Last night’s Installation Ceremony at the regularly scheduled School Board meeting was one of those Who’s Who occasions when Culver City’s luminous lights came to celebrate.
When candidates for public office are in the audience, you can believe this is the place to be, and to be seen.
City Council contenders Christopher Armenta and Andy Weissman were in the Board Room. It was explained that the candidate Dr. Luther Henderson was unable to participate because of his duties as head of the Cultural Affairs Commission.
Two of the three unsuccessful Board candidates — Alan Elmont, in the front row, Roger Maxwell, posted farther back — were in their accustomed seats. Only Mike Eskridge was missing.
Former School Board President Madeline Ehrlich was there along with Planning Commissioner John Kuechle.
School Board member Saundra Davis, absent for reasons of health since Oct. 29, made a strong return.
Hizzoner in a Leading Role
Resplendent on his 56th birthday, Mayor Alan Corlin, tall, imposing and nattily attired as is his custom, strode in early. He warmed up for administering the oath of office to new members Scott Zeidman and Steve Gourley by shmoozing with nearly everyone in the front half of the room.
Geoff Maleman, the ubiquitous spokesperson for the School District, charted the evening’s events, and his toughest challenge came at picture-shooting moments when he had to compete with family members recording the one-chance scenes.
From the Classroom
From inside the school community, perhaps the most significant guest was the widely admired but typically bashful teacher Charlotte DuBois.
It could be argued that Ms. DuBois actually was the central star, so vigorously was she praised, separately, by all five members of the School Board.
Overflow Crowd
By Mr. Zeidman’s comprehensive count, the star-spangled evening drew more than 200 persons.
Placing the number in perspective, Mr. Zeidman told the newspaper: “More people were at the swearing-in than there were at the six Candidate Forums combined.”
Stars aside for a moment, “The crowd included at least 20 elementary school kids, which is one of the things I have been trying to do — get the young kids and their parents involved.”
Leaders Turn Out
Mr. Zeidman also noted that six of the eight principals in the School District were in attendance.
While Mr. Zeidman and the veteran politician Mr. Gourley, who achieved a huge comeback this autumn, were the main luminaries, there were two very different dimensions to the evening.
Before they could be sworn-in and seated with their new teammates on the School Board, room had to be cleared for them.
Time to Leave
Just as ritualistically, President Marla Wolkowitz and Vice President Stew Bubar departed, voluntarily, after deciding not to run for new terms.
Ms. Wolkowitz had announced that the previous meeting would be her final appearance.
Perhaps fittingly, this left Mr. Bubar alone on the stage to bid fare thee well to Culver City after three fertile terms, spanning 12 years, on the School Board.
Looking Back
Surrounded by a cluster of well-wishers before the meeting began, Mr. Bubar said he was going away with mixed feelings. “This has been a great ride,” he told the newspaper. “Tough as it was sometimes, it has been a real pleasure to work with these people.
When it came time to sign off, Mr. Bubar appeared to be overcome by the emotional mountain climbing. Reading from a prepared statement, he stopped abruptly, unable to articulate any more feelings. Turning to his close friend and Studio Estates neighbor on his right, Mr. Bubar handed the script to Dr. Dana Russell, his first campaign manager, who completed the last several sentences.
What About Tuesday Nights?
To the tune of a standing ovation shortly before 8 o’clock, the feistiest fighter on the School Board left the brim-full Board Room for the final time.
What is Mr. Bubar going to do every other Tuesday night for the rest of his life?
“I have shifted my load to Mondays,” he said, “because I am in an Administrative Credential program to get my credential to be an assistant principal. “
The rhythms of his professional life will continue apace without the smallest interruption. “When a vacuum opens,” he said of his schedule change, “something else rushes right in.”
School (Board) in Session
Once Mr. Bubar gaveled his final School Board meeting to order at 7:36, the fun that Board watchers have come to anticipate started spilling over.
Mostly, Dr. Myrna Rivera Cote, the stately and elegant superintendent nearing her one-year anniversary, remained typically in the background while everyone else was chatting up neighbors and semi-strangers. Gracefully, then, she fashioned a tidy, traditional farewell to Mr. Bubar, before once again stepping back.
Mr. Bubar, often the strongest personality on a Board of un-shy people, said that he “could not claim individual accomplishments” because he was, after all, just one-fifth of the School Board. He went on to list numerous Board accomplishments since 1995. “I have no regrets,” he said just before he was overtaken by the emotional accumulation of the occasion.
Election of Officers — or Is It?
Following the seating of Mr. Gourley and Mr. Zeidman, the School Board, from a performance standpoint, returned to its sometimes pugnacious form.
Having lost their top two officers in Mr. Bubar and Ms. Wolkowitz, new leaders were to be nominated.
The veterans on the Board, never noted for their closeness toward or particular considerations for each other during the past six often stormy years, hung together this time.
For the moment, the newcomers were reduced to observers.
There were a couple wrinkles that soon became uncurled.
This May Not be Easy
Dr. Russell opened by nominating Jessica Beagles-Roos as the next president.
After a discussion — not to mention a disagreement — about the bylaws, the generally understood rotation-of-office policy, and the spirit of the regulations, Ms. Beagles-Roos, over the din of a noisy crowd, declined the nomination.
Declaring that “I believe in fairness,” she announced she would be happy to serve as vice president.
Ms. Beagles-Roos immediately nominated Dr. Russell.
With the last impediments cleared for the School Board Class of’01, Dr. Russell assumed the presidency, Ms. Beagles-Roos the vice presidency, and Ms. Davis was selected as the new Secretary.
Upon his return to the world of Culver City politics for the first time in this decade, Mr. Gourley was in true form from the first syllable.
Introductory Gesture
After Mayor Corlin installed the new Board members, Mr. Gourley glided toward the first row where his wife Sharon, a school administrator, was seated for the special occasion.
Enthusiastically, Mr. Gourley bade her to stand. He proudly introduced her to everyone in the audience. She blushed, the Board member beamed and the crowd applauded.
Bare minutes into the meeting’s agenda, it was obvious that the funloving Mr. Gourley’s reputation for aggressive leadership remained intact.
Seated in Mr. Bubar’s former chair, the assertive Mr. Gourley demonstrated that he was ready to take over for Mr. Bubar without surrendering a beat.
A Popular Complaint
As the dozing drone of a dry agenda was about to be launched by Dr. Russell, Mr. Gourley muscularly stepped in to address one of the biggest complaints from the community, a stodgy, inflexible, order-driven agenda.
“May I suggest,” he began, that the Board hurdle over early items and go directly to student subjects “so that the many young people here can get their awards and go home to do their homework.”
No resistance was noted — but then it only was Opening Night.
