Three months to the day and hour of the School Board election made memorable and pivotal by a rash of bullet – or steered – voting, history last night whispered into the ears of the Culver City Democratic Club:
“Let’s do it again. Let’s repeat ourselves.”
The most fascinating Democratic Club vote in recent times spawned at least four intriguing storylines that should flap jaws for the remaining 61 days of the campaign.
Storyline No. 1: What will distinguish the Democratic Club’s Endorsement Party from its predecessors was not that Jim Clarke and Meghan Sahli-Wells lopsidedly won the only two endorsements when four were available. Both were favored going in.
What will be remembered – and may hauntingly foreshadow the April 10 election for four City Council seats – is the curious way victory was achieved.
By the objective barometers of voters shopping for candidates, three or four of the five invited candidates performed at peak, flawless levels.
But when Club President Bill Wynn called for a vote, the closeness was discarded.
First ballot results when 79 votes were cast and 48 were required for endorsement:
Jim Clarke…56
Meghan Sahli-Wells…65
Andy Weissman…37
Stephen Murray…5
Scott Malsin…18
This round was marked by an uncommonly high number of ballots where the voter coincidentally happened to check only the names of Ms. Sahli-Wells and Mr. Clarke.
Since two more endorsements technically remained to be given, Mr. Wynn called for a second ballot.
It was here that skeptics said the form of voting confirmed their suspicions about the opening round when there was a striking number, peculiarly, of No Endorsement ballots.
Second ballot results when 65 votes were cast and 39 were needed for endorsement:
Andy Weissman…32
Stephen Murray…3
Scott Malsin…14
No Endorsement…29
Since it is not possible to divine the reasoning of voters from this distance, it must be presumed that, by the sheerest coincidence and most puzzling logic, the supporters of Ms. Sahli-Wells and Mr. Clarke concluded only two persons should be selected to the four Council seats.
Until challenged, this will stand as the Coincidence of the Year that nearly half of the Democratic Club voters, a remarkable oddity, eagerly concur.
Storyline No. 2: The Scott Malsin factor. Last night may have afforded a preview of what awaits Mr. Malsin on the campaign trail. After strategically resigning from the City Council on Dec. 12 to circumvent losing his family healthcare benefits from the city, Mr. Malsin returned to competition the following month, taking out papers to be a candidate for reclaiming a seat on the dais in April.
Mr. Malsin’s moves were unprecedented in Culver City’s 95-year history, and the looming question was whether or how voters would react.
Last night’s answer was condensed vitriol – that is, several persons (but only several) lashed out at him for his maneuvering. Ironically, in his first major crowd setting of the campaign, Mr. Malsin delivered a powerful showing, so strong that it may have given personal critics reason to re-think their stances.
Storyline No. 3: Stephen Murray, first-time candidate. Question marks and chin-stroking are the initial reactions to the “professional environmentalist’s” first major community outing as a candidate. His appearances at the microphone were so fleeting that it still is too early to assess him. He separated himself from his colleagues in two ways that could be telling:
• His answers to many questions were refreshingly succinct – either because he digs directly, cogently, to the point, unbothered by details and weeds or because he is unfamiliar with details? That answer should become clear in the next several candidate forums.
• A gasp swept over the Senior Center crowd near the end of the evening when, out of nowhere, he declared an unusual protest. To make an (isolated) statement against Mr. Malsin’s recent activities, he said he would not accept an endorsement from any organization that also would endorse Mr. Malsin.
Storyline No. 4: In what may have been his maiden outing as a forum moderator, Gary Walker of the Culver City News and the Argonaut was almost unassailable, salting his delivery with a judicious amount of wit and doing what every successful moderator practices:
Staying out of the way of candidates.
