[img]1792|right|Jim Clarke||no_popup[/img]Jim Clarke, the Ubiquitous One, probably is more familiar with the inner legislative workings of Sacramento and Washington, than any Culver City resident or politician.
He spent a number of years in Washington as a congressional aide.
A question was posed to him this morning about the hometown election.
But a better visual would have been a picture of the City Councilman speaking breathlessly while running – quite literally – from one meeting to another.
To reach his destination, and beat a traffic light, he needed to sprint at top speed across a busy street.
At a recently attained 65 years old, Mr. Clarke, who is sound of health and in good condition, was panting when he reached the far side of the street.
He never stopped answering the question, however.
His challenge:
Why was yesterday’s re-election of Culver City’s three representatives, state Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, state Sen. Holly Mitchell and U.S. Rep. Karen Bass healthy for this community?
“First,” said Mr. Clarke, on one side of the street, “because the policies they pursue represent the constituents of this district.
“Holly has been instrumental in the budget in Sacramento, particularly in social services, trying to make sure that as the state was making cuts, they did not cut the social service programs. She is part of a Democratic legislature working with a Democratic governor. We in California fought the wave as we did in ’94 when there was a Republican sweep,” he said the day after another GOP hurricane. “The sweep then and now stopped at the California border.”
Mr. Clarke was panting. Intrepidly, he went on.
“Karen Bass’s big issue, and it is an important one, is foster children, and what happens when the kids age out at 18” – he was breathing so hard his voice was changing – “what opportunities there are for them. We found out there is a high correlation between kids who” – he apologized for being out of breath – “come out of foster care, become homeless and go to prison. We find there is a direct correlation.”
Finally, Mr. Clarke could catch his breath.
