Can a person be penalized for repeatedly committing the crime of community event abuse?
Nothing says Candidate Forum fatigue like the tiny knot of annoyingly extreme people who have begun to haunt the neighborhood forums like the dreaded crazy uncle who escaped from the attic.
At every forum, one or the other of our obsessed, boorish camp followers insists on including the uncomplicated question of whether each of the six candidates would support permanent retention of the Animal Services Officer hired two years ago for a pilot program. A subject of sharply limited, eye-rolling interest, the prospective hiring of an officer became a ludicrously debated topic a few years ago by a previous City Council.
How many times does even a compulsive person need to be told yes?
A Showcase, A Showcase
Otherwise, the forums – including last night’s lightly attended two-hour show at the King Fahad Mosque Event Center – have been impressive muscle-flexers for the candidates.
For incumbent Andy Weissman, it’s as easy as playing T-ball with his grandson in the backyard. Every Monday night, he is the snugly balanced disciplinary model for the rest of the Council. He possesses every desirable political quality in exactly desirable measure. When your mother said, “Be like your father,” Mr. Weissman is the person she meant. If young men try to emulate his style, they probably will falter. He is quiveringly funny at times, effective because he knows when to reach for humor and when to be deadly somber. Timing is a gift that arrives with maturity.
For the veteran Jim Clarke, forums are for polishing and waxing foundational knowledge and delivery that already gleam like a Jaguar in the showroom.
For once and future (?) Councilman Scott Malsin, his reputation for being a smart politician used to be restrained by his uneven speaking style. He has made huge progress since the last campaign two years ago. Objectively, there is little to criticize. Typically, he embraces complicated questions.
Mayor Mehaul O’Leary, the original handshaking, let’s shmooze politician, thrives in this environment, sensitively entreating each member in the audience, separately, to cast a vote for him because no one in Culver City loves his calling more. Since this is his year in the rotation to serve as mayor, and it’s an election year, this represents a perfect alignment of the stars. For all his effusiveness, he is not eager to play drum major. “What I enjoy about being mayor,” he said last night, “is you get to speak last at Council meetings.” Always stops at a caution light. His best known line is, “I want to hear what others have to say.” He said he is proud to be known as a middle-of-the-roader. His favorite challenge is, “How far can I get my colleagues to the center?”
Two years ago Meghan Sahli-Wells missed being elected to the Council by about 2½ dozen votes, and she is a much better candidate this time. She is far more self-assured and professional. Does that mean her chances of winning a seat are better? Not necessarily because the dynamics of each election – unlike Animal Services Officer questions – vary wildly from cycle to cyle. Last time, her opposition was more clearly defined. What remains unsettled is how she will perform on the dais. Will she tread the fairly traditional path followed by 90 percent of Council members? Or will she favor a more doctrinaire approach? Signs of both have emerged.
When Stephen Murray’s son was born four months ago, both were equally unknown in Culver City. While many diapers have been changed since then, the Murray men’s image, citywide, has not been changed. His unorthodox style needs an ironing board or a tailor, a heavy dose of refinement. Sometimes too willing to criticize, he is plainly smart and growing as a public personality. He will be fine if he retains his motivation. He should not allow anyone to discourage him. One election from now, in 2014, if he is a serious student of hometown politics, he can be a force.
Halfway through the Candidate Forum season leading up to April 10 when four of the six will win seats on the City Council, the format could use a thorough spring housecleaning.
Mercifully, the stillborn introductions segment at the outset of each forum, the 2 to 5 minutes allotted to each candidate, known as Let Me Tell You What a Wonderful Person I Am, was dumped last night.
Most of the candidates are “A” students. They know their lines better than a 50-year veteran of the Shakespeare stage, except that it is like watching the same movie.
No one has come within five miles of a gaffe, although Mr. Murray, game but still green, is learning as he goes.
As for Last Night
The questions moderator Julie Lugo Cerra creatively posed last night – following a touching mosque welcome by Usman Madha – were a happy exception to previous forums. Most questions have ranged from A to B in imagination. By the next engagement, Michelle Mayans’ Kid Forum at The Actor’s Gang, Wednesday, March 14, at 6:45, the candidates will be able to stay home and email their familiar but well-formed, responses.
