The Silbiger Legacy: How to Remain an Enigma

I was ruminating about the curious sheen that will overtake City Council meetings next May after three veterans are term-limited out. Scott Malsin — the probable next Mayor — and Gary Silbiger will be the holdovers, flanked by newcomers.

Who will provide the ballast?

Who is going to earn the role of grownup and take charge?

Mr. Malsin is a wonk, an idea man. He is more of an inside person, a chief administrator-type rather than a field general.

Mr. Silbiger’s Warren Harding-like 5 1/2 years in office is a punch-in-the-face reminder to casual Culver City voters to know your candidates before marking your ballot.



How They Are Alike

Like Mr. Harding, Mr. Silbiger is an aimiable fellow. At worst, he would be a co-favorite for the title of Nicest Person on the City Council.

Like Mr. Harding, Mr. Silbiger invites plump, nearly irresistible, criticism because each gaffe sounds as if the Councilman has struck bottom. Again.

Almost halfway through his second four-year term, he remains an enigma, an unenviable accomplishment. If Mr. Silbiger prepares — beyond a glance — for the Monday night Council meetings, there is no evidence in his performance.

Inevitably, this leads him to pose embarrassing questions, both to his colleagues and to City Hall staffers. Some evenings it looks as if he were tourist in Culver City.

If he knows more about the infrastructure and the operation of City Hall than the occasional visitor to Council Chambers, he is keeping it hidden.

Routinely, the highest profile agenda items are treated like strangers knocking on his door — there is a whiff of curiosity. That is all. Insight and a fundamental grasp of the issue often are absent.

Basic information that other Council members learned in their first months continues to elude Mr. Silbiger.



How Did They Do That?

At last Monday night’s Council meeting, he asked a staffer how traffic consultants are selected to review conditions at prospective development sites. If the staffer had replied “the Man in the Moon,” the Councilman could not have been more surprised with the answer.

Mr. Silbiger’s colleagues already knew the partial answer he received — that the developer picks the engineers to do the traffic study. Other Council members also knew that the choice is made from a City Hall-approved list. Why didn’t Mr. Silbiger know that?

What Does He Know?

Since he has practically flogged the too-much-traffic horse down to its last reddened scab, this is fundamental to his case. But it, along with other ground-level information, is not in Mr. Silbiger’s portfolio.

I don’t expect him to be a maven on any subject.

But I do expect him to comprehend every item on the agenda every Monday night and to be able to clearly explain his position on each without asking questions whose answers he should have long ago catalogued.



Inspecting the State of His Agenda

Finally, there is the tactical dimension of Mr. Silbiger. Like all of his colleagues, he has an agenda, including several pet subjects. Fair.

But the red meat of his agenda still is lying on the floor, failed, the same place it was when he was elected.



Team Player?

Unlike his colleagues, Mr. Silbiger never has mastered the crucial political art of playing as a team member, compromising. The concept of compromise seems foreign to him. Most Monday nights, he waves a flag for the same old issues. No new insights. No effort made to enlist other Councilmembers. He just rides his horse into the wall. He makes a large number of motions, and usually does not get a second.

If he were representing my agenda, I would be upset.

Clearer language is not available.



A Chance to Practice



With the School Board election coming up in six weeks, Nov. 6, get to know the five candidates. Except for Roger Maxwell and Mike Eskridge, the field is a mystery to most voters.

Know who you are electing.

Gain an insight into how your candidate will react once on the dais.