While the City Council now goes on hiatus until Monday, Sept. 14, when recovering member Mehaul O’Leary is expected to make his triumphant return from a flamboyant incident at his Irish pub,
While Kevin Commins of the Friends of the Library continues to recruit badly needed volunteers (at info@ccfol.org) for this weekend’s Fiesta La Ballona,
While seven candidates for the School Board find they must be innovative to attract community attention at this time of year for the Nov. 3 election,
Around City Hall, business is humming as City Manager Mark Scott completes his third month near the end of a legislatively dry summer in Culver City.
Challenged with almost a record low amount of business to transact, the City Council has become almost invisible during the hottest months of the year, and the hiatus may be scarcely noticed.
However, Mr. Scott continues to make a strongly favorable mark with his thoughtful weekly commentaries at the outset of the Council meetings.
What traditionally has been referred to as a “moment of prayer,” Mr. Scott has converted into a reflective minute for community members to ponder.
Consider his three most recent presentations:
Last night:
The end of summer brings about some familiar traditions from which we find joy and comfort.
Fiesta La Ballona celebrates community…and I look forward to my first. Thank you to the many Fiesta volunteers.
Then comes Labor Day, our annual day of rest, celebrating those who work so hard, often in relative anonymity. We thank them all.
A clear sign of the end of summer, we will shortly welcome our local children back to school. We thank their teachers and support team.
And here at City Hall, we look forward to September when we can welcome back our friend and colleague Councilmember O’Leary.
We have much to be thankful for.
Monday, Aug. 17:
With commentary from Mr. Scott, he explains the context oif his presentation:
I’ve been studying a book by Peter Block called “Community: The Structure of Belonging.” There’s a section of the book that relates to “the gifts” that each citizen can offer within a community. By gifts, he refers to their talents and virtues (my words), as opposed to brownies or thing with bows.
So I prefaced my remarks by saying how we tend to spend so much time focusing on weaknesses and limitations, and that we might want to take the advice of Dr. Block, who urges the following (quoted from his book):
“Bringing the gifts of those on the margin into the center is a primary task of leadership and citizenship.”
“In community building, rather than focusing on our deficiencies and weaknesses,….we gain more leverage when we focus on the gifts we bring and seek ways to capitalize on them. Instead of problematizing people and work, the conversation that searches for the mystery of our gifts brings the greatest change and results.”
Out of context, that may not have been the most meaningful invocation I will ever do. It makes sense to me because I am so uni-focused on this negative called “the budget gap.” We need/want to engage the community. I spend a lot of time thinking about how to leverage our collective gifts…as co-owners of the challenge of operating and building a great community. Easier said than done.
Monday, Aug. 10:
Within each community there are corps of dedicated people who volunteer extraordinary hours for very little recognition, and virtually no compensation. Communities could not run without these volunteers. These people have different titles at different times, but their dedication is motivated by a desire to make a better place. It is driven by empathy for fellow citizens. It is inspired by a belief that individual citizens can make a profound difference.
Tonight I thank all those who dedicate this part of their lives. And tonight I thank (city commissioner) Anita Shapiro (who died earlier in the day).”
