As the birth mother and principal advocate for a citizen-based (and permanent) Financial Advisory Committee, City Council member Meghan Sahli-Wells left Monday night’s heavily clouded meeting feeling like a well-tossed salad.
Very mixed feelings.
She stood alone.
The Council majority blessed the concept and tossed it back into City Hall staff’s lap, accompanied by a wincing spoonful of reluctance and regret they had agreed in the first place.
Ostensibly, the committee idea was approved last July as a kind of loose-jointed oversight group that probably was not seen as a significant player.
Somewhat informally, the committee would advise the Council on the best usages of new revenues from the hometown Measure Y, which is widely expected to pass in Culver City on Nov. 6.
But one might need a GPS in each hand, plus a third one in his hip pocket, to track the rather circuitous directions the Council gave to staff.
For Ms. Sahli-Wells, her feelings and hopes form a far different story.
“At the end of the meeting,” she said, “I was really happy that the committee was moving forward. But I also came away with the feeling that this never would have happened if it had not been for Measure Y.
“I think this is something we need, whether Y passes or not.”
Ms. Sahli-Wells saluted her colleague Mehaul O’Leary for making the “salient” observation that “if Measure Y does not pass, we need an advisory committee even more.
Parting Ways
“I differ here from some of my colleagues,” she said. “I believe we need it for reasons of transparency, accountability, responsibility.
“We must make certain we have that really valuable community input.
“A committee is important to advise on financial decisions because these are not just numbers we are talking about but services for human beings. We should be open to ideas that community members bring to the table.”
The timeline for bringing the Financial Advisory Committee to life is relatively clear:
Applications for eight of the nine openings (the School Board is expected to select member No. 9) likely will be solicited in November and December. Theoretically, appointments would follow in January.
It is Ms. Sahli-Wells’s wish that the committee begin convening soon after members have been chosen – three residents, three business-type persons with knowledge of commerce and accounting, and two City Hall employees, one with management ties.
If Measure Y passes, it would go into effect in April, and revenues would start to flow in the late spring.
Meantime, Ms. Sahli-Wells will try to convince her Council mates that its mission should be broadened to span all economic development, and it should be permanent.
