Ari L. Noonan
Did Heaven Send the Mayor a Signal?
Did heaven — in the form of the Democratic Club of Culver City —
send a signal to Mayor Albert Vera that his first instinct was correct, that it really is time to go?
His on, then off, then who-knows withdrawal from this spring’s City Council race took a hit when the Democrats voted overwhelmingly, fifty-seven to seventeen, to support Measure V.
The mayor summoned all of the personal tools that have made him a cinch every time he has run for office. But they didn’t work this time.
For anyone who has not been reading thefrontpageonline.com, he set up his typically informal pitch. He lifted the curtain a teeny bit to give the audience a preview.
Mychelle Hale Defeats 23 Other CCUSD Students in District¹s First Spelling...
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| Westfield's Craig Doyle congratulates the 2006 CCUSD Spelling Bee winners pictured, from left, Mychelle Hale (first place), Janine Bedon (second place) and Adrian Berliner (third place). |
Culver Highs Version of Improv
Improv comes to the Culver City High School campus next weekend when the school’s Trainwreck Theater Improv Comedy troupe presents two nights of audience-participation comedy.
Under the auspices of the school’s Academy of Visual and Performing Arts,
performances will begin at 7:30 on Friday, Feb. 17, and Saturday, Feb. 18.
Joel Goodman, who teaches two levels of improvisational acting to twenty students every Saturday, has been working with the troupe for several years. “These students take their comedy very seriously,” he said.
In the Lead Its Gotta Be Measure V
Refining last week’s season-opening debate over Measure V to a point of irreducibility, the attorney Andy Weissman, debatably, may be declared the winner.
Dueling candidly, calmly and convincingly with City Councilwoman Carol Gross before a Chamber of Commerce business audience, Mr. Weissman and his rival acquitted themselves with matching brilliance.
Even at gunpoint, neither would consider switching sides.
When Ms. Gross affixes her name to an April 11 ballot, she will vote against the steaming-hot, all-in-one Charter Reform measure, and she may attach at least one exclamation mark for emphasis.
In Defense of Saundra Davis
The more one learns about the pettiness of several members of the School Board, the more one wonders how they can face the public with a straight face every other Tuesday night.
They act like washer women, hanging over an unpainted back fence, gossiping
about the woman they love to criticize, Board President Saundra Davis.
As if they were windy, latter-day Hedda Hoppers, they gossiped darkly about Ms. Davis in the Board Room at District Headquarters during a very public community meeting.
This occurred — should we say naturally? — when Ms. Davis was not in the room.
Why She Opposes Measure V
Tom Camarella recently went to great lengths to dispel purported misconceptions regarding Measure V – the City Charter Reform Amendment.
However, Mr. Camarella neglected to address a situation that has occurred by placing the Charter amendment on the ballot as a single document.
The majority of the people I know are joining me in voting against Measure V. They are doing so for the plain and simple fact that it allows for no disagreements.
There are several hot-button issues contained in the ballot measure that we feel should be voted on as separate items.
Council Candidate Mehaul OLeary
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| City Council candidate Mehaul O’Leary, who opposes Measure V, the Charter reform measure, on the April 11 ballot, presented his arguments against V at a picnic for his backers last Saturday at
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Book Sale on Saturday
The Friends of the Library are promising a sweetheart deal — in honor of Valentine’s Day — at Saturday’s six-hour book sale at the Julian Dixon Library.
Videos, audio cassettes, DVDs, CDs and magazines will be available during the 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. book sale, as well as hardcover books and paperbacks.
Starting Wednesday, Feb.15, the library will be closed for two weeks, reopening on Thursday, March 2.
The library is at 4975 Overland Ave.
For information, or to become a member of the Friends, go to www.ccfol.org or contact the Friends of the Library at 310.559.1676.
If Ursula Will Give Her Blessing
Having had a day and a half to think over an impulsive announcement at Monday night’s City Council meeting, Mayor Albert Vera said this morning he still has not decided whether to run for re-election.
He may. He may not.
After reversing himself for the second time in twenty-four days, he promised thefrontpageonline.com that he will make a final, final decision by the end of the week.
Before performing his daily ritual of raising the two American flags in front of the Sorrento Italian Market this morning, Mr. Vera again linked his conclusion to his ailing wife Ursula.
Ladera Heights Appeals to the State
Hoping to overturn last month’s ruling by the County Board of Education, Ladera Heights families seeking to transfer their children from Inglewood to Culver City filed an appeal yesterday with the state of California.
“We feel that we wrote a very convincing statement of reasons for the appeal,” Cheryl Cook, one of the movement’s primary leaders, told thefrontpageonline.com.
“But, as I have learned, politics is tricky, to say the least.
“Of the three conditions that the County said we did not meet, we have strong arguments to support our claim that they were met.
