.
“I started attending meetings. Roger Maxwell was second vice president of the club. When he stepped down, he recommended me to replace him.”
When Karlo Silbiger’s term as President concludes on Jan. 31, the change in leadership will be palpable — Mr. Silbiger, new President of the School Board, being almost a lifelong Boy Wonder who is bound to turn 30 one of these years.
The youthful effervescence of Mr. Silbiger will be succeeded at the Feb. 8 meeting at the Senior Center — when they endorse City Council candidates — by the mature, softer-toned Mr. Wynn.
He Is Determined
But the Quiet Gentleman’s demeanor should not be mistaken for lack of resolve.
Will Democrats be able to detect a change at the helm?
“I think they will,” Mr. Wynn said. “I have a different style. I am a quiet kind of person. I all myself a quiet activist” — with an agenda.
“I would like to have the club more diversified. The mere fact they have asked me to be President, being who I am, an African American, tells me something. I have asked longtime members, and they can’t remember having had an African American president. That is going to be historic. I will be the first.”
How can Mr. Wynn diversify the club?
“I want to bring in people of color,” he said. “I want to bring in people I know in Fox Hills. I have asked them to talk to their neighbors, because it is a gated community, and think about joining the Democratic Club. I hope we can hold some forums in Fox Hills.
“All a lot of people need just an invitation to join. I am an activist. I don’t need to be invited. If I believe I should participate in an event, I don’t wait for an invitation. I tend to do it. It might be in a quiet way. I will stand and observe.
What’s the Hurry?
“I didn’t ask to be second vice president. Or first vice president. Or President. I didn’t politic for those positions. They asked me.”
Mr. Wynn said his objective of diversifying the Democratic Club is going to be “a journey.”
He is patient.
“It might take seven years,” he said, “for the club to really reflect diversity. I can’t put a timeline on it. But I will very aggressively recruit. For example, earlier this week I went to the Teen Post. I saw a young lady and her son, a student at Culver City High School. I asked him about his interest in joining us. I hope we can bring in some youths.”
