(See PDF here.)
Gaining a perspective on last week’s School Board election when Dr. Steve Levin and Sue Robins claimed seats, and Kathy Paspalis was re-elected for a second term:
If one views each of the 12 precincts as two distinct contests – one concerning early balloting and another on Election Day – there would be a total of 24 precinct races.
Of the three winners of School Board seats in last Tuesday’s election, Dr. Levin, the top votegetter, finished at least third in 20 out of the 24 races.
Ms. Paspalis, found wide-appeal among local voters. She ran the strongest of all seven candidates. She matched her second place finish of four years ago and only was out of the money once, in one precinct race.
Third-place Ms. Robins finished eight times out of the money.
Karlo Silbiger, the defeated incumbent, on the other hand, could not replicate his strong showing of four years ago.
In 13 out of 24 precincts, he ran fourth or lower.
Dr. Levin won eight firsts, one second and one third.
Ms. Paspalis, runnerup in total vote count, had two first places, six second places and four thirds.
Ms. Robins, third overall, had only one second place, but seven third-place finishes, that was enough to pull her ahead of Mr. Silbiger.
Bordering on the unbelievable, in 2009 Mr. Silbiger appeared on almost 60 percent (58.7) of the ballots.
Last week, however, he was marked on just over 40 percent(41.6).
The first time he ran, he received votes on 50 percent of the ballots in every precinct but one. In contrast, running this time as an incumbent, Mr. Silbiger was chosen on 50 percent of the ballots in only three precincts.
One wonders what happened over the past four years to change the electorate’s mind about Mr. Silbiger?
Was it the strength of the other candidates?
Was it because all three winners were endorsed by the United Parents of Culver City?
In 2009, 35 percent of the possible votes (3707) were withheld/not cast.
In our latest School Board election, only 18 percent (1849) of the vote was not cast. More than 60 percent of the vote withheld in this election came from early mail-in ballots, leaving 40 percent on Election Day.
Mr. Laase may be contacted at GMLaase@aol.com
