The Teachers Union found out early, last month, what other groups have been learning since about the School Board race:
With 3 seats opening on Nov. 3, it is easy to vote the first two endorsements, Karlo Silbiger and Kathy Paspalis, usually in that order.
But filling the final chair is a head-scratcher.
Surprisingly, the teachers voted for newcomer Gary Abrams as opposed to longtime schools activist Alan Elmont. Therein, said Teachers Union President David Mielke, lies a story that he will relate shortly.
But there is far from a consensus about Mr. Abrams, the much-liked low-key gentlemen best known in the community for his years as a teacher’s aide in the classroom at Lin Howe School.
Selection of Mr. Abrams does not solve the No. 3 position for other Culver City organizations.
Tonight at 7 o’clock at the Vets Auditorium, the Culver City Democratic Club will be the next group to face this dilemma.
According to the club newsletter, 3 of the 6 candidates are registered Democrats, qualifying them for potential club endorsements, Ms. Paspalis, Mr. Silbiger and Robert Zirgulis, which might have made the mystery of endorsees a fait accompli in other years. Not this time, though, because Mr. Zirgulis has been a magnet for critical attention in these final days of summer for maintaining that the School District should have been collection “millions” in revenues from Baldwin Hills oil drilling.
Returning to the Teachers Union:
Determining the first two endorsements was “really easy,” Mr. Mielke said. “Karlo and Kathy were at the top of all lists.”
Easing into the conundrum faced by the union, the president said that “there was some discussion about who would be No. 3.
The best known and best liked story about the Elmont family is that either Mr. Elmont or Mrs. Elmont has attended — with the accent on active, vocal participation — virtually every School Board meeting for the last 16 years or so.
For the teachers, said Mr. Mielke, the giant drawback was that Mr. Elmont “is rabidly anti-union.”
And then there were three left.
After calling Prof. Patricia Siever of West Los Angeles College “an interesting candidate” because she not only is an educator but college-level, he bracketed her with Mr. Zirgulis, a substitute teacher, as having a perceived common flaw. “We are surprised by not seeing either one of them at School Board meetings,” Mr. Mielke said. “Generally when people plan to run, they attend meetings to observe, and to study the issues and dynamics of meetings.”
Finally, there was Mr. Abrams. “He has impressed people,” said the union president, “because he is at Lin Howe every day, a teacher’s aide and a genuine activist parent. Many people around Lin Howe think he is an employee.”
Turning in a different direction, Mr. Mielke said of Mr. Abrams: “We kind of recruited him as a candidate. He is here every day. He knows the issues. He knows the obstacles.”
The Teachers Union, which, naturally, endorsed the parcel tax, Measure EE, settled on Mr. Abrams for the following reason:
“Ultimately, we went with the guy whose heart is in the right place,” Mr. Mielke said.
He acknowledged that Mr. Elmont possesses numerous attributes, “but we are not sure teachers are a priority for him.”
