On Monday, Dec. 12, the night of the final City Council meeting of the calendar year, Vice Mayor Scott Malsin will step down from office, he is telling friends.
Temporarily.
Essaying one of the most unusual City Hall moves in the 94-year history of Culver City, the often creative Mr. Malsin will resign to protect his present comprehensive city-generated healthcare benefits for his entire family, meaning his wife and young daughter.
During city labor negotiations earlier this year, in a cost-saving gesture, it was agreed that city employees with five or more years of service would have their coverage severely reduced after Dec. 31.
The high-profile Mr. Malsin, who overtly thrives on his time in office and arguably enjoys the political milieu more than even his most enthusiastic colleagues, this afternoon declined to confirm or deny what his friends are saying. He said he would comment at the appropriate hour, presumably meaning in five weeks.
Rumors of his pending resignation have been rife since last spring, and the Vice Mayor has spoken coyly every time he has been asked.
His retirement — midway through his second four-year term on the Council — will be short-lived, according to insiders.
With three City Council seats available in next April’s election, and all incumbents expected to pursue re-election, Mr. Malsin is hoping to make a triumphant return to politics by joining the field.
As a body, the Council has not been formally informed.
It is speculated that Mr. Malsin’s seat will remain vacant until Election Day and not cause any manner of friction. “This is a Council that often has agreed unanimously,” a City Hall source said this afternoon. “Personally, I see no need to agree to put someone into Scott’s seat for four months.”
Almost Half of a Term
Mr. Malsin calculates that he will have two years and five days remaining in his second term before term limits sideline him.
Therefore, his friends are saying, he is expected to return to the political playing field during the winter and run harder than ever for an office he just won back two years ago.
This probably will be the first time in city history four seats have been open, and that may entice a larger than usual fleet of contenders.
Here is how it would work, according to a City Hall veteran:
The top three votegetters in April, supposedly the incumbents, would win back their seats for a second term and Mr. Malsin ostensibly would campaign for his former chair, to fill out the final two years plus five days.
If, however, he is among the top three votegetters, what follows would be a scrambled political salad. Mr. Malsin would be eligible for one of the other three four-year chairs. Based on the City Charter, he would leave office halfway through the term.
This would lead to another political pickle too remote presently to thrash out.
