[Editor’s Note: See earlier story, “A Lifetime in the Making, Weissman Joins Candidates Field,” Sept. 26.]
Andy Weissman, who announced last week he will contend for one of the three City Council seats next April, did something unique on opening day of his campaign.
Not content with just asserting he is the most roundly qualified horse in the race because of his extensive resume of public service, he unfurled a figurative banner defining and detailing his philosophy and his convictions.
For an uninterrupted hour, the 57-year-old lawyer of moderate, measured demeanor explored the central question in voters’ minds:
What will the man who has held so many civic offices that surround the City Council be like on the dais if he convinces enough residents he is a right fit?
Evaluating Tradition
He has lived in Culver City since he was two years old, and he loves the comfortable culture of tradition that breezily blows through quiet, lush green neighborhoods.
As a realist, he recognizes the necessity and the value of change, a gentle euphemism for progress. Unlike some of the loudest residents, he resists the notion that hometown traditions have started to fade.
Mr. Weissman’s view is from the inside. Since the turn of the century he has led two panels that have engineered their own kind of redevelopment. They have retooled the way Culver City is governed.
Affecting the Infrastructure
The Civil Service Commission, where he served two terms, significantly amended the body of civil service rules.
Two years ago, he chaired the Charter Reform Committee, which heavily reconditioned Culver City’s constitution.
"The city has reached a point where it is not the same city it was 20 years ago," Mr. Weissman said. "Most of the transitions, changes, I would call progress. I don’t want to see us fail to take advantage of opportunities where they exist. I think I have the experience, the background and certainly the institutional memory to be able to make decisions."
"What you want is a Councilperson who is able to evaluate a circumstance objectively, without bias one way or the other. I think I can do that."
Mr. Weissman was asked which way he tilts politically, and how that fits with being an objective observer.
"Being on the Council is a non-partisan position. When you ask, ‘Where do you stand politically?’ I don’t know how you answer that in the context of Culver City."
"I am a registered Democrat. I have been ever since I could vote. But I am not involved in Democratic politics, not in the Culver City Democratic Club or state politics."
"My interest is very insular. I am involved in Culver City. I don’t think the issues that are important to Culver City are necessarily political in the sense of left, right or center."
"The important thing for Culver City is to have people who are able to see all sides as opposed to coming to the City Council with an agenda or a single issue, anything that limits your ability to evaluate."
Mr. Weissman was asked what advantage three decades of experience on Culver City panels and commissions have given him.
"Until you have done it, I don’t think you can appreciate the significance of serving with a group. Being on the City Council is not a role one individual can perform. One person cannot have autonomy. It is not as though you are a Councilperson for a district, where you are ruler of that district."
"You can only govern by consensus. Consensus-building is not easy. It is not something easily learned. Many people, past and present, I don’t think have fully appreciated the art of consensus building. Or at least they don’t practice it."
Going Against Momentum
"It is one thing to take principled positions. But that does not necessarily lead to good governance. Unless you are able to achieve a consensus position, you are not going to accomplish much. Unless you get two votes to go along with you, you are a voice in the wind."
Being Pragmatic
"Fine, if that is all you care about. If all you care about is advocating a position, and you don’t necessarily care about the end result, fine. That is the role you have chosen for yourself."
"But I see myself as a problem-solver."
"The city has particular concerns. The city has particular needs. And there are constituencies that need to be satisfied. In order to do those things, you need to work with people."
"If nothing else, over three decades of service to the community, I have been able to work with people. The results of the things I have been involved in speak to my ability to be able to work well with people."
Mr. Weissman, if you are sitting in a roomful of voters who know little about you but want to leave with one strong piece of information about you, what would you tell them? What is the most appealing reason to vote for you?
"The one thing I would want people who don’t know me to take away from a meeting is the feeling that, aside from being confident, I am also competent. I am not a dilettante. I am not a johnny-come-lately to community involvement."
"I am not the kind of person who talks the talk. I have actually done community things for 30 years. It is something I think I am good at. I can point to accomplishments. I think people will come to realize when they have a choice of voting or not voting, I am confident, competent, objective, articulate."
Rating Assets
"Of those qualities, objectivity is essential. Competence certainly is important. It is good to be able to make your point. So being articulate also is important."
"But the capacity to work with people, to consensus-build, is also key to good governance. I think I can do that, too."
"In the context of a meeting, people will be able to understand this is something I want to do because I care deeply about the community in which I live, work and play. I hope I can make them understand I am there to do a job."
Mr. Weissman, what about your reputation for moderation?
"By nature, I am not emotional. You will not see me turn red. You will not see me explode. That is just not me, not my style. Sometimes maybe that is misperceived as being too distant. I am casual, laidback. But I am a passionate person. If I were not passionate, I could not do the things I do in the city."
"I don’t see myself as being disrespectful. But I tend sometimes — a psychologist might have a good time with this — to be sarcastic, flippant. I see that as a disarming mechanism. “If you have seen me at commission meetings, City Council meetings, YMCA Board meetings, there is a seriousness that is mixed with levity. “I see the job of Councilperson as being important. But you have to bring your own character to it. I am who I am, and I have been that way since junior high."
