One moment moderator David Holtzman was bantering with City Council candidate Jay Garocochea – whose family was in the bakery business — that his dating-site name was “Fresh Bread” a few years ago when he was wife-shopping.
“So that is why it wasn’t available to me,” Mr. Garocochea deadpanned before a large, appreciative audience at the League of Women Voters candidates forum last evening.
Lightness braked to a screeching stop, however, in the next moment.
Selecting a juicy topic from a lengthy list on the giant screen in Council Chambers, Mr. Garocochea purposely, and perhaps surprisingly, landed on the potentially explosive “Council diversity” line.
The winter-spring campaign by seven contenders for three City Council seats on April 12 has not been remotely controversial.
If measuring, Mr. Garocochea, Mr. Nice Guy, working corporate security after 20 years with the Police Dept., would be the least likely to dip his toe into race waters.
He did, though, and he acquitted himself cleanly, staying as far from rancor as you would expect. But his choice of topics also irresistibly cracked open the door of race-debating for his only-human colleagues.
The racy subject has laid low for months even though a headline at the outset of the campaign was that newcomer Daniel Lee entered because incumbent Meghan Sahli-Wells once told him that no African American ever had won a Council seat in this town.
Mr. Garocochea opened mildly, quoting the moderator that the seven already formed a diverse crowd – two African Americans, an Asian, a woman and three white guys.
He also was candid.
Why Are We Doing This?
“When I first saw the question,” said Mr. Garocochea, “the first thing that popped into my mind was race and gender. I don’t think that should be a real concern for voters. They should look at what a candidate has to offer.”
He finished with a cymbals-clashing conclusion:
“I don’t see any purpose in the question.”
Marcus Tiggs,who is black, essentially validated Mr. Garocochea’s stance.
“I don’t want someone to vote for me – or not – because I am African American,” said the bankruptcy lawyer. He further commended the accomplishments of the City Council throughout the 25 years he and his family have resided in Culver City.
Next was the field’s ultra-progressive, Councilperson Meghan Sahli-Wells. She declared a muscularly opposite view.
“It is incredibly important for us to know,” she said, “that in our 99-year history, no African American, no Asian, no Latino, no openly gay person has been on the Council. I am only the fifth woman to run for the City Council.”
Ms. Sahli-Wells went on to say that “we do not live in a post-racial society. We have issues to discuss.”
To accent her position, she said that “perspectives (of diverse people) matter.”
The aforementioned Mr. Lee said that while he had been considering a future run for the City Council, Ms. Sahli-Wells’s assertion that he could be the first African American “pushed me over the edge” about seeking office.
“Personally, I think you should vote for whomever you want to vote for, for whatever reasons you choose that person,” Mr. Lee said. “If you will give me an actual look, you will find more reasons to vote for me besides the fact that I am black.”
Thomas Small did a quick flyover and jetted away.
“I feel as if it is a happy accident,” he said, “that I am Filipino American, Asian American, the first of us to run for any office in Culver City. I am happy to represent that community, which usually is under-represented.”
Mr. Small then promptly changed the subject into a less volatile area.
That brought the discussion down to two rangy, mature gentlemen, one a Central Valley native, the other a son of Sweden.
Scott Wyant swept in and swept out.
“Not too many people want to hear what a white guy who used to have blond hair, who was born in the middle of the 20th century, has to say about diversity.”
Mr. Wyant went on to say he knows diversity. He noted that his wife and daughter are Jewish, that he has participated in years of Jewish ceremonies, and that early in their marriage they lived in under-developed Guatemala, in a smallish cinderblock hovel where all water that was to be consumed first had to be boiled.
Changing the cadence and the mood, Göran Eriksson said that by law, the city needs to produce a balanced budget.
