I was supporting Scott Zeidman and Laura Chardiet in the School Board election, but I think the world of Nancy Goldberg.
I was surprised by the margin that Scott, in third place, trailed Nancy (315 votes).
The community and the School Board, I believe, will be well served by Laura and Nancy.
We had three really outstanding candidates.
The issue that concerns me is the nature of elections in Culver City. The cost of mailers is out of whack. The cost per vote continues to rise.
My understanding is that Scott spent more in this campaign, which he lost by a handful of votes (28) than he did four years ago when he won.
Given the small number of voters, that is a continuing issue. The largest disappointment — that may be worthy of investigation by a political science student — is the incredibly small number of parents of school-age children who vote.
What is going on with the rest of the parents who are there to complain, who volunteer.
I believe the 80-20 rule of life may apply: 20 percent of the people do the work and 80 percent do nothing.
We had less than a 20 percent turnout yesterday. Isn’t that sad?
A larger concern is the future of Culver City politics. The way elections are going, average citizens are prevented from stepping forward and volunteering unless they have significant fundraising capabilities.
Historically, most who have stepped forward to run are not lured by pecuniary gain.
We are now severely limiting the number of citizens who can become viable candidates.
Mr. Elmont, a former candidate for the School Board, may be contacted at aelmont@ca.rr.com
