Re “Was the Teachers Union Complacent? Silbiger Wonders”
Continuing to plumb for reasons that the three-person slate by United Parents of Culver City swept last month’s School Board election, a veteran of numerous elections said there may be a vanilla plain explanation.
“All the members of the parents union live in Culver City, and I believe members of the Teachers Union, by and large, do not,” said the person who preferred to remain anonymous.
After reading eight installments of a series of analyses by Karlo Silbiger, who was upset on Election Day, the seasoned observer believed he had identified a core reason.
“I am speculating, but I believe this to be so,” said the analyst. “The president of the Teachers Union, David Mielke, and the president of the classified employees union, Debbie Hamme, live in Culver City. I would venture to say, probably because they are so woefully paid, that the vast major of members of their respective unions are not residents of Culver City.
“To me, that has a two-fold difference. One obviously is that UPCC parents do live here can vote and union members cannot.
“Secondly,” said the venturesome analyst, “these unions, unlike national labor unions, don’t do grassroots campaigning. They don’t walk. I am not sure if they make calls to potential voters.
Drawing Distinctions
“They rely heavily on mailers, and I am not sure these days that people pay attention to them. They rely more on what they see online and what they hear by word-of-mouth. A lot of garbage comes in the mail.
“If my household is any indication, generally we bundle it up and throw it away – unless it is something we have heard about, like Christopher Armenta’s accusations against Sebastian Ridley-Thomas.
“The majority of political material goes straight into the round-file without being read.”
Was Mr. Silbiger correct in faulting the Teachers Union for not being sufficiently active on behalf of the three candidates the union endorsed?
“It depends,” said the analyst. “If the goal of the unions is to elect people who will be sympathetic to their objectives, they probably need to get more involved. That means expending show leather.
“If the unions are there purely to negotiate the best possible deal for their members with whomever happens to be in the administration of the School District and on the School Board, they may not want to get more involved. I suspect a sentiment would be, if they back the wrong horse, as in this election, they may not fare as well, for payback kind of reasons, at the bargaining table.
“I am not aware, though, of any time that has happened. Still, it has been a risk, a concern.”
