One of the tiniest minorities in Culver City scored a strategic victory at last night’s City Council meeting after a shrewd ploy by an opposing Council member almost slipped through a narrow crevice before failing.
After an enormous amount of tugging on the dais, the dogged three-member populist majority on the City Council, fighting for the really little guy, managed to push through an unadorned plan that is likely to de-fang an ordinance banning street parking for recreational vehicles.
Meet the quintessential minority.
Ron Carter, a carpenter for the city for 32 years, is a passionate advocate for rights for hometown owners of recreational vehicles. Once, he said, there were enough RV owners in Culver City to fill the Vets Auditorium.
No more.
Mr. Carter estimated that a scant two dozen RV owners remain in Culver City, and only they would be affected by a proposed change in the law.
“The gypsies,” he said in referring to out-of-town drivers of recreational vehicles, should remain subject to an ordinance that has yielded $11,000 in revenues since ithe ban was instituted 3 years ago.
In separate actions, the Council sharply downsized security arrangements at a construction site in Fox Hills where an unsolved murder was committed on Jan. 2, and Councilmember Mehaul O’Leary was cornered by distressed neighbors demanding relief after a customer at his Irish pub was stabbed on a front lawn last week.
A Reversal Within Reach?
The RV owners are on their way to victory today because of the uniform deference displayed by the petitioners and the resolute, unflagging populist philosophy of the Council majority, Vice Mayor Gary Silbiger,and members Chris Armenta and Mr. O’Leary.
That deadly combination defeated the wishes of Mayor Scott Malsin and Councilman Andy Weissman who, not detecting a groundswell, steadfastly stood against changes.
The RV drivers, pleading that they were immensely inconvenienced by the parking prohibition, asked that the ordinance be amended to permit Culver City RV owners, conditionally, to park on the streets.
“Try it for a year,” said Mr. Carter. “Give us a chance.” Lacking a driveway at his own him, he said his options are to park at his daughters home on the other side or Los Angeles or a commercial lot, which is unaffordable.
Mr. Armenta said the request was reasonable. But before pursuing the change, he wanted to know what RV-linked regulations surrounding communities follow. Mr. Silbiger and Mr. O’Leary quickly concurred that this would be an ideal assignment for city staffers
Was there any way for the other side to derail the momentum?
Mr. Malsin, clearly outnumbered, deemed that he had one more card to play. Both he and Mr. Weissman strenuously maintained that it would be wasteful of money, time and staff resources to undertake a fullblown survey for such a pocket-sized project.
Therefore, argued the mayor, let’s do this informally. A staffer could canvass surrounding cities over a few days’ time, casually send his findings to the Council, but below the normal report threshold, and then the Council could decide whether to agendize the matter again.
The intention seemed to be to eventually win over Mr. O’Leary, the single moving part in the populist majority.
Responding to a Tactic
However, not immediately but soon enough, Mr. Armenta saw that his side could be submarined. He realized that if the staff followed conventional channels, rather than an informal route when reporting its findings to the Council, his side would not have to risk a vote of whether to agendize the subject again.
If there are as many as 24 RV owners in Culver City, news of the Council’s potential amendment in their favor passed them by.
Loosening the chains of bondage around the RV parking ban ordinance is such a Billy Barty-sized issue that only three self-identified RV drivers petitioned the City Council.
If logic had prevailed, proponents would have been swamped. All 9 residents who filed written comments with the City Clerk urged the Council to leave the ordinance intact.
On normal nights, that would have snubbed out the debate.
Time Out for Dramatics
Maneuvering aside, the most entertaining moments were supplied by the Vice Mayor and Mayor, who agree on little Council business.
Neither hides his feelings.
Mr. Malsin’s ongoing unease with what he views as the stubbornness and misguided direction of Mr. Silbiger’s strongly held views, hardly ever his masked.
Still, the Mayor may be slightly more subtle than the scrappy Vice Mayor who fights fiercely every Monday to advance his populist agenda that holds no minority is too incidental to fight for.
Between them, they nearly dialed down the temperature in Council Chambers to igloo level.
The spark last night was a point of order, when Mr. Silbiger posed a question, and before it could be answered, Martin Cole, Acting City Manager for the evening, asked if he could insert a suggestion.
Yes, replied Mr. Malsin. Mr. Silbiger forcefully said no, that his question took precedence and should be answered first.
City Atty. Carol Schwab’s legal opinion was solicited to clarify the confusing criss-cross of opinions. Ms. Schwab gave her view, prompting Mr. Malsin to call on Mr. Cole, as he previously had intended. Whoa, said Mr. Silbiger, his volume expanding. He said the Mayor had misinterpreted Ms. Schwab’s opinion, insisting she had ruled in his favor.
Mr. Malsin disagreed, but asked her to restate her view. When Ms. Schwab did, Mr. Silbiger won the right to repeat his question and receive an answer before Mr. Cole was granted the floor.
Securing the Murder Site
Perhaps the members were too worn out to disagree over the only other item of note on the agenda:
Whether to retain an unarmed guard and 24-hour surveillance camera at the Fox Hills construction site of Fire Station No. 3 where City Hall consultant Paul Bilodeau was murdered 11 weeks ago after working hours.
In a thrust of thriftiness, Mr. Armenta said that the double-barreled approach to security was too expensive, since it cost $18,000 a month against $1,000 monthly for a surveillance camera.
The Police Dept. said it agreed with the scale-down.
Councilman on a Warm Seat
Mr. O’Leary deftly handled an uncomfortable moment when a number of persons living near his Joxer Daly’s Irish pub, complained that a late-night stabbing of a bar patron on St. Patrick’s Day was damaging their neighborhood.
What, they wanted to know, was he going to do about it?
Stepping down from the dais, upon advice of the City Attorney, Mr. O’Leary went to the speaker podium. In his rich native Irish brogue, he spoke with deliberation.
“I was as perturbed about it as I have heard that my neighbors are,” he said. “I am concerned it has escalated into a feeling that this is the beginning of some terrible next level. I would like to assure the Council that my neighbors’ concerns are taken care of and their issues are addressed.”
He acknowledged some nearby residents by name. “I know Jack, I know Yvonne here, I know Joe.”
Mr. O’Leary said he was an approachable person, and he would sit down with his neighbors to resolve their worries.
