After promising her followers a spirited four years on the City Council when she was elected two months ago, Meghan Sahli-Wells executed a familiar parry-and-thrust last night when she requested a study of consolidating the School Board and City Council elections.
A fascinating idea that she raised several times during her winter-spring campaign, it comes wrapped in complexities, conflicts and certain-to-be-wounded feelings.
Previously, the heaviest advocacy argument has been for saving City Hall badly needed money. More than $135,000 was invested in last year’s School Board election, about half of that on the recent Council campaign, totaling $200,000. (The disparity in costs has been strongly noted by Ms. Sahli-Wells.)
• However, the County controls the School Board election. Hardly anyone believes the County would willingly surrender $135,000, not to mention control of the election.
• The two Culver City elections are held in opposing alternate-year cycles. This means Council members or Board members, possibly both, would have to be willing to make a onetime concession and shorten their precious terms so that the two elections could be smoothly correlated.
• How would simultaneous campaigns be treated by the community?
• And the reverse?
Ms. Sahli-Wells has several motivations, one of which is conserving expenses.
Placing an adventurous concept on the sometimes-friendly table for the first time since taking office six weeks ago, she appeared to fail to receive any backing when two other votes were required.
“I didn’t get a very enthusiastic response from my colleagues on the Council,” Ms. Sahli-Wells told the newspaper afterward.
One reason was that the next scheduled visit to the revised City Charter is a long four years away, and there is little if any will to accelerate the date.
Glancing down the dais, Ms. Sahli-Wells recalled that Mayor Andy Weissman “was inclined to wait until 2016” while fellow freshman Jim Clarke “thought I should do my own research (into the feasibility of consolidation) rather than having staff do it, and I can do that.”
To the question of whether her primary motivation was financial savings or otherwise, Ms. Sahli-Wells said “both.”
“By that I mean, making it easier for voters. I believe this would increase voter participation. I am sure that the numbers from today’s election, for example, will be fairly low.”
Ms. Sahli-Wells, no stranger to odds, is not to be discouraged.
“I will pursue it,” she said, “just not immediately” because more pressing topics beckon. Within a year, she estimated, she will go forward.
Ms. Sahli-Wells and Vice Mayor Jeff Cooper are on the Liaison Committee to meet with the School Board. “I will make sure this is on our next agenda,” she said.
