Not since School Board member Stew Bubar won his bizarre marble-off decision 6 ½ years ago has Culver City seen a perspiring run for office like the one completed minutes before the weekend, three days after the election.
In retrospect, it may seem as if jubilant Jeff Cooper, Culver City’s newest City Councilman, had control of the outcome all the way.
Statistically, he evidently did. But most people live by emotions rather than numbers, inevitably leading to tensions the hearts and camps of both contenders.
“Three nerve-wracking days,” Mr. Cooper said.
“I worked Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. That was a good distraction. I was trying to keep busy. It helped that I had a lot of good people around me.”
Before and after going to his bank job, Mr. Cooper spent an uncommon amount of time alone with Rafia, his wife of 25 years. They kept each other confident that there would be no detours this time en route to a coveted seat in the dais in Council Chambers for the next four years.
After finishing 42 votes ahead of Meghan Sahli-Wells on Tuesday night, Mr. Cooper finally closed out the race by scoring a 31-vote victory in Friday’s countoff.
In the end, statistically speaking, Mr. Cooper’s lead was too large for Ms. Sahli-Wells to overcome. She shaved off about 25 percent of his lead.
Acknowledging the statistical logic of the result, Mr. Cooper said: “The numbers pretty much played out as people said they would.”
The theatrical ending came about because of two factors.
What Caused the Drama
The unusually large number of late-arriving votes, mail-ins and provisionals, 436, combined with Mr. Cooper’s narrow margin on Election Night, plunged the race into darkness for almost 72 hours until a public countoff could be arranged in Council Chambers at 4 o’clock on Friday.
Even then, it still took an hour and 45 minutes for the witty and steady-handed City Clerk Martin Cole to navigate through a dense network of legally required rituals before the counting from the 13 precincts could commence.
The electronic counting went so swiftly you almost could have held your breath from beginning to end.
Here is how the field finished:
Incumbent Scott Malsin successfully defended his seat, earning 2,911 votes.
Mr. Cooper won the second seat with 2,486.
Ms. Sahli-Wells barely missed with 2,455.
Robert Zirgulis finished fourth at 841.
Mr. Cooper intends to plunge directly into his new job at the top of this morning.
He will contact Interim City Manager Lamont Ewell for an immediate face-to-face meeting.
“I expect that Lamont can give me the framework and introduce me around,” he said.
Introduce the widely recognized Mr. Cooper?
Only for a moment did that statement sound peculiar.
The always collegial and cordial Mr. Cooper’s reputation holds that he knows everyone in Culver City — and they know him back.
But, as the Councilman has been telling wellwishers and the curious since last Tuesday, serving on the city’s high-profile policy-setting body is a huge distance from his decade on the barely visible Parks and Recreation Commission, where meetings are convened in old-fashioned telephone booths.
“Besides,” Mr. Cooper said, “I am accustomed to working behind the scenes. This will be very different for me.”
Even though Interim City Manager Ewell only came to Culver City this month, and Mr. Cooper has been here for 22 years, the Councilman knows that Mr. Ewell by now has a comprehensive command of the city’s issues that he is seeking.
For the rest of the week, Councilman Cooper — how does that sound? —intends to circulate through City Hall, sitting with department heads, bringing himself up to date.
He also hopes Mr. Ewell convenes an orientation meeting ahead of the formal swearing-in a week from tonight at 7 in Council Chambers. Retired City Manager Jerry Fulwood did that two years ago after the most recent election.
On that occasion, three new members joined the five-man Council, Andy Weissman, the mayor for one more week, Chris Armenta, who becomes mayor next week, and Mehaul
