Daniel Lee – Is He the New Kelly Kent?

I have a feeling.

Could Daniel Lee be the Kelly Kent of the present City Council campaign and election season?

Sometimes you can tell when a politician – apprentice or beyond – is catching fire, even if you are wearing blinders and earmuffs.

If Mr. Lee – whom I have not yet met – is not attracting fire, someone should immediately dial Fire Chief Dave White anyway. Tell him to have the boys on urgent standby until further notice – after the April 12 election.

For the third consecutive day, we will note that Mr. Lee officially opens his campaign Sunday afternoon at 1 – at the home of Dr. Kent, her husband and family, at 4204 Lafayette Pl.

Judging by early signals, Mr. Lee is a true troubadour of liberal policies, which, of course, is the acid test.

The beauty of being a liberal is that it instantly connotes burning hope to a significant segment of America.

I give you this Facebook posting from this morning from Lucas Thayer:

“Daniel Lee for Culver City City Council is important to me because:

“At one point in my life, I lived in a vehicle near Venice Beach. Since the ‘vehicle-dwelling’ population in Venice is so saturated, and law enforcement abuses against these folks is systemic, well-documented and not ending any time soon, I felt unsafe living in my vehicle in Venice. I went to the social services office in the district, got food stamps, and got placed in a motel which was paid for by the social services office. “The motel clerk treated me like I was unwelcome as soon as I arrived, and it was clear that he knew I had my room paid for by the government. The duration of my stay was 2 weeks, and then I was back outside. It was a bridge between jobs for me which helped, but it was clearly not helping enough people for long enough.

“Most of the people in that motel were there on the gov’t dime, and the two-week limit forced them to move so often that they couldn’t find and hold a steady job for long enough to get a paycheck and rent an apartment. It takes more than two weeks to build credit and wealth from nothing. I was appalled at the way I was treated and could really understand why so many people choose to sleep on the streets of Venice rather than in the government-under-funded homeless motels in Culver City. 

“Daniel Lee, please support funding for more homeless shelters in Culver City to allow residents longer than two weeks to get on their feet.”

The vaunted progressive community of Culver City appears to be coalescing around Mr. Lee the way they did around Dr. Kent to get her elected to the School Board 70 days ago.

Mr. Lee seems to be where Dr. Kent was last August – little known across the community beyond her compact circle.

It remains to be documented whether Mr. Lee brings the same kind of magic personality that was key in boosting Dr. Kent across the finish line.

Like Dr. Kent, Mr. Lee was fortunate to be born with an  abbreviated, punchy, easy-to-recall name. Everyone in competitive public life will tell you that is a bonus.