By Dan O’Brien
During the spring of my freshman year in college, The Simpsons began their continuing legacy as the longest running prime time show on TV. I have always appreciated the way creator, Matt Groening, master of satire, portrays current events and pop culture.
One of my favorite running gags on The Simpsons is that of cranky, old Grandpa Simpson scribbling letters to the editor, the presidents of corporations, and even the President of the United States. These letters never are constructive, nor congratulatory, nor coherent. An example:”Dear Mr. President. There are too many states nowadays. Please eliminate three. I am not a crackpot.”
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Each time I click on your website and find another one of George Laase's op-eds, I picture Grandpa Simpson.
Now there are few easy options in Culver City when trying to educate oneself on the issues of our community, especially our schools. The Culver City News and the Culver City Observer can be read weekly. The School District publishes Culver City Currents on a quarterly basis. On a daily basis, however, one can turn to thefrontpageonline.com, culvercitycrossroads.com, and culvercity.patch.com.
Of those, Mr. Laase is prolific on this site: Not of the Picasso variety, however; more like my dog during his morning walks.
It is very easy to sit back and throw darts at someone while picking apart his/her decisions as a public servant with the benefit of hindsight. Holding an elective office is an unenviable one. Your time is not your own. You are rarely thanked or appreciated for your good deeds. And in Culver City, your stipend barely pays for the gas in your car, let alone the hundreds of hours you spend working for the good of those you represent.
I do not know what motivates Mr. Laase in producing his unending leak of raw sewage. I can't recall a positive word coming from his keyboard other than reports on the football field at CCHS. I have served on a bunch of school, city and civil service committees and organizations. I have yet to cross paths with him in those arenas.
Mr. Laase seems focused on one goal, and that is to tear down the good efforts of others. He certainly hasn't built anything positive in my 14 years as a Culver City resident.
Mr. Laase is a cyberbully, using the internet to harm others in a deliberate, repeated and hostile manner. Since his recent attack on School Board President Kathy Paspalis, I went back and found his last five op-eds. In those, he attacks Kathy Paspalis, Robert Zirgulis, and Steve Levin, all three of whom are candidates in this fall's School Board election.
I also went back to confirm that Mr. Laase is listed as a staff writer on the Silbiger family-run blog: http://culvercityprogress.blogspot.com/
I find it far from coincidental that Mr. Laase has avoided direct criticism of Karlo Silbiger, even painting him in a positive light while levying such harsh criticism at Mr. Silbiger's opponents.
If Mr. Laase is so concerned about the increase in pay that the teachers receive, then he should direct that criticism at the entire School Board. Yet he singles out Kathy Paspalis, the only incumbent running against Mr. Silbiger.
Let me tell you what I know of Kathy:
She has taken a leadership role on the School Board in so many ways that I'm sure I cannot name them all. Off the top of my head, she was the only Board member to attend EVERY School Board meeting until last Tuesday, when she was on a work trip to the east coast.
Attending a meeting isn't enough, however. Because of her diligence, you can plainly see that she is the most prepared School Board member at these meetings. She fought hard for the K-12 music curriculum; ACTIVELY worked hard towards the completion of the current capital improvements, including sitting on the solar project panel, the construction manager panel, and key meetings with Frost Auditorium architects, Hodges + Funk.
She was on the Immersion Strategic Planning Committee, which, along with FLAP grants, resulted in expansion of language immersion into the Middle School. Oh, and she took the initiative to get our schools' security staff better trained PRIOR to the Sandy Hook tragedy. She also helped initiate improvements to our schools' lunch menus.
Finally, she made EVERY effort to work hard to inform the public AND listen to them about the dire physical needs of our schools. During the six months prior to the July 1 School Board meeting where the debate over the timing of a facilities bond was held, Kathy personally organized and attended public input meetings held at Farragut Elementary, El Rincon Elementary, La Ballona Elementary, El Marino Elementary, Linwood E. Howe Elementary, and Culver City Middle School. It should be noted that School Board member Laura Chardiet attended most of the meetings as well. Those School Board members who claimed they didn't have enough information to move forward on a bond, Patricia Siever, Karlo Silbiger and Nancy Goldberg, did not attend one of those meetings. Zero.
All of these things she has achieved while being a single, working mother of two kids who attend Culver City Unified schools.
Mr. O'Brien may be contacted at beverlyanddan@aol.com
