Only an extraordinary event could have interrupted the much-watched deliberations of the City Council 7 hours into last night’s meeting and forced the disgusted, fatigued members to return to Council Chambers this evening at 6 to presumably vote up or down on the disputed Entrada Office Tower proposal at the southern tip of Culver City.
With often self-isolated Councilman Gary Silbiger suddenly commanding a rare position of leverage over his colleagues, a determinative vote is no cinch this time, either.
Startlingly, Mr. Silbiger filibustered last night’s meeting to a dead end.
A genuine Culver City filibuster. Perhaps it is unprecedented.
In the process, he upstaged more than 100 residents who spoke out emotionally, 99 percent of them against Entrada. Practically buried in the rubble of Mr. Silbiger’s scene-stealing climax, the developers agreed to shave their office tower in the Radisson Hotel parking lot from 13 stories to 12,and from an objectionable 220 feet tall to a presumably palatable 190 feet.
Such data scarcely mattered once Mr. Silbiger gathered surprising momentum and became a magnet for everybody in the room.
An Opposing View
The patient Mayor Alan Corlin finally, firmly, shut down the meeting a little after the amazing hour of 3 o’clock this morning when, equally amazingly, more than 40 people — themselves portraits of patience —remained in the Council Chambers audience.
“If that really was a filibuster,” Mr. Corlin told the newspaper, “then he has shown a complete lack of empathy for people who want to do the business of the city.
“It is not a keen political move, but rather one of desperation.”
Hundreds of residents and scores of well-dressed gentlemen on the developer team are panting and pacing today for the City Council to render a decision. It is a sheer guess whether their thirst for a verdict will be quenched tonight or any time soon.
Probably not if Mr. Silbiger can help it.
On Tonight’s Menu
Buoyed by his sudden success in a room where he has enjoyed few triumphs, Mr. Silbiger will be dealing from strength. His City Council teammates not only suspect but fear he will resume his filibustering ways this evening. “I would say the odds are pretty good,” said Vice Mayor Carol Gross.
It is believed that Mr. Corlin will be obliged to pick up the meeting where last night’s ended, with Mr. Silbiger having the floor. Oh, did he have the floor.
For one hour and 10 minutes, a record, he droned on with probing but increasingly arcane, debatably relevant questions of staff while his exasperated colleagues fidgeted, stood up, walked around, supped libations, occasionally left the dais.
When he got around to challenging City Hall staffers about the ethnicity of those being officially notified about the crucial Council meeting, Ms. Gross broke in to criticize her colleague for asking an “ inappropriate” question and for assertedly violating his own policy in the area,
An opponent of the now whittled down but still ambitious Entrada project, Mr. Silbiger has been declaiming vociferously for days that the newly elected Council majority, which will be installed a week from next Monday, should decide Entrada’s fate, not the outgoing majority.
Newcomers a Better Bet?
Through the evening, when called upon by the Mayor, Mr. Silbiger kept sounding a one-note theme: Postpone this decision for two weeks or more, until the new Council majority is seated.
He is far more confident the new Council will reject Entrada than he is that his present teammates will.
No matter the question from the Mayor, Mr. Silbiger’s response was to postpone the decision until the new people became empowered. Although he declined to respond to questions after the meeting, his objective appeared to delay a final result.
Had it been Mr. Corlin’s call, he would have closed down the meeting two hours earlier, by 1:15 this morning, when 50 and 75 hungry partisans still were in Chambers.
So the Mayor polled his friends. Taking the initiative, Mr. Corlin said it would be better to adjourn until the dinner hour tonight because “it would be better to have us fresh.” Councilman Steve Rose demurred, maintaining that he had captured plenty of sleep the night before. Mr. Silbiger was next. The scene bordered on the surreal. When the Mayor asked if he wanted to deliberate or adjourn for 17 hours, Mr. Silbiger said he wanted to postpone the decision until the new Council was seated. That is not the question, Mr. Corlin said, and repeated himself. So did Mr. Silbiger. “Not an option,” snapped Mr. Corlin. “You can’t limit my options,” zinged Mr. Silbiger.
And so, with Mr. Silbiger refusing to answer, the meeting continued.
A Career Highlight
That Mr. Silbiger should find himself at the vortex of this stormy, steamy Tale of Two Cities is an upset of sizable proportion.
For six years on the City Council, he has cast himself as the frequently denied, put-upon outsider. He has traded public barbs with all four seatmates. For most of his term and a half, Mr. Silbiger’s likeability rating with his colleagues has been ankle high.
Never known for his rhetorical or tactical deftness, Mr. Silbiger scored one of the golden moments of his career. From the lip of the marathon 8-hour meeting to the very last breath, Mr. Silbiger tried every way he knew to forestall a decision so that the new City Council majority could gain the prize of wrestling with it.
Mr. Silbiger believes that all newcomers — Chris Armenta, Andy Weissman and Mehaul O’Leary — will be his fervent allies in denying the developers of Entrada.
But serious potential legal roadblocks have arisen that could shatter that scenario and prevent all three of them from participating in an Entrada vote.
Almost as if It Were Scripted
Fiery and fascinating dynamics are at play in this cozy little drama that attracted more than 200 passionate partisans to Council Chambers for what was supposed to be a showdown vote on a tall and wide project the Planning Commission approved almost 7weeks ago.
Aside from the unusual fact that project opponents residing in Westchester/Los Angeles and Culver City — across the street from each other — find themselves in the same camp, Mr. Silbiger’s starring role is another novelty.
Leaving an Opening
Usually a runnerup in rhetorical engagements with his teammates on the dais, accustomed to being ‘way on the losing end, Mr. Silbiger scored sweet revenge with his filibuster.
Here is how it came about:
Mr. Rose spoke first, indicating he favored approval of Entrada.
Next in the queue, Ms. Gross left no doubt she supported Entrada.
Councilman Scott Malsin became the pivotal link. He roamed about in his capacious commentary, but did not say he was for or against.
This provided Mr. Silbiger with the opening he had been hoping for. If Mr. Malsin had given an affirmative response, the suspense would have been over. Since he did not, that was Mr. Silbiger’s cue to launch into his slow-motion filibuster.
