Part two
Re “Who Was the Cigarette Girl?”
In his first two years on the City Council, Jeff Cooper has not been nearly as talkative as his mates, and when he has spoken, he has spurned any trace of verbal shrubbery.
Says his opinion, wheels and leaves.
Last Saturday night at former Councilman Scott Malsin’s elaborate fundraiser at the decorated Elks Club, Mr. Cooper was as succinct and direct as he is on the dais.
“It’s Saturday night, and I am supporting a friend,” he said, adding “thank you very much” to indicate the interview nearly was over.
“I have worked along side Scott for two years, and I want to work with him for another four years.
“I admire his laser-beam sense of business, particularly when we are negotiating. He takes his job to heart. He loves what he is doing. It shows in his work on the dais. I will be proud to serve with him.”
Across the room, Goran Eriksson, freshly elected chair of the Culver City Chamber of Commerce – which endorsed Mr. Malsin last month – was visiting with Rosie La Briola, who retired four years ago as principal of Linwood Howe School.
“Scott has done a fantastic job and deserves to be elected again,” Mr. Eriksson. “He takes an analytical view of each of the issues. He seems to have gone into the budget this year, and that is one of the more important issues. I thought we were going to get a balanced budget. Scott has done his homework on the budget, and I think he is going to be a force on the Council again.”
“I really like Scott as a candidate,” Ms. La Briola said. “When he says he is going to do something, he does. When I was at Lin Howe, he did some great things. He took care of street problems. I didn’t have to ask him. I mentioned it in passing. Next thing I knew, it had been done.”
Crisscrossing the room, four-term former Councilman Paul Jacobs (1976-1992) and his wife Joy quietly were observing the party scene.
“I am here for Scott Malsin,” said Mr. Jacobs, “because I don’t think there is any more important privilege in life than being involved in the electoral process. When you can be in that process and at the same time support an exceptional candidate, that is icing on the cake. I get a good feeling out if being involved in an election, particularly when I have a chance to support good people.”
On the 20-year anniversary of his departure from office, Mr. Jacobs said that “local government, all government has become more complex than when I served. Men and women serving now in our city would be spending a lot more time because of the complexity of the laws and changes in the way government operates.”
Mr. Jacobs said Culver City felt like a smaller town in the ‘70s and ‘80s. “There weren’t as many prescriptions required to be followed, either by state or federal law,” he said. “We still have tried to keep this small town environment we love so much.”
(To be continued)
