By Election Day on Tuesday, April 8, the Culver City 9 may not yet be backslapping pals but probably slightly more convivial than they have been this month.
Veins finally have started showing up in the ice.
Up to last night, the nine contenders for three open seats on the City Council have acted like cardboard corpses en route to an Ex-Wives Convention.
Specializing in tunnel vision, they barely look left or right when they enter the fight arenas for the various Candidate Forums. They conduct themselves as if they were single-minded astronauts on an imperturbable mission into outer space.
Warming up
When the Culver City Homeowners Assn. brought them together for a strictly controlled forum at the Vets Auditorium last evening, they started to melt. A bit.
It is not as if anyone has been a model for breakthrough. While there are gaping differences in their credentials and approaches to the campaign, all of them but a couple have given evidence of low-flying nervousness.
They aren’t as shaky as schoolboys who are bound to blow their lines in the school play.
But neither are they as comfortable as if they were at home in their own parlor or as comfortable as they will need to be in late April when three of them are nominated to the dais in Council Chambers at City Hal1.
Getting Their Shpiels Set
With two or three exceptions, they have their introductory pieces firmly set — not that anyone is dazzling audiences with his presentation style.
They will have two more opportunities to shake out the jitters next week — Tuesday at the Raintree Clubhouse and Thursday at the Radisson Hotel.
Four or five of them are growing stronger and more confident at a faster pace than the rest, but the cake-taker of all last night was, ironically, the least known challenger, Randy Scott Leslie.
Recently retired from 26 years with the U.S. Coast Guard, tall, bald and personable, he may be the most comfortable candidate standing before the public.
A Time for Creativity
A resident for four years, he says he is running because he wants to contribute, to get involved in his adopted hometown.
No question that Mr. Leslie does not have close to the familiarity that some contenders do with the most pertinent issues at City Hall.
Employing the most creative stroke seen in this campaign, Mr. Leslie, a world traveler during his military service, did the next best thing:
He piggybacked his eight rivals in a pretty clever manner by identifying a unique strength. He also showed he had been paying close attention to the rhetoric of his adversaries.
Calling out each one by first name, Mr. Leslie said “Every candidate up here, I have qualities similar to them.:
“Cary (Anderson) is a community activist. He talked about law enforcement and being involved.
“Gary (Russell) is passionate about the environment. I, too, have spent my entire 26 years protecting the environment.
“Mehaul (O’Leary) is a business owner, and he talks about a balanced budget. I have a fiscal and financial background.
“Andy Weissman is a team player. He knows how to deal with people to move them effectively toward a goal. I know how to be a team player. I know how to lead. I also know how to follow.
“Loni (Anderson) is a medical professional. I have EMT training, CPR-qualified.
“Luther (Henderson) is a musician and educator. My wife is a musician. I believe strong in music education, and thank God the School District decided not to include music programs in the budget cutting.
“In regard to Jeff (Cooper), I am concerned about the environment. I believe you have to be involved, to stand up and speak your mind, not be afraid.
“In regard to Chris (Armenta), I believe in open government, I believe in using technology. I believe in sitting down and listening to the points of view of others, whether you agree with the persons or not.
“I believe that all of my strengths are captured here,” Mr. Leslie concluded. “Please vote for me. My website is culvercityelection.com”
