Once more, with little feeling and absent of any passion, the durable — and previously approved — Entrada Office Tower project was exhumed for a brief airing at the end of last night’s City Council meeting.
The latest attempt by freshman Councilmember Chris Armenta and Vice Mayor Gary Silbiger to re-agendize the apparently settled subject went down to its most stinging defeat yet.
Needing a third vote in order to authorize a formal re-discussion of the190-foot tall project, both of Mr. Armenta’s rookie classmates, Mehaul O’Leary and Andy Weissman, summoned their most emphatic language to say no, with a tinge of regret.
Speaking lengthily, animatedly and reflectively — Mr. Weissman from a prepared text — both dissenters said separately that they, too, were not keen about Entrada, as presented.
But, they said, the debate was properly ended by a Council vote one month ago. To re-open the coffin now would expose City Hall to potential high-priced litigation that it can ill afford since the relatively scarce funds available are needed for more pragmatic purposes.
What Is Wrong
“My personal feeling,” said Mr. Weissman, “is that the project is too tall and too wide.”
But, he added, the hour is late. The votes are in, both by the advisory Planning Commission and the City Council. The verdict has been made, in favor of the project.
Mr. O’Leary, speaking next, concurred. “I, too, am unhappy with the size and scope of the project,” he said.
He believes that a final vote should have been left for the new Council majority that was installed a fortnight ago.
Ill Qualified?
Especially, perhaps, after a conversation with recently term-limited Councilwoman Carol Gross. He said Ms. Gross suggested to him that the newcomers were not qualified to sift through the numerous nuances and arcane data contained in the California Environmental Quality Act.
Legally speaking, said Mr. O”Leary, “overturning (the last Council’s vote) might open such a can of worms, and I am not able to go in that direction.”
Addressing Mr. Armenta and Mr. Silbiger, the Irishman was apologetic. “I am sorry, gentlemen, that I can’t support you,” but the legal risks to the city are too great.
From the Other Side
Neither Mr. Armenta, who, for the second time, raised the long-simmering Entrada matter at the end of the evening’s business agenda, nor Mr. Silbiger, his ally, seemed to display much appetite for their case.
Casually, Mr. Armenta rested his chin on the closed fist of his right hand as he spoke.
Between them, they based their low-key, very deliberate arguments on alleged inadequacies of the environmental impact report. Both mentioned the potential presence of methane gas, and Mr. Silbiger alluded to an asserted. A failure to sufficiently notify representatives of Native Americans whose ancestors may be buried there.
“It’s hard for me,” Mr. Armenta said, “because I am not an expert on methane. If there is a way for an expert to tell us we don’t have that danger, that would be a good starting point.”
In his argument, Mr. Silbiger flashed his populist credentials, insisting that the city’s finances will not be threatened by litigation from any direction. “If we take this action that a great majority of the people want us to do,” he said, “I don’t think the bottom is going to fall out of the city.”
As is his almost weekly habit, Mr. Silbiger floated two motions. As happens every week, the motion fell harmlessly back to earth without receiving a second.
It Won’t be So Bad
The Vice Mayor hoped to persuade his colleagues by casting his motivation in innocent terms and by indicating that the city could just as easily win a lawsuit as lose one. Mr. Silbiger said he just wanted to bring Entrada back for a collegial discussion, now that the Council has a new 3-man majority. “Even if we agendize Entrada, that does not mean we are going to take a vote,” he said. “Just to look at it in a different light.”
If City Hall is sued, Mr. Silbiger, a lawyer, added, there are two pleasant possibilities to ponder. The city might win. And since many lawsuits are settled out of court, chances are the suit could be resolved before becoming too costly.
“You have to balance losing against winning,” the Vice Mayor said. “Any time you make a decision, you stand a chance of being sued, sometimes more than others.”
He Sees a Demand
Then he donned his populist cap again.
Replying to Mr. Weissman’s contention that available monies should be devoted to mundane aspects of Culver City’s infrastructure, such as potholes, “those things are important,” Mr. Silbiger conceded. “But we do lots of important things. People are talking about overdevelopment a lot more than any other issue.
“This is a huge concern, where we have quality of life and a livable city.
“We have a historic chance to give to the people what they want.”
The Mayor’s Position
Mayor Scott Malsin made it a clean sweep, 5 to 0, for aesthetic opponents of Entrada. “I have no great love for this project,” he said.
But then the Mayor gave strong reasons for affirming Entrada. “It is near other office buildings,” he said, “and it is far from residents. It is in a reasonable location for an office building. Nothing more.”
