Re “If You Were a Gay Student, Culver City Was a Comfy Place to be”
When longtime members Dana Russell, Saundra Davis and Jessica Beagles-Roos officially are subtracted from the School Board a little after 6 on Tuesday evening at Lin Howe School, surviving members Steve Gourley and Scott Zeidman will be left alone in the room with the 3 newly electeds:
Kathy Paspalis, Prof. Patricia Siever and Karlo Silbiger.
There will be plenty of time the next 2 years for Messrs. Zeidman and Gourley to figure out their professional relationships with the ladies.
As for Mr. Silbiger, they know him pretty well. Doesn’t everybody?
Today’s subject is leadership.
A veritable lad by traditional elective standards, Mr. Silbiger has been around the halls of Culver City governance for as close to forever as a 27-year-old can come.
He has been a presence, but this is his first elective position. How will the dynamics change when the 5 of them sit down together?
Counting Votes Again
The community may get a taste immediately because a highlight of Tuesday’s brief meeting will be election of Board officers.
Young Mr. Silbiger, son of City Councilman Gary Silbiger and former School Board member Barbara Honig, is accustomed to being the drum major wherever he goes. He is not the violet who shrinks and slinks into a corner. Not his way.
“I have had the great benefit,” Mr. Silbiger says, “of having one of my 2 parents holding elective office, almost without interruption, while I was growing up. I have had a chance to watch not only them but their colleagues and how they have performed.
“I have found that you have to be able — everybody who runs for office has to have some kind of ego. You have to believe in yourself.
“No one likes to be told what to do. Anybody who goes there and sits down and says, ‘You need to do this,’ “you need to do this,’ ‘this is my vision — everyone go do them’ is never going to be functional.
“One thing I plan on doing, and have done in the past, is to find common interests. Then, find ways for all to be involved in setting priorities so that it’s not ‘I’m great, you’re great, I’m going to go do it, you watch.’
“I don’t need to be, I don’t want to be, I don’t have time to be, and I don’t plan to be in charge of everything. That is not the way a board works.
“I hope to be able to work with people to find common interests, find ways for each of us to take leadership roles as we work our way through agendas.”
Q. As the most junior member of the new School Board — no one is even within 20 years — does Mr. Silbiger feel he will have to earn his place at the table?
“Oh, yes,” he said, quickly. “No question this happens when someone comes into a position from a point people are not used to.
“Being not only the youngest elected official, I think, in Culver City history, but by some measure, puts me in a position where I have to prove, every single day, that I have the intelligence, the maturity, the ability to not only relate to the other 4 people there and the staff, but also to be a leader among them. I try very hard at that.
“That is the reason I spent a whole lot of time before I ran going to School Board meetings, speaking regularly, making sure I was very clear about what I thought.
“At candidate forums, I made sure that I came with very thought-out ideas. I meant to show this wasn’t something that I did on a whim. I actually knew what I was talking about and I had the backgound.
“I think the fact that I am an educator and trained as an educator, helped me because I have a niche knowledge.”
A superb orator, Mr. Silbiger was the speaking star at every forum.
“I never thought of myself as a good speaker,” he said. “When I was in elementary school (at El Rincon), I had a lisp. As a result, I had years of help. I can’t explain further.
“I always have been good with words. When my dad and other people ran, I would help them with their speeches, when I was a teenager, help them come up with stuff. I really enjoyed it.”
