Second in a series
Re “There Was an Event – So Naturally, Mr. Clarke Was There”
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Mr. Clarke, left, the candidate with Council colleagues Andy Weissman and Mayor Jeff Cooper. Photo, Sandy Schwartz.
Before City Councilman Jim Clarke, candidate for re-election next April, could advance into the meat of his campaign kickoff speech on Sunday afternoon, he introduced recognizable members of the bulging audience – the crowd was bulging, individuals were not.
The lineup he checked off sounded like a Culver City Hall of Fame:
Former mayors Steve Gourley, Paul Jacobs, Alan Corlin, Ed Wolkowitz, and current mayor Jeff Cooper.
Among former School Board members (besides contemporaries Laura Chardiet and Kathy Paspalis) were Marla Wolkowitz, Madeline Ehrlich, Stephen Schwartz, Bob Knopf and the aforementioned Mr. Gourley, one of two gentleman in Culver City’s 96-year history to pull double duty, a term on the School Board following his years on the City Council in an earlier century, with an appointed state position in Sacramento in between. Covering all possibilities, Mr. Clarke even introduced the mayor of West Hollywood because he has endorsed the gentleman in his race for County Assessor in the spring election.
If you deduce the idea that the bulk of the visible community is backing Mr. Clarke’s embryonic campaign, score an A for yourself.
“One of the lessons I have learned in Little League,” said Mr. Clarke, “is that there is no ‘i’ in team. And so I want to introduce part of my campaign team.” That was a signal for treasurer Maren Neufeld, social media maven Sylvia Moore, press relations person Sandy Schwartz, lawn-sign wrangler Mr. Schwartz and campaign controller Crystal Alexander.
Whereupon both persons in the audience who were not acknowledged slowly, stealthily stepped toward the exit.
“And (I want to thank) all of you,” the casually attired Mr. Clarke said as his eyes swept across the jammed patio of Mike Cohen’s home.
“Two years ago, for most of you, I was sort of an unknown quantity when I was first running for this job,” said the man who has devoted much of his career to helping others get elected.
“It took a leap of faith for you to support my campaign. Your early support gave a lot of lift underneath my wings to be able to win this race the first time I ran.
“I appreciate that you all are back here because it shows you have confidence in me, and I hope to repeat that confidence.”
From the middle of the crowd, witty community activist Tom Camarella cracked:
“Either that or we don’t learn quickly,” a line the Clarke crowd appreciated.
(To be continued)
