He or She Who Finishes Fourth Today Will Be Short-sheeted

This is the day that Scott Malsin’s resignation from the City Council last Dec. 12 becomes meaningful

For the past four months, it has been reported that for the first time in City Hall history, four seats are open – traditionally it is three seats or two in alternating two-year cycles.

More accurately, only 3½ seats are available as Culver City voters – minus the record explosion of 2,300 who voted absentee – troop to 14 different polling places – listed below – until 8 o’clock tonight.

Mr. Malsin’s withdrawal was timed to come in under two years.

That means that if Mayor Mehaul O’Leary or incumbent Andy Weissman finishes fourth, he is term-limited in ’14. In a sweet swash of irony, because of his resignation, Mr. Malsin will be considered a new member, whether he finishes first, second, third or fourth. He then would be eligible to run for an additional term.

If Jim Clarke or Meghan Sahli-Wells or Stephen Murray places fourth, he or she will be forced to run again in ’14.

For perhaps the first time in 95-year-old Culver City’s history of elections, no one of stature could be found to forecast an order of finish.

The reason: The gloomy cautionary tale of bullet voting from last November’s skewered School Board election.

It is feared that bullet voting could turn this six-way election on its head, and some say it already has begun with the huge turnout of absentee ballots.

Here is what candidates were saying this morning:

Jim Clarke: “I am still running as if I am one vote behind. I will be making some calls during the day to people I promised to call back. I ran out of all my campaign material yesterday. I don’t have anything left to pass out, so it won’t do any good to go out and do door-to-door campaigning. It amazes me when I think I started four months ago with a few people, and now I have over 380 supporters in Culver City. I am constantly amazed to run into people who say they voted for me on the recommendation of someone I don’t even know is supporting me. On the other hand, if 6,000 people are voting, I only have identified 6 or 7 percent.”

Andy Weissman: “In reality, I am anxious and cautiously optimistic. The thing about campaigning is, you always try to be in control. You try to control your emotions, the answer, the audience. Then you get to Election Day when you are completely without control. If you are a control freak, as some of us are, it is a very uncomfortable position to be in. You have done everything you set out to do in your campaign, walked the city, produced good material, you seem to have connected at the various candidate forums. But now that Election Day has arrived, you just have to sit around and hope everything you did pays off. There is no more you can do.”

Meghan Sahli-Wells: “I just got back from Lin Howe, where I dropped off my kids at school, and I feel great. I got so much support from parents, so many hugs from everybody. It makes me feel good, and it helps me calm my nerves on this ultimate test day. I feel differently from the last election two years ago (when she lost by 32 votes). Even though we ran a great campaign, I knew there was a possibility I could lose. I felt really proud of what we had accomplished. Even though I didn’t get on the Council, I felt proud. It was a victory of sorts. This time, I feel both very nervous and very happy because people have gotten to know me better. I definitely have more lawn signs out this year. We even had to reprint because we had put out so many signs. That in itself is a good sign.”

Scott Malsin: “I am still here – my arms and legs are still attached. The first time I ran, I was very anxious on Election Day because it was such a new thing. You work so hard, and you hope to have people vote you into office. The second time I ran, I think it was natural to view that as an opportunity to see if the public validated the service that I provided over my first term. Today I am offering my continued service to the community. I have shown that I can do a good job. I am hoping I will have the opportunity to work for Culver City.”

Polling places:

Precinct 1 – Residence, 3643 Helms Ave., Culver City 90232 (HCP: Yes; Precincts 1 and 3).

Precinct 74 – La Sorra Loma Apartments, 6000 Buckingham Pkwy., Culver City 90230 (HCP: Yes; Precincts 74 and 75).