As soon Jim Clarke began addressing the grandstand crammed with eager students of many ages last evening at The Actor’s Gang, you sensed this was going to be different from all other forums this spring for the City Council candidates.
The first commandment of show business is to know your audience. Witty, quip-cracking with faultless timing, brelaxed, ever-knowledgeable and kitchen-table comfortable, Mr. Clarke, a bachelor of a certain age, scored a resounding bullseye, and established an exemplary tone for his five colleagues.
“Hi, I am Jim Clarke, and as kids, you should aspire to dreams. And you should try to follow those dreams.
“In my case, my dream was to become a professional baseball player – until I was seven years old. Then I got interested in politics.
“At 8, it was a Presidential year. I opened up a polling booth on Election Day in my garage so the kids in my neighborhood could go ahead and vote.
“Many years later in San Francisco,” said the Northern California native, “I was a volunteer in a program called Kids Voting where kids actually did go to the polls on Election Day and vote with their parents. The interesting part was, because of the kids’ involvement, parents did turn out in big numbers.
“I lost my first election in the ninth grade,” said Mr. Clarke who went on to give his mostly teen audience a blueprint in perspicacity.
“Losing that time was okay,” he said, “because when you lose an election, you should keep trying. Later I was sophomore class vice president, junior vice president and then student body president.”
Everybody Was on
On easily the funnest evening of the City Council campaign, which ends on April 10, Scott Malsin, Meghan Sahli-Wells, Andy Weissman, Mayor Mehaul O’Leary all gave inspired performances. Afterward, they dashed home to sleep before returning to the stage of the same Actor’s Gang venue this early morning for a breakfast-hour Candidates Forum with the Downtown Business Assn.
Sponsored by Kid Scoop Media, creatively directed by Michelle Mayans, last night had to be an eye-opener for students of Culver City High School teacher Genevieve Gilbert-Rolfe who posed more sparkling questions than many of the dreary retreads raised by their elders.
Online daily, the student questioners were familiar with mainline issues.
The first questioner, Eric Bergstrom, wanted to know if Culver City will ever adopt a plastic bag ban.
All six contenders gave a firm nod.
To the question of whether they would endorse an overturning of Prop. 8, the gay marriage ban, everybody again was on board, sometimes with personal stories.
Mr. Weissman said he was proud to report that his sister has been in a blissful 25-year relationship with herf life partner.
Ms. Sahli-Wells, a longtime advocate for this and related causes, said that the root problem is too many of the “old guard,” who entertain old-fashioned, wrongheaded thinking, are clinging to elected office. It is past tiome, she said “for people of the younger generation, who think gay marriage is right, to replace them.”
But in a more reserved way, here was the most important moment of the evening.
At the outset, students Nicole Martin and Claire Wineland were introduced as the commonly articulate, informed, professional co-moderators.
Ms.Martin mentioned that she worked on retired teacher Nancy Goldberg’s successful School Board campaign last November.
Then it was the turn of the courageous Ms. Wineland, who has battled cystic fibrosis all 14 of her years, 25 percent of which have been spent in hospitals.
Ms. Wineland glided onto the large stage at The Actor’s Gang as if she had been performing for at least 25 percent of her life.
Here is what Ms. Mayans, who organizing the winning event, said of the brave Ms. Wineland and her Claire’s Place Foundation:
“Claire is a remarkable girl born with cystic fibrosis who has been in and out of the hospital all of her life. She set up a foundation to help children living with CF and their families.
“My friend attended a Make a Wish Foundation event where Claire was being granted a wish. She wished for her bedroom to be remolded.
“My friend was taken by her amazing spirit. I was so impressed by how positive she is and continues to be.
“I felt it was a good match for the work I do with Kid Scoop Media. Claire was born and raised Culver City. She only recently moved to Calabasas.
“Contributions can be made directly through her website.”
http://clairesplacefoundation.org/
