Acting in the suddenly re-fashionable tradition of civility, the Culver City Democratic Club last night took one of the longest, most progressive steps in its 60-year history when the gavel of leadership seamlessly was transferred from the senior generation to the junior generation.
The venerable hometown club that has been trying for decades to market the mantra “Gray Is Great” with little success, suddenly pivoted toward youth, which used to mean under 60 but no longer does.
Twenty-eight-year-old Karlo Silbiger, who may have had “heir apparent” stamped on his birth certificate, was elected President of the club. No Democrat in Culver City has doubted he has been a leader-in-waiting ever since he came home from college and teaching on the East Coast four years ago.
Tellingly perhaps, he has been on the board of the Democratic Club since 10 minutes after making his club debut as an adult.
Time for One Secret
Now the only politically active member of his very visible family, Mr. Silbiger succeeds Ronnie Jayne. She indicated she would disclose her bank accounts or her shoe sizes for either foot before publicly revealing her age.
Perhaps the most spirited professional entertainer on the Westside, the peppy Ms. Jayne infused the occasionally tired-blood club with a cannon of energy that exploded across the Rotunda Room of the Vets Auditorium on the second Wednesday of every month for the past two years.
And now the cadence will be changing — not slower, not faster, just a distinctive brand of buzzing gusto that also will be bad news for those who liked to doze off periodically.
The presidency is the second jump in the last 14 months for Mr. Silbiger’s embryonic and long-anticipated political career. He was elected to the School Board in November 2009.
Question: Is this the realization of a longtime goal?
“I take very seriously the work of the Democratic Club, and the Democratic Party in general,” he said. “I was 109 years old when my mom ran for the School Board, and that was the first time I came to a meeting of the Democratic Club.
“I see this as an extremely important way to inform the community, to motivate activism and bring out the breadth of issues in Culver City.
“I have always been perfectly fine behind the scenes, doing the work I have been doing. I never had any ambition to be President of the club.
“But given the dynamics within the club now, it made the most sense.”
If the environment of the Democratic Club changed when you formally joined in ’07, what did you bring to give that impression?
“I would like to think I brought a seriousness with the way we dealt with candidates and endorsements, focusing on every election, regardless of how big or small, on every proposition, regardless of how big or small, making sure the community was informed of every single thing on the ballot.”
Now that you have assumed a wider responsibility, what are your principal objectives?
“My major goal is to bring more people into the leadership of the club. This is a training ground for activists.”
An accent on younger activists?
“For the first time in the history of the club, to my knowledge, we are going to have three officers under 40 (second vice president Meghan Sahli-Wells and recording secretary Sylvia Moore). That is impressive, half of our officers under 40. We are doing a good job of bringing younger people into leadership.
“But the leadership of the club is too small. We need to bring more members into leadership roles.
“I want to find more diverse ways for people to be involved — not only coming to meetings, having social events, a movie night.
“Another goal for me is to be more legislatively involved, actually using meeting time to look at every level of legislation, taking positions and making sure the community is informed. Also important is making elected officials know what we think.
“I want to be sure we are seen as a significant political force in the community, because we are and that we act like it. I want everyone to know we are serious in our job.”
(Tomorrow: Ronnie Jayne’s farewell)
