While the status of the annual Culver City Car Show remains unsettled for a few more days, the City Council shifted its focus this morning to another intense assignment:
Going face to face with the 6 finalists for the City Manager opening.
The original list of 42 applicants from around America has been pared to a manageable size. However, the semi-final grouping does not include School Board member Steve Gourley or retired police Lt. Greg Smith, the lone Culver City applicants.
There was some speculation that retiring Jerry Fulwood’s successor could be named as soon as Sunday when Council members re-convene at City Hall to vet the finalists.
After a methodical start that dragged through autumn, the City Manager selection process now is moving at a lightning pace.
And Then There Were…
Council members were summoned to the Courtyard by Marriott in Fox Hills this morning to begin interviewing at 8:30, and the vetting may continue all day.
Mr. Fulwood, down to his final weeks, has just returned from the East Coast. He rushed to his hometown to be at the bedside of his mother.
And so this spring season is even emotional than originally anticipated for Mr. Fulwood. He is rounding out six sometimes-turbulent but undeniably fertile years in the history of a community that finally matured during his term as chief executive.
Car Show — On or Off?
Jeff Cooper of the sponsoring Culver City Exchange Club said this morning that the sixth George Barris Car Show, scheduled for Saturday, May 9, is in jeopardy if the City Council does not grant its $10,000 fee waiver request.
The matter was pulled from the agenda of last night’s otherwise uneventful Council meeting at the behest of the sponsors.
The Exchange Club objected to the city staff’s perceived excessive assessment of the cost of the Car Show. Staffers pegged the price at just under $25,000, roughly twice the Exchange Club’s evaluation.
Exchange leaders and city staffers will be huddling during the next 24 hours, Mr. Cooper said, in an attempt to sharply whittle the estimate.
That, however, is only Step No. 1.
If the two sides reach an accord in time to place it on the Council’s agenda for next Monday evening, the challenge will be to convince a 4-member Council — that is an unknown factor — that the fee waiver request is crucial.
(Mayor Scott Malsin will recuse himself from the nail-biting vote. He is an Exchange Club board member.)
Councilmen Mehaul O’Leary, Chris Armenta and Andy Weissman will be voting for the first time on the fee waiver request, which comes up every year.
Can Silbiger Be Counted on?
There have been scant indications which way the new members will be leaning.
Vice Mayor Gary Silbiger, the only veteran of this subject, is expected to be a “yes” vote.
Mr. Cooper said that beyond the present disputed costs, the Exchange Club spends $20,000 to flood Downtown with hundreds of classic automobiles that make car lovers drool for the 6 hours they are on display.
Asserting that he is “guardedly optimistic” about the City Council vote, Mr. Cooper said that the decision should be easy since it is the biggest one-day Downtown event every year.
Car Show crowds consistently have been estimated at 10,000.
“We help all of the Downtown businesses, and not just the restaurants,” Mr. Cooper said. “The Fire Dept. has its Pancake Breakfast that day. Our show gives them a big boost.”
He said that City Hall should not view the Car Show through a concrete prism. “Sometimes,” said Mr. Cooper, “the true value of an event like this does not show up on paper.”
