Note: Candidate Kathy Paspalis’s campaign for the School Board formally will begin Sunday afternoon at 2 when Madeline and Paul Ehrlich host a reception at their Sunset Park home, 11472 Diller Ave.
Diminutive, sturdy, astute and a study in broad, steadfast convictions, School Board candidate Kathy Paspalis brings a breakfast-fresh set of credentials to the election without sounding like a first-time entry.
[Pas, as in pass, palis, as in palace.]
Dealing from the top of the deck, she is an attorney.
If she makes as big of a splash as the last two lawyers elected to the Board, Steve Gourley and Scott Zeidman, in the campaign and then on Election Day in November, she will be keeping impressive company.
Hanging a shingle can be a promising omen these days in Culver City.
The mother of 10-year-old twins, a Connecticut native who moved here a decade ago, Ms. Paspalis is not a stranger within in certain pockets of the community where she has been active.
But going on stage before the entirety of Culver City in a year when three seats on the five-person Board will be open and when the School District’s coffers are desperately empty — all of these offer new, unproven experiences.
“Sturdy” and “astute” are not casual descriptions of Ms. Paspalis who immediately and enduringly — but not unpleasantly — conveys an unmistakable sense of toughness. She is not tough as in aggressive, but rather in being very difficult to conquer.
She brings two valuable tools that are mandatory equipment in the portfolios of all successful attorneys — unfettered accessibility and unblinking directness, indispensable qualities in a client relationship.
This solid package is underpinned by a pragmatic no-nonsense approach that borders on sternness, except that sternness unfortunately carries a negative connotation.
At the core, then, Ms. Paspalis is a serious, gritty, informed, motivated professional who is not given to easily or wastefully smiling.
By the time November arrives, she may make her rivals glad that more than one seat is open on the School Board.
Heftily educated, she earned undergraduate degrees in the muscular fields of economics and political science at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania.
Presently associated with an environmental consulting firm, she formerly practiced land use law, leaving the field after she tired of the adversarial rigors of litigation.
In the same breath that Ms. Paspalis talked about her volunteer work as a community activist, she also shined when mentioning that “being a lawyer and doing civil rights work, has been important to me for years.”
Was running for the School Board an easy decision?
“It was something I was approached to do by several people,” she said, “parents, teachers, administrators. When I said that I was thinking about running, I had a range of people say, ‘Yes, please do it.’
“I think what they like about me is I’m a good listener. I have a track record of getting things done. I am very detail-oriented. I also bring to the table people who may not always agree and find common ground to reach a solution.
“I have been involved in the kids’ school, on the Site Council, as a Room Parent and helping out in some of the other activities.”
What role would you carve for yourself as a new member of the School Board?
“The first role of any new Board member is to sit and listen, to learn the job and then proceed. The biggest issue facing this district and every district in the state is, obviously, budget, budget and budget.
“And that actually is one of the Board’s roles, right? The Board actually has a limited role — budget, curriculum, dealing with personnel since we are in charge of the Superintendent. Very proscribed roles.
“To the extent we have to deal with the budget, we are now dealing with the mess that is going on in Sacramento. How are we going to find ways to find different revenue sources?”
Where do you stand on the proposed Parcel Tax?
“At the moment, I stand firmly aside because it has not yet been set forth. I don’t know the terms (which have not yet been finalized by the School Board).
“As a concept, though, a Parcel Tax appeals to me because it allows us, as a community in Culver City, to keep our money local. A Parcel Tax can be something that is proscribed in a way that it has a specific use in a specific time period. And it has a specific amount so that it will work to serve its purpose.”
Ms. Paspalis may be contacted at paspalis@earthlink.net
