Even though mirth-minded John Cohn was the masterful master of ceremonies, the Exchange Club’s interview of City Council candidates this afternoon was the first no-nonsense forum of the campaign, down to its last 28 days.
No folderol. No windy speeches. Crisp, clipped, on-target questions. Topics of digestible interest, even to ADD voters on a perfect spring day when Jay Garacoshea was absent,.
Mr. Cohn’s opening volley burped the most discussed question of the campaign:
Should Culver City have a rent control ordinance?
Speaking as the only incumbent in the field of seven, Meghan Sahli-Wells, without offering an up or down response, said she and her Council colleagues are taking two actions:
- “Looking at the role of the Landlord Tenant Mediation Board and
- “Creating more affordable housing.”
“We need to get away from the phrase rent control,” said renter Daniel Lee, “because it has a whole lot of bad connotations for both property owners and fo renters.
“In Culver City, we are 45 percent renters.
“We need to take creative steps to make sure people who have lived in Culver City 10, 20, 30 years can continue to live here or leave gracefully.”
Since rent control does not work, said Scott Wyant, “what does work is building more housing, even, believe it or not, upper-end housing. This creates more affordable housing than rent control. That is not my strategy for Culver City.
“My strategy for Culver City is to build more live-work units in commercial corridors.”
Göran Eriksson said one solution is to develop guidelines for apartment sizes. “If you are going to have a one-bedroom apartment,” he said, “it must be a certain minimum size. It cannot go smaller. The more we build, the better it becomes for affordable housing. If people move up, there is an affordable apartment that becomes available.”
Thomas Small said two solutions loom:
“We need a Landlord Tenant Mediation Board that has real teeth, and we need to get really serious about affordable housing.”
Marcus Tiggs said “thinking outside the box is needed,” and public/private partnerships “is a start. Looking at housing that might be outside of Culver City but is closer to the Expo (light rail) line is another possibility.”
Noting the lately explosion of mansionization, Mr. Cohn asked for the types of rules the City Council should adopt.
“Specific design guidelines are needed for each neighborhood,” said Mr. Small. “A solid permanent process is needed,” said Mr. Lee. It is important to balance the regulations in consideration of property owners and neighbors while adapting the changes on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis.
Tonight
No rest for the candidates. This evening at 7, the Blair Hills Neighborhood Assn. has invited them to the Community Building at the top of Kenny Hahn State Park.
