Even though there are seven candidates for the April 12 City Council election, even lightly informed voters are not likely to confuse them.
The field is evenly divided, three progressives and four moderates.
In the latter category, Swedish-born businessman Goran Eriksson brings one of the most unusual and impressive credential packages.
Few corners of the community can identify more than one or two advisory commission appointees. However, for the last three years that Mr. Eriksson has chaired the Financial Advisory Committee, his role, his accomplishments have been almost as widely circulated as the profile of Council members.
Office-seekers learn early in their campaigns, as they tour Culver City neighborhoods and knock on doors, residents have little time to listen to their pitches.
In Mr. Eriksson’s message, “I tell them I have been chair of the Financial Advisory Committee the last three years, the issues we are facing.”
Turning to a favorite subject, “I tell them my ideas for how we can improve our recycling and trash handling.”
(He is leading a delegation to San Francisco this morning to make a presentation on trash handling and recycling.)
When it is residents’ turn to talk, Mr. Eriksson said that traffic and parking are their chief issues.
Their traffic complaint is that it is too dense on main streets and spills over into residential neighborhoods. “They say we need to figure out a way to make it work better,” Mr. Eriksson said. “They are concerned that drivers, taking short-cuts, are speeding on residential streets instead of the main streets.”
Should the Council be expected to cure that problem?
“Absolutely,” said Mr. Eriksson. “The Council has just started to look at this issue, and this is something we should accelerate. There are techniques other communities use that we should look at, eventually implement and figure out how we are going to pay for it.”
