Two City Councilmen were billed as the main attractions at last night’s meeting of the Culver City Democratic Club.
But Culver Crest activist Suzanne De Benedittis stole the headline, passionately pleading for assistance from her fellow Democrats in seeking to modify the new drilling regulations of the thousand-acre Inglewood oil field.
Fresh from months of letter-writing and speaking out at public hearings on what she said was an acute public health and safety issue, one of the most spirited of the scores of Culver Crest protestors told the Democratic activists that they didn’t have time to think over their response.
Ms. De Benedittis invited club members to join her in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday morning at 9:30, 500 W. Temple St., where the County Board of Supervisors will take a final vote on two documents that will regulate drilling in the Baldwin Hills plot for the next 20 years.
Nearly everywhere you go in Culver City these days, somebody seems to be talking about PXP, the controversial Plains, Exploration & Production oil-drilling company that is hoping to strongly expand its presence in the two-mile oil field.
Entering a Fight’s Showdown Round
Hundreds of suddenly alarmed neighbors maintain that virtually any uptick in drilling will present parallel perils to both their families and their properties. They have characterized themselves as the heavy underdog Little Guy in a virtual fight-to-the-death against an array of County officials charged with regulating the oil field, insisting all along that PXP has been uncomfortably tight, tied too closely, with County decision-makers.
Realizing that increased drilling virtually in their backyards was inevitable, residents have been organized since last spring in an attempt to insert meaningful protection rules into the Environmental Impact Report and the Community Standards District document.
Ms. De Benedittis distributed a vivid yellow flyer, headlined “This Is It,” and “Your Presence Can Change the Final Out.” For those with transportation issues, she said three free busses — two hired by Councilman Mehaul O’Leary — will be departing from three Culver City locations at 15-minute intervals, starting at 7:15 Tuesday morning, bound for the Board of Supervisors hearing.
7:15 — From Marycrest Manor, at the top of Ranch and Cranks roads, Culver Crest.
7:30 — Culver Palms YMCA, 4500 Sepulveda Blvd.
7:45 — Vets Park, corner of Culver Boulevard and Overland.
She also provided email contact information:culvercity99@aol.com
Armed with large and bulky maps, more than she could carry at one time, Ms. De Benedittis said the process had been unnecessarily rushed through a series of approval processes. “The County needs to take its time and do the documents right,” she said. “Ken Kutcher, a land-use lawyer who has been leading this fight, said that we need to pack the hall on Tuesday. He said the only way to exercise our will is to show up.”
Later, first-year Council members Chris Armenta and Andy Weissman both managed to weave the potential perils of PXP expansion into their informal speeches. City Hall has not been standing by idly while individual residents fight gargantuan battles alone, they said. Since spring, the city has invested more than $200,000 in hiring and consulting with experts for counseling on how to effectively due with the County government and the oil-drilling company.
Crowds Can Swell, Too
Early attendance at the 7 o’clock meeting was almost invisible, likely because the Presidential debate had another half hour to run. Eventually, a quorum arrived, and they seemed stimulated and entertained by what they saw.
The academic Judy Alter, who has made the study of widespread voting misadventures an avocation, encouraged club members to help combat voting problems at the polls by volunteering for any of a variety of watchdog roles on Nov. 4, Election Day.
Mr. Weissman and Mr. Armenta pronounced their first six months in office as successful, with a generous helping of sunny banter tossed in by Mr. Weissman, who, puckishly, can’t resist reaching for a punch line. Mr. Armenta, who welcomed his father, Ray, into the audience, is a slightly more formal type. Mr. Weissman is Andy to all but a couple of his friends. But Mr. Armenta respectfully refers to him as Andrew.
“I am pleased to be here,” said Mr. Weissman, “and I was pleased to be here back in February for the Candidates Forum. That was when I stated, for the first time, that if I was elected, it was my intention to bring a new attitude of civility to the City Council. We have accomplished that. At the end of the day we may disagree, but without being disagreeable. We work well together. We agree on much more than we disagree on.”
Sounding a similar theme of collegiality, Mr. Armenta said that “I like to think of us as a family of five brothers.”
He recited a lengthy and impressive list of accomplishments since a 60 percent new City Council was sworn in at the end of April.
Mr. Armenta reserved special emphasis for topics he feels most keenly about.
“We are trying to get a strong handle on public notification,” he said. “And December is our goal for hiring an animal services officer.”
