City Councilman Christopher Armenta occupied a special niche in the final weeks of the life of the progressive community activist Adele Siegel, who died last Wednesday at the age of 92.
When he was running for a Council seat during the spring, Mr. Armenta was the only candidate Mrs. Siegel endorsed.
She wrote a letter to the newspaper, published a week before the April 8 election, her reasons for supporting Mr. Armenta.
After learning of her death, the Councilman said he did not really know Mrs. Siegel, “but it was an honor for me to help her when she would come into Council Chambers.”
A Familiar Ritual
In her last years when she occasionally came to City Hall to plead a cause before the City Council, Mrs. Siegel, accompanied by an aide and her portable oxygen tank, would very slowly wend her way down the eastern-most aisle in Council Chambers, toward a seat in the front row.
Invariably, a small welcoming crowd would cluster, and for a few minutes they would chat animatedly.
Because it was difficult for her to navigate the distance from her seat to the speaker podium, Mr. Armenta, as the City Clerk, would step across the front of Chambers and bring a hand-held mic for Mrs. Siegel.
She was adept at the computer, where she frequently wrote Letters to the Editor. With Mr. Armenta holding the mic, Mrs. Siegel, in a shaky voice, would read prepared remarks that she had printed out from her computer that afternoon.
“It was an honor to help her,” said Mr. Armenta. “What I admired about her was that she was a very persistent person. While she was always gracious, she would be right out there with what she had to say.”
Here is Mrs. Siegel’s letter from the April 1 edition, declaring her support for Mr. Armenta in the following week’s election:
From Adele Siegel
As a voter in Culver City for 62 years, I would like to recommend the most highly qualified candidate, Christopher Armenta, in next Tuesday’s City Council election.
He has earned his approval from the
people he works with, family, friends and those he meets.
His knowledge, judgment, decisions and thoroughness already have been applauded,
have already been applauded.
Mr. Armenta is a whiz at problem-solving. Perhaps there is a way to have shorter City Council meetings.
