[Editor’s Note: With his re-election campaign underway, Mayor Mehaul O’Leary will host a fundraiser on Saturday, 3:30 to 5:30, at The Culver Hotel.]
Mehaul O’Leary, the Mayor of Culver City, will be at the Democratic Club’s Candidates Forum tonight at 7 at the Senior Center – and he will not say a word.
Officially.
He could be auditioning for a lead role in the hit film “The Artist.”
He was not invited to join the declared Democratic contenders for the four Council seats in the non-partisan April 10 election.
“I have declined to state – this is a local election, and I haven’t joined either party,” Mayor O’Leary said this morning.
“I have serious reservations about joining a party in these troubled times. “I have been advocating for people as upset as I am with the two parties and the way they are dealing with problems to remove themselves from the parties they are affiliated with.
“I have advised them not to join a different party but to do what I have done, just decline to state. We need to send a message to both parties to quit their bickering. They are like the Hatfields and the McCoys.”
Mayor O’Leary is not concerned that his middle-aisle stance will be harmful because “I have a history of voting what I believe is the right way. Some of my votes can be perceived as pro-Democrat, some pro-Republican.
“I enjoy the position of being…”
“Independent?” he was asked.
“I avoid that term, too,” the mayor said, “because it also has a connotation. I enjoy not being connected to any party. I have the freedom to vote with my head and my heart.”
Mayor O’Leary was not invited by the Democrat Club four years ago to their Candidates Forum, but he was six years ago.
“When I spoke six years ago, it was my understanding it caused consternation at the end of the process when I was asked to leave the room and deliberations took place for endorsements. When my name came up, somebody asked, ‘Why can we not endorse that guy?’ That seemed to cause some kind of back-and-forth. The next election, they decided not to invite anyone who was not a Democrat.”
Mr. O’Leary’s campaign site: info@mehauloleary.com
