The Culver City Community Coalition has endorsed Daniel Lee, Meghan Sahli-Wells and Thomas Small in their bids for seats on the City Council.
They are among the seven candidates vying for three City Council seats in a race that will culminate on Tuesday, April 12.
“The three candidates we’re endorsing reflect the values that Community Coalition members hold dear,” said im Province, Community Coalition’s spokesperson. “Daniel Lee, Councilmember Meghan Sahli-Wells and Thomas Small are compassionate and visionary individuals committed to progress. They believe as we do: When the most vulnerable among us are treated with respect and their needs taken into consideration, everyone prospers.”
Mr. Lee, the only renter among all seven candidates, is a filmmaker and social worker, an alumnus of USC and UCLA, and a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard. He has volunteered for many years with Culver City students, and currently serves as co-chair of the Martin Luther King Celebration Committee.
Ms. Sahli-Wells is the only incumbent in the race. On the City Council she has championed initiatives to improve the lives of children in the community, and has led efforts to address water conservation, active transportation, affordable housing, homeless services, and comprehensive oil drilling regulations. She is a UCLA graduate and a former translator. Her two children attend Culver Middle School.
Mr. Small, a Cultural Affairs Commissioner, is an expert in architecture, sustainable design, conscientious development and historic preservation. He is an architectural writer and consultant, father of two Lin Howe Elementary students, and a Yale graduate.
“Even though most Community Coalition members are homeowners,” said Mr. Lee, “they clearly take the issues of tenants’ rights, affordable housing, and homelessness very seriously. If I am elected, I will absolutely work in favor of efforts that support renters’ rights. An estimated 45 percent of Culver City residents are renters. Many people are forced to move away from the community where they have established roots, family and friends. One of my main priorities as a City Councilperson would be to propose and enact a strong list of tenant protections.”
Of the Community Coalition, Ms. Sahli-Wells said:
“One of our many areas of agreement is Culver City’s moral obligation to support the Rental Assistance Program. This program was created years ago, when the city was not willing to build affordable housing as mandated under California’s redevelopment law.
“Much more recently, my colleagues and I have voted in support of new affordable housing throughout the city,” she said.
“However, at the moment, Culver City remains behind in affordable housing. The small but vital Rental Assistance Program is making a big difference in the lives of 46 Culver City residents. The majority are elderly or disabled, and in many cases both.”
Mr. Small said that the Community Coalition “sets a very high bar for City Council members, as they should. Above all, government needs to care for the neediest in our society, including the homeless, the indigent and the working poor.
“This is imperative from a humanitarian perspective, also for the economic well-being and the quality of life of our entire community. Culver City’s realization of this goal is a direct, clear demonstration of the character of our city, of our achievement as a community of human beings.”
Mr. Lee, Ms. Sahli-Wells and Mr. Small all favor raising Culver City’s minimum wage to $15 per hour.
“We were very impressed to see how committed these candidates are into improving the financial well-being of the people employed in our city,” Mr. Province said.
“Raising our minimum wage to $15 per hour is the humane thing to do,” said Mr. Lee. “It is also practical.
“Culver City employers compete for good workers with employers in nearby cities. Now that Santa Monica and Los Angeles have raised their minimum wage to $15 per hour, Culver City businesses will be at a disadvantage if we don’t pay workers here as much as they can earn across the street.”
“One in five children in the U.S. lives under the federal poverty level,” Ms. Sahli-Wells said. “California has the highest child poverty rate in the nation. We can no longer stand back and let the working poor fall into deeper crisis. A phased-in $15 minimum wage is good for families, and the right thing for Culver City.”
“We definitely need to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour in Culver City,” Mr. Small said.
“Ideally a person working 40 hours a week, with no additional income, should be able to afford the basics for a decent quality of life–food, shelter, utilities, transportation, health care, childcare and recreation. Even at $15 per hour, this would be difficult to achieve. But it would certainly be an improvement. Low-wage workers’ ability to earn more is important, not just for those most in need, but also for all residents who want a stable, sustainable and humane community.”
The Sierra Club has joined the Community Coalition in endorsing these three candidates.
“Daniel, Meghan and Thomas all advocate a ban on fracking,” Mr. Province said. “They all have strong environmental credentials and achievements.
“Daniel will advocate for an end to drilling on the Inglewood Oil Field and will urge that the land be used instead for a solar and wind farm.
“As a member of the city’s Oil Drilling Subcommittee, Meghan is working with our vice mayor to craft stringent drilling regulations for the oil field. Meghan looks forward to the day when drilling will no longer take place, and the oil field will become a large public park.
“Thomas’s goal is to keep the oil in the ground and transition to a renewable micro grid to secure a sustainable and resilient energy future for the city,” Mr. Province said.
With the election less than a month away, the Community Coalition urges residents to get to know the candidates better. “In particular, check out their websites,” Mr. Province said. “There’s a wealth of information there.”
Readers can learn more about candidates on their websites:
- Mr. Lee at www.danielwaynelee.com
- Ms. Sahli-Wells at www.vote4meghan.com
- Mr. Small at www.Thomas4culvercity.org
To learn more about the Culver City Community Coalition, visit www.culvercitycommunitycoalition.net.
Ms. Rona Tuttle may be contacted at Rebecca.Rona@hotmail.com
“Obviously, Mr. Lee has absolutely no business sense whatsoever. Here is his quote from this press release,
“Culver City employers compete for good workers with employers from nearby cities. Now that Santa Monica and Los Angeles have raised their minimum wage to $15 an hour, Culver City businesses will be at a disadvantage if we don’t pay workers the same as they can earn across the street.”
Employers do not need a government mandate to raise the minimum wage to compete. If an employer wishes to hire a worker, that employer can choose to offer the wage that the employer chooses. Minimum wage is not MAXIMUM wage. If an employer wants to, she can offer minimum wage or any amount ABOVE minimum wage. She doesn’t need e government to tell her how much to pay.
By the way, Mr Lee, Los Angeles has NOT raised minimum wage to $15 an hour. That change is not effective until 2020, about the same year that you will be running, unsuccessfully, for a city council seat for the 3rd time.
Wally, from your point of view, that of primarily economics, Mr. Lee appears to have “no business sense.” From my point of view, Mr. Lee has “deep moral business sense.” Reminds me of something I heard Meghan Sahli-Wells say recently regarding the creation of affordable housing: “It’s our moral obligation. If you are just paying attention to economic development and not the people and not all of their needs, the end of that is what you see in Flint, Michigan.” I highly agree!
Most of the minimum wage increases that have been passed are scheduled to be phased in over a number of years. So when Mr. Lee says wage increases were passed he is correct.
Wally Hill,
You owe Mr. Lee an apology. And you owe any readers you’ve mislead an apology.
You stated that Mr. Lee has no business sense. It’s unfortunate that you wrote this, because it only makes it apparent to readers that you’re unaware of the positive consequences of a raise in the minimum wage–including the economic benefits to businesses and governments.
Setting aside the important moral aspects of a raise in the minimum wage, do you not realize that any worker who earns more therefore spends more? Have you considered that a worker in Culver City might spend his additional dollars in this town on any number of goods and services? Did it occur to you that this would lead to business owners reaping larger profits?
Do you realize that a raise in the minimum wage will mean that parents can spend more on healthy food for themselves, improving their own health and that of their children? Did you know that both adult and childhood obesity–often resulting from eating less expensive, unhealthy food–is hugely expensive for both individuals and the nation?
I assure you there are many more reasons that a raise in the minimum wage does make economic sense.
You stated that LA’s raise in the minimum wage won’t occur until 2020, as though Mr. Lee didn’t know what he was talking about. But you were incorrect. It is a phased-in raise that has already begun and will reach its $15 peak in 2020. Did you not know that?
Read more here: http://www.latimes.com/local/cityhall/la-me-minimum-wage-cities-20160207-story.html
Here’s an employer with a very different definition of good business sense:
http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2016/03/why_costco_is_raising_its_mini.html
Though they had not raised their entry level wages since 2007, they realized that they needed to be more competitive if they wanted better workers.
Seems like Mr. Lee’s logic is not faulty at all.
I haven’t read the story but saw the link on Facebook and would like to point out two poor and lazy editorial choices in the headline. Number one, Ms. Sahli-Wells should be called by her last name in the headline, as was done for the two men. As it stands now, this headline is sexist. (And if the headline became too long with all three last names, then rewrite the headline!) Number two, if you’re going to name the candidates in the headline and put a photo right below it, list the candidates in the order they’re shown in the photo. These details matter to voters and readers.