Who are the smart people foreseeing as winners in today’s nine-way City Council race?
Relying upon conventional wisdom, former Mayor Ed Wolkowitz, out of office for six years, said last night in Council Chambers that “it probably is true” that Andy Weissman will be the leading magnet for Culver City voters.
Now the tough part.
“After that, you take eight people, and I don’t know,” he said.
In the process of expressing skepticism that Christopher Armenta will run second in a race for three seats, as a segment of the community believes, Mr. Wolkowitz said a kind of satisfactory calm may have settled across Culver City.
“I see a lot of letters-to-the-editor,” he said. “But not a lot of excitement out there about the election. This is a good thing for the city. It suggests people are generally happy with the way things are. When they are angry, people get excited.”
What About Connection?
Some observers see Mr. Armenta, the outgoing City Clerk, as a protégé of City Councilman Gary Silbiger, a feeling that is reinforced by the fact his campaign is being managed by Mr. Silbiger’s son Karlo.
“I am not sure the Silbiger/Armenta connection is positive,” said Mr. Wolkowitz, a bankruptcy lawyer. “It may be a negative. It’s tough to call.
“I suspect there is a small core of activist folks who support Gary. But I am not sure, if Gary were running today, that he would win. That is another issue. I just don’t know.”
Pressed to choose the likely Nos. 2 and 3 votegetters, Mr. Wolkowitz started with Jeff Cooper.
The Runnerup
“Interestingly, I believe Jeff could be a 2, only because of his affiliation with so many city organizations. That generally is something that can be really helpful.
“After that, you put together Armenta, Luther Henderson and Mehaul (O’Leary). Even Loni Anderson has an outside shot.”
