As the final member of the City Council to be polled this week on colleague Meghan Sahli-Wells’s diversity rap against the Police Dept., Thomas Small was asked if he had considered being the second member to comment from the dais on the drama last Monday.
“Honestly, I don’t think it merited comment,” he said. “I think it was a misunderstanding.
“The issue of diversity in the Police Dept. – we know our department is incredibly diverse. We know they need to and will continue that diversity in their recruitment.”
Diversity, said Mr. Small, “is an issue that flames up that we need to flame down.”
He planted his feet and declared his stand.
“The much more important issue is how we even can continue to improve on the excellence of our Police Dept., how we can support them in that.”
A proud resident of the Hayden Tract, “on my street I see the police fairly regularly. Now that I am on the Council, I am really starting to know them. They are all really nice.
“We need to increase that,” Mr. Small said.
“Every officer who comes on the street should know my kids (9-year-old twins) by name. My kids should know them. And my kids should know, if they have any reason to be scared, those are the guys to go to. Those are the guys who are like their uncles, their aunts.”
In Mr. Small’s view, Ms. Sahli-Wells’s aggressive questioning of Police Chief Scott Bixby was not necessarily worthy of the strong attention it received. “I didn’t think what happened on the dais was quite so remarkable,” he said.
“I was not surprised by Councilman (Jeff) Cooper’s (slightly critical) response. I thought it was fine.
“Meghan’s sort of clarification/apology was perfectly fine,” Mr. Small said.
As for the Police Dept. that appears more diverse than the Culver City community, the new Councilman “was not really surprised” by officer reaction. “It makes sense to me they would react that way. I understand why they would feel they did not get credit for their diversity.”
Off the record, an estimated 100 percent of the department felt insulted. Incensed to the extreme, they have remained diplomatically silent.
Meamwhile, they can take solace in earning the voluble endorsement of a Councilman destined to be influential, the second biggest vote magnet in last month’s election.
