From the mercurial way the race for the School Board is starting this month, Culver City voters will not have any excuses on Nov. 3 for not selecting their three favorite choices for the three open seats.
Communal meetings and more private gatherings hosted by a single candidate seem to be filling the air like a popcorn popper gone haywire.
On Election Day, two months from Thursday, residents who just have been awake — not necessarily involved — should know the School Board Six well enough to invite them over for breakfast one morning.
You won’t even have to ask whether they prefer pancakes, eggs over easy, hot or cold cereal? You not only will know their nutritional notions but their shoe sizes and why their late pet had a nervous tick on Tuesdays.
This feels different from past races — as if there is genuine widespread interest throughout the community.
Part of it surely is the broadly perceived urgency for passing the ($96 a year) parcel tax, the easy to remember Measure EE.
Somebody in Culver City must be against it, but such a person has not yet been heard from.
More accurately, this refreshing, rejuvenated whoosh of energy is personality-driven, and we are not just talking about the candidates — Karlo Silbiger, Kathy Paspalis, Alan Elmont, Gary Abrams, Patricia Siever and Robert Zirgulis.
The 60-day dash to the polls by these guys — guys is intended to be a unisex term, no offense to the ladies — has the feel of perhaps the most organized School Board election ever.
Muscular civic personalities not only are backing but actually leading the campaigns of the School Board Six.
They are down in the dirt, aggressively showing the mostly freshmen candidates how to win — in some cases, how they did it or how they would have done it.
These personalities are not leaning back on their shopworn elbows, puffing on their corncob pipes, passively, almost sleepily, endorsing their favorite challengers.
Nobody, these strategists figure, wins by a fluke. Even though Culver City voting numbers for School Board elections traditionally have been tiny, most observers believe that, easy, uncomplicated as it looks, smart tactics still are mandatory.
In tomorrow’s edition, David Mielke, President of the Teachers Union, will talk about how and why the union’s endorsements came about.
For now, let’s talking about specific persons.
Kathy Paspalis
An email from Dan O’Brien (beverlyanddan@aol.com) tells us that their favorite candidate will be hosting a fundraiser Sunday, Sept. 20, 5 to 8 p.m., at one of Downtown’s hot addresses, Rush Street. Tickets are $25 per. They are evening working on a child-care arrangement. Live and silent auction…
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Karlo Silbiger
Check out Community Update out front for data on the imaginative event that the putative favorite in the race is hosting on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 13, at El Rincon School.
Scott Zeidman
No, the second-year School Board member is not up for re-election yet, but he is spreading near and nearer word of a Candidates’ Forum on Thursday, Sept. 17, from 7 to 9, at El Marino Language School. Be there by 6:45, Mr. Zeidman urges. Five of the six candidates have confirmed.
Reader Peter Stern
Commenting on one of the most debated and controversial candidates, Mr. Stern tells us:
“Mr. Zirgulis has posted election signs on public property around Culver City. It is my hope that he realizes this is a blight upon our city and discourages a vote in his favor.
“It is a pleasure to see no other candidate has followed this idea.”
