Perhaps it was the casual road show setting that created the welcome cozy mood of last evening’s City Council meeting.
No television camera. No august architecture, only an old-fashioned living room setting.
This was Culver City the way it used to be when the touring City Council convene a world away from Council Chambers, in a setting where members could not be cornered, the Rotunda Room at the Vets Auditorium.
Sentiment abounded, and so did poignant interludes.
The Way It Was
Collegiality was fashionable again. It felt like old times from the 1940s when weary housewives used to rely on a bag of clothes pins to attach the wet wash to strung-out clothes lines on Monday mornings. And later, strung-out meant something different.
As families have known for centuries, being away from home elevates the mundane to special status.
That is what happened when the traditionally dry ritual of appointments turned into an album of memories for participants and the packed audience.
Typically, crowds snore during commission appointments. Not this time.
Many regard the Planning Commission as the plum appointment while several others among the seven hunger for applicants who are at least curious if not breathing.
Easily the most tender moment unexpectedly occurred when the Cultural Affairs Commission candidates were summoned. The vivacious entertainer Ronnie Jayne was termed out after eight years.
It emerged that Regina Klein and John B. Williams were the principal contenders. No one remembered seeing either before.
Ms. Klein presented herself as a prodigious fundraiser for non-profits, in the Bay Area and Southern California, during the past decade. She impressed the Council.
The engaging Mr. Williams, a veteran touring performer, tall, lanky and soft-spoken, wowed the panelists with his mien and his towering career stature.
Ms. Klein, too.
In what looked like a throwaway gesture, Cultural Affairs Commission member Marla Koosed reminded the Council that commissioners can select an appointee to the little-known Cultural Affairs Foundation.
Later, when Ms. Klein won the vote over Mr. Williams, 4 to 1, she was overtly hesitant while tentatively accepting congratulations.
Alluding to Mr. Williams, Ms. Klein said, deferentially, “I wish we could share the seat.”
Briefly, it appeared she might give ‘way to him. Ms. Klein indicated she was interested in the Foundation appointment, but that thought vanished as swiftly as it had materialized.
She commended Mr. Williams’s show business background and said, “My goal…if there is another way to serve.”
Almost. Almost. Ultimately, though, the vote stood. But Mr. Williams, Ms. Klein and the audience stepped away from the scene feeling much better than before.
New Faces
Planning Commission selections have been the stealers, but not this time although the race to succeed Marcus Tiggs was the most competitive.
With Mr. Tiggs termed out, David Voncannon, recent Council candidate Stephen Murray, Dana Sayles, a professional planner, realtor Kevin Lachoff and architect Cliff Mosser vied. With three of them winning votes, Mr. Lachoff eventually prevailed.
Elsewhere, Rick Hudson won reappointment to the Parks and Recreation Commission, the same route Richard Ochoa traveled with the Civil Service Commission.
Newcomers Rhonda Wolf and Alex Lee joined returnees Barbara Effros-Schwartz and Dr. Bob Montgomery to fill the four available chairs on the Disability Advisory Committee.
Mr. Mosser, Deborah Wallace and Ira Diamond were chosen for the Committee on Homelessness, and Seth Lennon Weiner was appointed to the Landlord-Tenant Mediation Board, whose shaky future is up for review.
