Through the brawny muscularity of his forceful personality, Mark Salkin of the Culver Crest Neighborhood Assn. turned last night’s City Council candidates forum into probably the best that ever has been held here.
The combination of his size and his sense of command put the evening on the rails with his opening monologue — nobody doubted who the teacher was and who the students were.
Unlike tepid emcees at earlier forums, Mr. Salkin, a realtor and an attorney, was a no-nonsense taskmaster. When several of them tried to duck straight-on responses, massaging their answers to suit their campaign positions by segueing into their favorite topics, the moderator called them out.
More than 100 genuinely engaged persons, from the Crest and elsewhere, poured into El Rincon School.
They were rewarded with the most informative, most entertaining and fastest-paced program they are likely to see in Culver City politics.
Whether they came away with any less foggy of a notion about the three names they are going to mark on their ballots on Tuesday, April 8, remains questionable.
Eight or Nine
The top-heavy eight- or nine-candidate field — sometimes Gary Russell shows up and sometimes, like last night, he doesn’t — is in as much of a dogfight today, with a little more than three weeks to go, as it was back in January.
Their answers are more sharply formed, but their lookalike positions have not budged.
How much difference does that make to the casual voter who no doubt comprises the majority of residents who will visit the polls?
Even in a compact community where hundreds of neighbors know each other, an eight-way race for three open seats complicates voters’ thinking for Election Day.
Telling Them Apart
That is the one insoluble problem voters — the candidates think and talk alike on redevelopment, traffic and City Hall finances.
But when it comes to communication, not all candidates were created equal.
With Mr. Salkin in charge, fresh, detailed, challenging questions filled the two snappy hours.
The trouble, however, was the answers.
The Moderator Tried
Mr. Salkin did everything he could to keep the spirited audience engaged.
But when one question is posed for eight candidates who think similarly, an evening inevitably resolves into a race between rubber stamping and xeroxing.
What Culver City has is a logjam, based on the five-week series of forums that have failed to separate wheat and chaff.
Rated the No. 1 contender for a City Council seat from the start of the campaign, Andy Weissman consistently has demonstrated two requisite qualities, a thorough knowledge of how the city works and a talent for communicating cleanly, directly without a hint of static.
But how does he break out of a crowded field?
O’Leary’s Turn
On a night when a smattering of memorable lines were widely scattered, Mehaul O’Leary authored one of the best:
He was responding to a question about his first move if he learned at his first City Council meeting that the city suddenly was broke.
With three newcomers and only two veterans on the Council, as of next month, Mr. O’Leary said:
“I would turn to the two Councilmen who got us into this, (Gary) Silbiger and (Scott) Malsin and tell them to get us out of it.”
Most Improved
Randy Scott Leslie, a retired U.S. Coast Guard veteran, has gained the most ground and traveled the farthest distance in the campaign.
Liked better by his fellow candidates every time they see him, from a standing start Mr. Leslie clearly has plunged into deep and practical research in order to close in on his most knowledgeable rivals.
In each forum, he has spoken with increasing authority.
Some candidates have been tight. In their answers, they have insisted on circling the same small track.
Mr. Leslie has been strong on environmental integrity and mass transportation.
Little known when he signed up in January, he has been more daring and more creative in forums than his tablemates. Last night, he suggested one month of free bus ridership to encourage a wide movement toward mass transportation.
Five the eight contenders enjoyed good to strong evenings. The remainder tried, but they probably could have mailed in their answers.
