The heavens opened with a clap of approving thunder. For a change.
A choir of progressive angels began to sing.
Friends and fans streamed into packed Council Chambers last night to laud a devout contrarian, departing City Councilman Gary Silbiger, for giving them hope when they said they could count on no other hometown politician.
Championed as a savior of the despairing and devoted uncle of underdogs, Mr. Silbiger was frequently portrayed by admirers as the fiercest and most successful warrior in Culver City for establishing direct community involvement in City Hall’s policymaking and governing processes. Effusive praise was richly and repeatedly heaped upon Mr. Silbiger.
So dominating were the encomiums for the Councilman that they adroitly blotted out what had figured to be the evening’s co-headlines:
• Third-year Councilman Chris Armenta’s ascension into the Mayor’s chair, which he called “a dream come true.”
• The seating of long-aspiring new Councilman Jeff Cooper. Known for his collegiality and permanent smile that rivals Mayor Armenta’s, he takes the place of the dour Mr. Silbiger.
• The designation of Mehaul O’Leary as Vice Mayor, meaning he will (probably) automatically rotate into the Mayor’s chair next April. He also was re-elected Chair of the Redevelopment Agency. But, like much of the non-Silbiger portion of the evening, Mr. O’Leary’s honors hurriedly were shoehorned into the heel of the meeting.
• The formful and slightly lower-key re-election Scott Malsin to a fresh four-year Council term.
• Councilman Andy Weissman stepped down after serving the past year as Mayor, a significant event noted only by a fly on the back wall.
However, each one of these deserving developments was crowded off the main page by Mr. Silbiger’s admirers.
After the celebration of the Councilman’s uniqueness was exhausted, so, it seemed, was everyone else in Council Chambers.
When it was the turn of his Council colleagues to trumpet their accomplishments, the room, no matter how crowded, was devoid of energy.
Tellingly, the praise of Mr. Silbiger did not include a single member of the City Council.
While almost-giddy accolades swirled around Mr. Silbiger, all four Councilmen sat stone-faced, as if posing for Mt. Rushmore or emulating their poker-faced former colleague.
He doesn’t like them. They don’t like him, and it showed. They froze out each other. Neither noticeably acknowledged the presence of the other party.
The kudos for Mr. Silbiger came from out-of-town politicians, philosophical teammates from the community and rather brilliantly from his son Karlo, a member of the School Board, who countered volleys of previous criticism with evidence to the contrary.
After enduring eight years of nearly unrelieved criticism for both his outlier style and limited-interest causes, Mr. Silbiger and his supporters jubilantly proclaimed numerous broad-based victories.
On the final night of his political career, Mr. Silbiger, scorned widely by critics for achieving little of progressive agenda because of his resistance to compromise, effectively sought to erase that image.
From a prepared text, he listed 13 separate dimensions where, he indicated, he had made a pivotal difference. Not all were community milestones. One was a vote against sending U.S. military troops abroad.
Thirteen Special Memories
Mr. Silbiger opened by honoring arguably Culver City’s most civic-minded family:
His wife Barbara Honig — whom he called “my partner” — served two terms on the School Board, his son Karlo is in his first term, and his own two terms on the City Council. Five terms must be close to a record for one household.
Mr. Silbiger led off with a salute to his 92-year-old mother, Alice, who was in the audience. For what was believed to be the first time, he mentioned his Jewish heritage in the context of familiarity with prejudice. Citing a mantra from law school, “An injury to one is an injury to all,” Mr. Silbiger said that “sums up my philosophy. In law, we might call this equal protection.”
The Silbigers moved to Culver City 24 years ago, when Karlo was three years old and daughter Tanya was about to be born. Prior to his election to the Council in ’02, Mr. Silbiger said he had been a community activist for 35 years. When he described his election as “merely an extension of my community organizing,” several critics nodded assent.
“Like every elected official, I brought my core values to the City Council — helping the poor and disadvantaged, making our city healthy, supporting education, listening, learning and helping individuals in a myriad of issues and struggles.
“And most importantly, encouraging and empowering the public to get involved and stay involved. “
Mr. Silbiger turned to 13 “important achievements that I have helped to create.”
• “Passing a green building ordinance and improving our water quality.
• “Establishing our Dog Park, a Culver City animal services officer, an SPCA-L.A. animal shelter, and a rule outlawing declawed cats.
• “Having a yearly Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration.
• “Protecting the homeless by approving the Upward Bound House for young children and their parents.
• “Improving the health of our community by banning smoking in our parks and in outdoor dining areas.
• “Approving the light rail to come, to Culver City and beyond.
• “Voting for the successful resolution against the U.S. invasion of Iraq shortly before it happened.
• “Expanding cultural activities, such as the summer concert series, the yearly art walk and youth programs.
• “Having (Council meeting) agenda attachments available to the public so everyone has all the important materials.
• “Allowing reasonable development that fits the needs of our neighborhoods.
• “Having Culver City community members officially involved, from beginning to end, with all major developments.
• “Working for Culver City to have a major voice in the Baldwin Hills Conservancy, and to make our Skateboard Park safe and usable for all by having staff supervision.
• “Thirteenth and most importantly, because this is the basis for getting everything else accomplished, government must let people know of the issues pending, and then find creative means of encouraging real participation. Too often, elected officials think because we are elected, we can make decisions without the necessary participation of residents. We need to provide leadership, but only with full participation of those we represent. Otherwise, the community, understandably, is outraged.”
At the end, Mr. Silbiger, who often failed to win even a second vote for pet projects, took one more swing at a gesture that commonly has crashed — getting limited-interest topics agendized.
He asked for his now ex-Council mates to agendize two items.
The first, a Youth Advisory Committee, could have been an embarrassment if any Council member had spoken up. Even though he is the only Councilman who has promoted this concept — teens “advising” the Council on their priorities — he may not have known that months ago it was sent to a subcommittee for research.
Mr. Silbiger’s second notion: “A law that would make Culver City a truly open and transparent city by having agendas posted and minutes provided for each Council committee (of which there are more than 40).”
A Chance to Smile
Summer concert series impresario Gary Mandell had the last witty word. When Mr. Silbiger, a proud left winger, sliced the first corner of cake for the elder son of narrowly defeated contender Meghan Sahli-Wells, Mr. Mandell cracked:
“Did you notice that he cut from the far right side of the cake?”
