Of all the present and former elected officials in Culver City, Vice Mayor Gary Silbiger probably was closer than anyone else to Adele Siegel, a much-admired political activist, who died last Wednesday at the age of 92.
Born activists deeply dedicated to progressive causes, they met under perhaps predictable circumstances — when they were espousing a volatile cause.
They did not know each other when they came together in the mid-‘90s to protest Police Chief Ted Cooke’s very quiet hiring of fired LAPD officer Timothy Wind, who had been implicated in the scandalous Rodney King beating.
Considered a disgraced cop unwelcome at most police agencies, Mr. Wind was hired by the unorthodox Mr. Cooke for the part-time position of Community Services Officer, a position that offered him all of the standard Police Dept. benefits. Apparently it was the chief’s intention to promote Mr. Wind to the force as a fulltime officer after the outrage receded.
The outrage did not, however, diminish.
Protesting Pays Off
With Mr. Silbiger and Mrs. Siegel in the forefront, infuriated protestors kept up a drumbeat to force Mr. Wind out of uniform. They regularly carried their protests to the community’s favorite, and most effective, forum, before the City Council. They brought a petition with a thousand names, urging the radioactive cop’s ouster.
What made the work of Mrs. Siegel and Mr. Silbiger, along with many others, so impressive was that the City Council commonly was accused of cowering in the presence — and, some said, the absence — of Mr. Cooke. Critics claim that the chief ran the Police Dept. tailored to his specific needs, brooking no interference from the Council members, and they knew it.
Pressure from the demonstrators won the day. Mr. Wind wound up back in his native Kansas.
A Network Was Born
This episode helped to solidify and enhance the reputations of both Mrs. Siegel and Mr. Silbiger as effective community watchdogs.
Bouyed by the Wind success, Mrs. Siegel and Mr. Silbiger, the future Councilman, became involved with the new Culver City Community Network.
“We did petition drives,” said Mr. Silbiger, “and we had our say at City Council meetings. A problem in those days was that it was often 1 in the morning before the public could comment at a Council meeting. But Adele was hardy. She would stay there until the end.
“Adele was an inspiration to all of us through her spirit and her incredible dedication to causes.”
Mr. Silbiger said that “it is not completely accurate” to say that his friend was more interested in international issues, a nuclear freeze, demilitarization, world peace and justice than in hometown causes.
Hometown Was No. 1
“Adele’s main focus always was Culver City,” he said. When a successful campaign was begun to drive Junior ROTC from the Culver City High School campus, “Adele was the primary mover all the way through. She spent an amazing amount of time researching replacements for Junior ROTC.
“She accomplished so much in her life,” Mr. Silbiger continued.
“She was a prolific writer and educator. On Career Day at the high school, she was always the first one there to get everything organized.
“She spent so much time in front of her computer in recent years. Oh, yes, she was very focused on Culver City.
“Adele was always doing something to help people. That seemed to be her mission. She was a unique person. She never, never gave up. When you saw her activism, you knew that you had to do your part. She inspired people that way.”
The End
When the end came for Mrs. Siegel, climactic events occurred with rapidity.
Family members said colon cancer was the cause of death, less than two years after her husband Henry died following a brief hospitalization.
Mrs. Siegel only learned of the cancer about three weeks before she was forced to enter the hospital for about a week and a half. She was operated on for the cancer, and was reported to have come through it well. She had suffered from emphysema for years, and was assisted by a portable oxygen tent. “Our main concern through the surgery,” said a relative, “was Adele’s breathing. She came out of the surgery okay, but shortly afterward, she went downhill.”
