Community organizer Meghan Sahli-Wells will officially declare her candidacy for the City Council at a Campaign Kickoff event on Saturday morning at 11 at the sundial sculpture near Bill Botts Field in Culver City Park, 9710 Jefferson Blvd.
This will be an invitation-only event.
Election Day is Tuesday, April 13, and Jeff Cooper is the only other announced candidate for two seats on the Council.
Ms. Sahli-Wells will be joined by supporters, current and former city officials, and other community leaders who believe she is the best choice to serve on the City Council.
“The challenges we face are difficult, the new candidate said. “We are in a real economic and environmental crisis. We can't just buy our way out of this crisis. We need to use ingenuity, cooperation and new thinking to make our future better. We have to realize that our greatest resource is ourselves. In that sense, Culver City is sitting on a goldmine.”
Ms. Sahli-Wells is co-founder of Culver City's Downtown Neighborhood Assn. and the Neighborhood Action Network, two groups that seek to give Culver City residents a stronger voice in local government.
Why the Park Site Was Chosen
She was appointed by the City Council to serve on Culver City’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Initiative Advisory Committee, and was elected its first Vice-Chair.
Named to the City’s Advisory Committee on Redevelopment (ACOR), Ms. Sahli-Wells favors development that creates safe and vital neighborhoods, and preserves the qualities that make Culver City such a great place to live, work, and play. She is also on the steering committee of Transition Culver City, a group committed to community-building and sustainable practices, and is on the Green Team of the Fiesta La Ballona Committee.
Numerous current and past City officials and community leaders endorse her campaign, including Vice-Mayor Christopher Armenta, City Council member Gary Silbiger, Cultural Affairs Commissioner Ronnie Jayne, School Board member Karlo Silbiger, Assembly District Delegate Tom Camarella, Martin Luther King Day Committee Chair Bill Wynn, former School Board member Barbara Honig, and Disability Advisory Committee Member Neil Rubenstein.
A champion of environmental initiatives, Ms. Sahli-Wells believes Culver City can be a model community that employs the best ways to increase energy efficiency, reduce pollution, and protect natural resources like Ballona Creek.
She has been a consistent advocate for smart transportation in Culver City, including the use of bicycle lanes, light rail integration, and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks.
The Campaign Kickoff event’s location was chosen in part because it overlooks Culver City. “It’s a good perspective to see Culver City as it is now, and to envision how we want it to be in the future,” said Ms. Sahli-Wells.
Titled “Homage to La Ballona,” the sundial is also a fitting symbol for some of the issues she wants to address in her campaign. Artist Lucy Blake-Elahi collaborated with students from Echo Horizon School on this public art piece, which reflects the changes in our natural landscape through time, and the diversity of cultures represented here.
For campaign information: www.vote4meghan.com
Mr. Klein may be contacted at james@vote4meghan.com
