Third in a series
Re “Was a Slate Election the Undoing of Silbiger?”
[img]1789|right|Karlo Silbiger||no_popup[/img]After five weeks of preparing to say goodbye, the official farewell of Karlo Silbiger to the School Board happens this evening at 7 o’clock when the curtain goes up in Council Chambers before an expected throng.
In a major upset, Mr. Silbiger finished fourth, one place out of the money, and now busily is re-strategizing his future.
In the late stages of the campaign, there was increasing talk of a new concept in Culver City elections, slate politics.
By the end, there was rising community talk about the Teachers Union’s three endorsed candidates (Mr. Silbiger, Claudia Vizcarra and Vernon L. Taylor) being matched against the three endorsed by United Parents of Culver City, who ended up winning all three seats.
Mr. Silbiger addressed the notion of three supposedly likeminded types taking their paths of office tonight.
“I am afraid of getting into slate politics,” said Mr. Silbiger, “this side vs. that side, and people who owe their political fortunes to each other. I am worried about there not being as much of a sharing of ideas but one set of ideas getting all the play.
“I don’t think that is the best way for our School District to go. Slate politics works very well in Santa Monica and Beverly Hills” but not Culver City, he believes.
Prof. Patricia Siever also will be leaving the School Board this evening, the difference being that it was her choice. She announced last August that for family reasons, she would not chase a second four-year term.
As Board observers quickly will note, the personalities of newcomers Dr. Steve Levin and Sue Robins scarcely could be more different from their predecessors. Both are expected to hold their fire considerably more than Mr. Silbiger and Ms. Siever. As with all new officeholders, a fairer contrast and assessment can be made in the spring, after a half-dozen meetings.
Kathy Paspalis, who never has shrunk from an opinion, was the second highest votegetter in last month’s election, returns for her second term. It will be a mixed kind of evening for her, though, because she will step down after a year in the president’s chair.
