With one candidate forum down today and one more left this evening at 7 at the Event Center of the King Fahad Mosque, across Huron Street, you might have assumed the six contenders for the City Council would preserve some of their fire, and their hot lines, for the second half of the doubleheader.
They didn’t.
Not only were they bitingly funny during their Saturday Night Live auditions at the lunch hour today at the packed Senior Center, by the end there seemed to be raw biting.
The sugar seasoning turned salty as Mayor Mehaul O’Leary appeared to accuse Jim Clarke of lifting an idea the mayor suggested he had instituted, an innovation project for rewarding city workers who devise money-saving ideas.
Mr. Clarke immediately responded good-naturedly. But the mayor was not smiling when he turned toward Mr. Clarke’s seat at the north end of the candidates’ table.
For 75 minutes, most but not all of the contenders competed for the jocularity prize, with Councilman Andy Weissman, Mayor O’Leary and Mr. Clarke reeling off the funniest lines.
Keenly aware that their audience – seniors – represented the most reliable voters in Culver City or any community, they joked about their ages and their temporal proximity to their listeners.
“I am pleased to be with my peers,” said Mr. Weissman, known for his dry wit. “I am you. I will be 62 years old next month, and it is nice to be speaking to colleagues of mine.”
Not to be outdone, the next time the extremely energetic Mr. Clarke was at the microphone, he announced with booming pride, “I am 63 years old.”
Touting himself as a future senior, Mayor O’Leary, who spends a great deal of time at the Senior Center, put it this way:
“I could burden you with the problems that Culver City faces, but I won’t. You will hear it from my colleagues. Enough of that. It’s not out job to burden you, the ones who have, up to now, made Culver City what it is today.
“It’s our job to protect you. You have done your job. We are future seniors. We will be in your position – well, with me, if you choose to re-elect me. am 46. In four years when I get off the Council, I will be able to become a senior at the Senior Center. I promise if I do become a senior, or when I become a senior, I will be the bane of your life. I will be the biggest problem you ever had so that the catch phrase of the day will be, ‘What is O’Leary up to now?’
All five of candidates – including former Councilman Scott Malsin and second-time challenger Meghan Sahli-Wells – enjoyed their most solid outings, providing comprehensive, compelling answers that in some cases showed preparation and in others, experience.
With the exception of community activist Neil Rubenstein who follows the candidates from forum to forum and repeats the same question, the inquiries were bristling and the responses were soberly informative.
No one was guilty of a gaffe.
The newest comer in the race, businessman Stephen Murray arrived an hour after the scheduled start, explaining he has a 4-month-old son who isn’t always considerate of his father’s mid-day appointments.
The questions concerned the opening of the Expo light rail, as in when, whether Senior Center staff will be immunized from layoffs and the process that goes into executing layoffs.
Scott Malsin – Like his mates in the race, the always-confident returnee not only is growing stronger, but is at or near the pinnacle of his career. At 51, his speaking skills, which once creaked, and not so long ago, have become muscular, making him a pleasure to listen to. The evidence is that where some used to cringe when he unleashed his tall list of accomplishments followed by a barely briefer agenda of promises, now that time passes with silkiness. Grade: A-plus.
Meghan Sahli-Wells – Her nervousness at public speaking that marked her campaign two years ago must have moved to another country. She presents herself as a hometown girl who, now married with children, dashes home from Paris after her mother’s death to care for her aging grandmother. Her extraordinarily broad involvement in a range of communal projects braces her resumé. She no longer uses any notes. Her main identifying mark has been to personalize her informed, clear answers. Grade: A.
Jim Clarke – He has been at the peak of his virtually invulnerable game since Opening Day of the campaign. The breadth of his career experience in politics laced with his penetrating knowledge of the hometown, state and national landscapes, topped by his unsinkable energy, have placed and kept him at the top tier. Grade: A-plus.
Mehaul O’Leary – He also is at the top of the Most Improved list, not as disciplined as he needs to be ion all situations but considerably more polished than when he won four years ago, He is at his most effective when he segues from a dry policy shmooze into personal/humorous territory. He has grown into a charming raconteur, and his born Irish brogue is the oratorical and rhetorical dessert. He must be studying because his policy talks are polished. Grade: A.
Andy Weissman – As the campaign season bounces along from one forum setting to another, observing The Master, as Henry James used to be known, is like watching a statue from the Louvre being moved from museum to museum. Grade: A-plus.
