[Editor’s Note: The School Board candidates barely had time to clean up from today’s first Candidates Forum before turning around and coming back Downtown at the dinner hour for the final forum, a student-oriented event, at 6:45 at The Actor’s Gang.]
Endorsements probably are more valued by attention-chasing officeseekers than by voters, who barely notice.
But when the question of Which Single Endorsement Do You Find Most Significant was posed this afternoon to Scott Zeidman at the Rotary Club’s School Board candidate forum, he provided a jackpot response for raw candor — after building the drama.
“I have been endorsed by every member of the City Council and every member of the School Board,” said Mr. Zeidman, the only incumbent in the field.
“Those are important, but let me tell you about the endorsement that is not the best but the reason for it.
“The single most important endorsement to me came from (fellow Board member) Karlo Silbiger.
“Let me tell you why,” he said, surveying the tables of Rotarians at The Culver Hotel. “Karlo and I don’t get along. We are acquaintances. We don’t go to parties together. We don’t often agree on things. In fact, more often than not, we are on opposite sides of a vote.
“And Karlo is working on another campaign.
“Why in the world would Karlo Silbiger, who is always on the other side, endorse me?
“The answer is, he has worked with me for two years. He may not agree with me. But he knows I am going to do the job, the best I possibly can.
“While I am honored to have the City Council, the School Board, 13 former mayors, 6 former School Board presidents, the biggest honor is having the one guy who doesn’t agree with me telling me he wants me back.”
Not a Full House
Gary Abrams was missing from the lineup this afternoon when Laura Chardiet, Nancy Goldberg, Robert Zirgulis and Mr. Zeidman, arrayed on bar stools in the front of the lobby, polished their declared positions with the witty assistance of moderator Frances Talbott-White.
While Mr. Zeidman took full advantage of his unique strength as the lone incumbent, the rest scrambled to shore up their strengths, which sometimes are interchangeable with their resumés.
Interestingly also, those who have children in school and those who don’t were quick to explain why this was advantageous.
The PTA maven Ms. Chardiet said that she was running for elective office for the first time “because of my kids — 14 and my daughter is 12 years old today — and because I have a unique skill set.”
What She Does Best
She played her main card, citing the numerous student- or parent-oriented organizations where she has volunteered, led and influenced for more than a decade, her professional education skills, managing a $15 million grant for LAUSD, her collaboration, her problem-solving and implementation talents. “I get things done,” she said.
Endorsements by the Teachers Union and the Chamber of Commerce verify her claims that she appeals to diverse constituencies in the community, Ms. Chardiet said.
Wasting no time, Ms. Goldberg, who feels strongly about populist perspectives, went to the centerpiece of her maiden venture into electoral politics on the first question from Ms. Talbott-White:
“What question would you like to answer?”
“How do we increase community involvement and transparency of issues before they become issues. I am thinking mostly of needs whereby the Board could actually feel responsible, perhaps on a personal level, would report special points they thought the community should be aware of.
“Were that to happen, some of these dissenting views might not make the headlines as they do.”
Ms. Goldberg said the endorsement she is proudest of at the moment is her newest, from NOW, the National Organization of Women.
