With a timely assist from the sun in the midst of a seemingly unrelieved rainy spell, Dr. Loni Anderson opened the gates to her City Council campaign yesterday afternoon with a well-attended fundraiser in Sunkist Park.
Since this is her first run for the Council, perhaps it is not surprising that she is promising “a new vision and a new voice” for Culver City in the April 8 election.
By the 2 o’clock starting time, she had dried off from a morning outing. She bicycled from her Hayden Tract home to her mid-town office while the sun was hiding. The result: She got drenched.
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At Saturday’s rededication of the Gold Star Mothers’ Rose Garden, from left, Vice Mayor Carol Gross, Monna Mann, Gold Star chapter president, Ester (Bee) O’Donovan, Chapter board member, U.S. Rep. Diane Watson (D-Culver City) and Dr. Loni Anderson.
On Opening Day, Dr. Anderson drew a mixed crowd, enthusiastic supporters and the curious to the home of Paul and Madeline Ehrlich.
Here is what they had to say:
Vince Motyl, community activist: “This is a very critical time in Culver City with three open seats. In my opinion, a lot of the candidates are not really qualified. Probably three of (the nine) are not qualified. I don’t know why they are running. But this is America, and they have the right to run.
“I am supporting people I think we can get elected, people who have been actively involved and will be good for the city.
“Loni has been around. She was here for the Expo light rail and for the South Sepulveda project last year.
“I always go back to what Ed Wolkowitz used to say when he was on the City Council. Before you could be appointed to a commission, you had to do something for the city.
“You couldn’t just get off the turnip truck and say, ‘I want to be a commissioner.’
“I am looking for people who have actively contributed to the city, and now they are trying to better the city by putting themselves up for office.”
Mr. Motyl’s own activism goes back to the 1980s (“when I still had hair”), the first time School Board member Steve Gourley ran for the Council. Since then, he has been involved in the campaigns of Dr. Jim Boulgarides, Mr. Wolkowitz, Mr. Gourley, Carol Gross, Albert Vera, Alan Corlin and Steve Rose.
Question: How can Mr. Motyl aid Dr. Anderson’s campaign?
“I have a lot of institutional memory,” he said. “I know where a lot of people were in the past. Hopefully, I can guide some people into the campaign.”
Since three present Council members are being term-limited this spring, Mr. Motyl was asked if he favored term limits a decade and a half ago when they became law here.
“Good question,” he said, “but I don’t remember. Statewide, I will always be in favor of term limits because I don’t want to see professional politicians.
“For Culver City, you have got to go with the flow. You have three open seats. A lot of experience is going to be lost. But there still are a lot of good people in the city who can guide them.”
Mim Shapiro and her husband Hank were among the early arrivals. “I am supporting Loni,” Mrs. Shapiro said, “because she is a really nifty lady. She is smart, and she cares about Culver City. That is what I am looking for.”
Tom Supple, one of the more active voices in the community: “I am leaning toward supporting Loni, but I came here to get more information.
“I first encountered her during the Bob Champion thing on South Sepulveda. She was on the Citizens Advisory Committee (and made the crucial move that ultimately closed it down).
“She did make the key call, but I was impressed all along with the way she worked. She seemed very competent, and she expressed the kind of interest I had.”
What is Mr. Supple seeking in a candidate?
“I am not opposed to development, but I am not sure I want to have the community overdeveloped,” he said. “There is a way to keep it under control. Look at the Entrada Tower, which is four times (taller than) the city limit. It should have been dead on arrival.”
Mr. Supple favors term limits. “Too often people get into office, become entrenched, and it’s too hard to get them out,” he said. “There is something to be said for institutional memory, but after awhile, it becomes too institutional. You need new ideas.”
Mrs. Ehrlich, who served on the School Board, 1991-95, was standing at the stove in her kitchen, stirring bubbling hot chocolate for her guests on a raw afternoon.
“Loni is a very down-to-earth person who comes into this campaign with a lot of energy. She has good common sense. She is willing to listen, and she is a quick learner, which is very important to me.”
City Councilman Scott Malsin: “I have endorsed two candidates to this point, and I have not given my name to a third. But I have a lot of respect for Loni Asnderson. She is very intelligent, very well spoken. The city would be fortunate to have someone with her character and capabilities. She is a person with vision and with a disciplined mind. I know she would be a team player.”
Don Chandler, friend of the candidate: “I encouraged Loni to run very early on. I think we need a female on the Council (now that Carol Gross is termed out). A woman on the Council keeps them in order, perhaps.”
Mr. Chandler called term limits “a double-edged sword.”
Patricia Hadley, activist: “I happen to like her, and I think she will be good at the job. But I am waiting to hear what she has to say.”
Dr. Anderson: “I am running because this is an important election, and it is time for me to run. A lot of issues are facing the city. We have budget issues to look at, policy to make, changes that will come into effect from when the Charter Amendment passed two years ago.
“I am not a one-issue person. I am familiar with issues throughout the community, with what is going on in most neighborhoods. But there is a lot I don’t know. I want to hear what people have to say, what is important to them.
“The city is doing a good job. Leadership has not made any major mistakes. But three seats are coming open, and we need to have a City Council that is strong. We need to continue some practices of the past. We need to be thoughtful and careful with new policies.
“It is too important not to have reasonable, logical, good people on the Council. I am a new vision and a new voice for Culver City in that way.”
Former Councilman David Hauptman, 1998-02. “I am supporting Loni because I think she is going to be fabulous, a great addition to our Council. She is going to make this Council a cohesive group that is going to get along and get things done. She really cares about our community.”
Mr. Ehrlich: “I am supporting Loni because I believe she will work well with two other candidates I am supporting. I have the impression the three Council members being termed out are very dedicated, very hard-working, but are so strong in their egos it is difficult for them to work together.”
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