With the spent emotions of the exhausting City Council election two days old and smeared on rear view mirrors, a burgeoning argument over the prospective Entrada Office Tower will be the next hot political potato of the spring season.
They roared about it last night at the monthly meeting of the Culver City Democratic Club, and voted to fire off an objection to City Hall.
But that little display was like romping in a sandbox compared to the shout and blame war that will detonate in Council Chambers, starting at 7 on Monday evening.
It could be the longest City Council meeting in modern history — Mayor Alan Corlin is predicting it will be two hours after midnight before the Council decides whether to approve the 220-foot office building/parking structure adjacent to the Radisson Hotel.
Why Opponents Are Upset
There are several major explosive major fronts in this community war that has set off bickering that quickly accelerated to the deafening level.
People are mad because the proposal exceeds the city’s height limit of 56 feet by a whopping 164 feet.
People are mad that the pivotal vote on the massively ambitious plan was scheduled for Monday night because that means it comes before the “old” Council. Three of the five Council members will be term-limited off the dais two weeks later.
Certain Culver City partisans believe the “new” City Council majority — three new members were elected on Tuesday night — should have the honor, or the responsibility, of casting the ballots instead of the soon-to-vanish incumbents.
An Old Refrain
This is an old and common dispute in small communities when a controversial issue flares just as outgoing Council members and incoming Council members pass each other in a City Hall corridor.
The objection of these hot-talking partisans is, however, not purely philosophical.
Partisans are invested to win, not merely to protest.
Ever since the advisory Planning Commission voted 4 to 1 a few weeks ago, at one of its wearying, bloody 7-hour meetings, the partisans have been haunted by a lurking suspicion.
The Crux of Their Worry
They fear the “old” City Council will stamp “Approved” on the project. After listening all spring to the winning Council challengers — Andy Weissman, Chris Armenta and Mehaul O’Leary — declare their opposition to Entrada, the partisans sniffed defeat for the developer and a sweet, calorie-crammed victory for their side.
Mr. Weissman’s position already is well known and official.
As a member of the Planning Commission, Mr. Weissman cast the lone dissenting vote when the Commission endorsed the project 4 to 1.
The third major war front is the awkward location of the Entrada Office Tower, exactly on the southern lip of Culver City, which has led to peculiar dynamics.
The Rivals Are Girding
This is a war pitting Los Angeles and Culver City governing bodies.
The site is across the street from Westchester, whose residents have been far more aroused and visible than Culver City activists. Westchester is governed by the Los Angeles City Council.
Los Angeles Councilman Bill Rosendahl called a meeting last week to talk it over, and he ordered previously invited Culver City residents to be summarily uninvited.
That, smarted one activist, is how petty the feuding has become.
The Showdown
Meanwhile, back in Culver City, some partisans complain that City Hall has handled Entrada as if it were an odd uncle — he is in the room, but not really present.
That perception should be smote on Monday night when the opposing forces collide with a thud and perhaps set an attendance record for Council Chambers.
