One of a series.
Re: “Mayor Wants to Wash His Hands”
At Monday night’s disparate City Council meeting, amid a cacophony of voices offering non-unanimous opinions, the mayor inserted his own.
Perhaps no professional in Culver City loves his job as much as Jim Clarke authentically enjoys playing mayor.
Therefore it was no surprise when Mr. Clarke said that sometime in the future, not on this hectic occasion, he wanted to explore altering the policy of rotating Council members serving one year in the mayor’s chair. He wants the person to have the option of running for a second year.
“There is a lot that I want to do (accomplish),” Mr. Clarke said.
Before his turn to be mayor came up in the rotation a couple years ago, the lifetime politician asked to be mayor, instead, during Culver City’s Centennial Year, which opens in September. He won easy approval.
On Monday, Mr. Clarke just wanted to plant the idea in Council members’ minds for future pondering.
Here is why it was wise to postpone any elucidation:
What appeared to be an uncomplicated chore on this evening – briefly reviewing and forwarding to the November ballot four non-earthquake charter amendments – turned into an updated version of the joke about fouling up a one-car parade.
A motion on one edited amendment by Vice Mayor Jeff Cooper failed to win a second. This is how divided the Council was: Both ultimate votes were 3-2.
If Mr. Clarke had asked his colleagues to vote on whether it was Monday night or Thursday, it might have come out 4-1, and not necessarily for Monday.
(To be continued)
