Re “Whatever Voters Decided Would Be the Right Call, Says O’Leary”
Third in a series
[Editor’s Note: The public is invited to Council Chambers at 4 o’clock when City Clerk Martin Cole will supervise counting of the remaining 703 mail-in ballots for City Council whose signatures were verified yesterday.]
What an inquiring reporter learned walking through Downtown and venturing out into the neighborhoods on Election Night when two incumbents and two newcomers were elected to the City Council by Culver City voters:
Visiting the after-party of top votegetter Andy Weissman on the upper floor of Rush Street turned into a prolonged affair because other victors in the City Council race dropped by to congratulate him.
As soon as the election results were announced, Mayor Mehaul O’Leary wheeled out of his own party at the Culver Hotel and hurried up the block to Rush Street.
When we left Mr. O’Leary he was saying what he repeated today at the outset:
“When I need advice, I come to Andy. I do it not only because of his knowledge and background but because I always am going to get a straight answer,” Mr. Weissman’s trademark.
The quickest witted. The most reflective. The most knowledgeable. And towering over those attributes, the most measured.
“He is the guy I talk to,” says the Mayor. “I don’t talk to anybody else.”
Another reason Mr. O’Leary consults Mr. Weissman: “I am always going to get a straight answer. Nothing political. There is no motivation behind it. I am going to get a straight answer.”
A Palpable Difference
Across the street and down the block, the mood was drastically different.
Kay ‘n Dave’s was, appropriately, funereally soft and quiet, because they were hosting Election Night’s most prominent non-qualifier, Scott Malsin.
You could hear yourself breathe.
Perhaps it was too early for his loss to have set in. It still was like old times, being interviewed by a reporter as another gingerly approached.
Outdoors in the cool of late evening, Mr. Malsin, formally dressed as usual, was a one-man receiving line.
“I am sorry,” one of the reporters said.
“I know you are.”
“How do you feel?”
“I feel very good. We ran a great campaign. I had a great team of volunteers. It was enjoyable.
“I don’t think I would have done a single thing differently.”
Will you be back?
“I don’t imagine I would run again in the future.
“The reason I ran at this point was because I felt I had the momentum and the energy. I look forward to being able to focus more time on my business and my family.
“I would imagine that at the time of the next election in two years, I will be working on different things.”
Do you feel submarined?
“It certainly was disappointing to be subject to a lot of deceptive articles and mailers. I think Culver City deserves better. But our feeling was the best thing for my campaign to do was to focus on Culver City, on being positive, on expressing a constructive message.
“To me, that was the right thing to do, and I am proud of it.”
(To be continued)
