For him the races are over in Culver City.
After an excuse-me meeting of the City Council at the end of this month, Mayor Mehaul O’Leary will take his 2-1 record in Culver City elections.
When he lost his first bid for office and won his next two, the voter turnout was light and slipping.
Mr. O’Leary said the 14 percent who voted in the most recent City Council election two years ago was “shocking.”
But what to do about it?
“Maybe the eligible time and day need to be changed to a Saturday,” Mr. O’Leary suggested.
Which reminded the mayor that it might be time to extend congratulations.
Perhaps people don’t vote for a positive reason, the mayor speculated.
“I would like to think that when people are not voting, it is because they are happy with the way the city is moving along,” he said.
“They feel they don’t need to get involved.”
Does Mr. O’Leary really believe that?
If you look at what is coming through our mailboxes. Said the mayor, every eligible voter appears to have been reached through expensive mailers. Mr. O’Leary has a collection of 14 mailers with seven days left before the election for three City Council seats.
“People can’t say they don’t know the election is next Tuesday,” Mr. O’Leary said.
“I don’t know how far the city’s new outreach program to voters has gone. Maybe improvements can be made in what they are doing. They can tell us a little more about each of the candidates. They could show the League of Women Voters’ candidates forum that was televised from City Hall.”
Mayor O’Leary closed with the understatement of the week:
“If the voter turnout next Tuesday is as low as it was the last time, there probably is room for improvement.”
