At the same hour yesterday that County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas announced his endorsement of Nancy Goldberg for School Board, the candidate relaxedly was holding court before an appreciative circle of first-tier activists-supporters in the hardwood floor, book-lined living room of community advocate Meghan Sahli-Wells.
The just-retired teacher’s supporters came armed with a roomy bushel of requests if Ms. Goldberg is elected to one of the two Board seats on Nov. 8.
They talked about the clotted car traffic around Lin Howe School on slender Irving Place and about involvement with Martin Luther King Day every January.
Margaret Lindgren, active in the Culver City King program from the beginning, was remarking how amazed she has been by the creativity of the students who participate. Once you involve the kids, Ms. Lindgren said, that can spark interest from their parents. “When you get more involvement, that will lead to a healthier community.”
Just the opening Ms. Goldberg wanted.
“You would be surprised,” the candidate said, that when handed responsibility, “they will take the ball and run. I have had students teach entire novels for me, not because I didn’t know them. It is so exciting to watch that capacity.”
How Does Your Garden Grow?
“Since we are on a roll with student-centered learning,” said Michelle Weiner, “I would like to see community gardens at each school. These could be learning gardens the whole community could participate in but that the students could lead. It seems to be a burgeoning interest for Culver students. Why not prepare the children in high school and the Middle School? There is a wonderful model at Venice High School.”
“Children adore that kind of hands-on stuff,” said Ms. Goldberg, “especially in the elementary level. El Marino used to have a garden, and my (two) kids were involved with it. It was wonderful.”
Rick Tuttle, former City Controller of Los Angeles, wanted to talk about the pre-Prop. 13 times of the 1960s and ‘70s when the mood of the town was to increase “participatory democracy and community involvement. That is what the Free Speech movement (1962) at Berkeley was about.
“It seems to me if community organizations, such as a sustainability committee, in fact report only to the Superintendent, that is something that three votes can change, your vote and two others, with a stipulation that such committees report to the Board.”
“I don’t see why that stipulation wouldn’t be enforced,” Ms. Goldberg said.
Intrusion of the Brown Act
Let’s be sure the facts are right before going forward, Mr. Tuttle said. “That doesn’t mean the Superintendent doesn’t get the opportunity for discussion ahead of time. The report will be by a member of the commission.
“If someone starts to quibble about taking an extra 25 minutes at a Board meeting, I would love to have you make that a campaign issue.
“If the facts are right,” Mr. Tuttle added with emphasis.
“I am not talking about how the citizens commissions are selected but how they report.”
If skeptics suggest this is dangerous flirtation with the government transparency concept known as the Brown Act, “you say, ‘If I have to — this is your counter-punch — I will go to the state Legislature and get it changed.’
“And by the way, I think you’ll get the votes out of this Democratic Legislature. You will win that fight.”
Earlier in the living room conversation, the subject of cluttered traffic on school-adjacent streets caused by dropoff parents — by passionate, video-shooting Cary Anderson, the subject’s most vociferous, persistent Culver City advocate — riveted the crowd, and Ms. Goldberg wanted to return to it.
“I want to talk about it because I sense there is a frustration level,” she said. “Would you agree that even though we have made inroads on traffic, that they aren’t at the optimal level yet?
“How can we improve the methods we are using, essentially dropping the kid off at school and driving out on a one-way street. What are some alternatives?”
Mr. Anderson’s extensive answer will have to wait for another edition.
