I have purposefully been missing in action.
Lying low, as the Old School saying goes. Did not want to be a distraction to the incoming School Board members while they were warming up their Board seats.
During the Board race, I had been branded as the “tell it like it is, speaks from the heart” (code words for the truth) candidate.
Oh. That was only one of many others, but I won’t go there again. Somehow. the truth does see light.
The Dee Seehusen controversy.
Let’s go back to the School Board contest.
I meet contestants Karlo Silbiger and Kathy Paspalis on the last day of registration for the Board contest at a party fundraiser for Karlo.
I was formerly introduced to Karlo by my neighbor and host of the party, Meghan Sahli-Wells, a candidate for the City Council. We shook hands.
First thing I noticed was that he presented a soft handshake, which I thought was odd coming from an adult male.
I just shrugged it off as another California style. My oldest son is 15 years old, and he has received many comments on his firm handshake since he was 5 years old.
My 7-year-old presents a firm grasp also.
Many kids, some in their teens, have been exposed to me through coaching over the years, and they have had their hand grasp adjusted to firm.
It is widely accepted that a firm grasp is a sign of manhood.
It Is More Complicated
Do not get me wrong. Manhood consist of many components. I am not saying that only a firm grasp makes a man. Other than Karlo’s soft handshake, I never thought of him as gay, and I think he is well poised.
I met Kathy as I was leaving to go home. She introduced herself and presented me with her flier. She proudly mentioned that she was a single mother of twins, flashing their picture.
You know how you get that feeling that something doesn’t gel? She suggested that I call her to brainstorm together, since we both were both minorities.
Shortly after I called her. But I never received a response, typical Callie style.
At every Board symposium, she would mention that her main reason for running was her kids, and she would flash a photo of the twins. Many parents love their kids just as much (even more in their own minds) as the next parents.
But I thought that thee dost protest too much.
Was it just a smoke creen?
Just thinking out loud.
I do not need an answer. Did not vote for her.
Time for a Critique
I hope it is known by now that I am not from California.
I was surprised (not anymore) by the different customs (deceiving, lying, being phony and cowardly) practiced and accepted by many of itCalifornia’s citizens.
Guess you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
This gets me back to Ms. Seehusen’s comments about how the two gay Board members should have announced their sexual preferences before the election.
Mr. Silbiger commended Culver City residents and leaders for reacting with outrage to Ms. Seehusen’s central assertion, that he and Kathy Paspalis would not have been elected to the School Board last month if voters had known beforehand that they were gay.
Mr. Silbiger further rejected Ms. Seehusen’s claim that he was less than candid about being gay before the voting started.
While he did not open any of the numerous forums with a declaration about his sexual preference, neither did he hide it.
His first known public statement on the subject came at a victory party on Election Night, at the end of a speech devoted to other issues.
I am not accusing Karlo or Kathy of anything.
Is there a clause about omission in the law?
Oh yeah, fraud.
Okay all you attorneys. Cat got your tongue?
Recall anyone? Mr. “Z” or Mr. Maxwell available. Hear Mr. “Z” is going for the gold, City Council. Maybe I still have a chance?
Ms. Seehusen you should have read the front page online article http://www.thefrontpageonline.com/new/articles1-6507/AWordofWarningtoResidentsWhoAreTruthtellers
“I and several other employees in the city have suffered humiliation, ruined careers, termination, demotion and discipline for simply speaking the truth.”
Karlo Silbiger also praised the City Council for punishing Ms. Seehusen this week for her remarks in a two-paragraph letter to the Culver City News. The Council voted unanimously to remove her from the Landlord/Tenant Mediation Board, where she just was starting a three-year term.
Most citizens of Culver City are not informed about the issues, and it is not entirely their fault. The politicians and people in power lie.
I realize that not all politicians lie, just most of them.
But when you stand by idly knowing the truth, what is the difference?
News outlets share a lot of the blame.
Let me clarify this. The small news outlets depend mostly upon independent reporters to gather most of its news. A lot of the independent reporters are cowards because they know about these issues that concern the citizens, but they withhold the information until it is too late to make a difference.
Karlo states that “Culver City is a forward-thinking community. For that reason, I believe her accusation is factually incorrect. Here is why I believe she is wrong when she says the outcome would have been different. When Prop. 8 (the anti-same sex marriage measure) was on the state ballot, Culver City overwhelmingly voted against it.”
I have mentioned several times in my many published articles that a lot of the citizens of California are delusional.
Culver City is in California last I heard.
Great schools and forward thinking community are far from the truth. Failing and physically deteriorating schools and a community caught up in a time warp is more like it.
Most people here play follow the leader.
There are two families that control Culver City politics.
Now you have seen them in action as evidence of the unanimous vote by the City Council to fire Ms. Seehusen from her position.
The citizens of Culver City had nothing to do with the firing of Ms. Seehusen. There was no evidence of a groundswell of protest against her statement. Only a handful of letters made it to news outlets. I am no longer surprised, just amazed at the power a handful of politicians hold over Culver City’s mostly uniformed citizens.
If Karlo thought that his and Kathy’s preference would not have made a difference, then why wasn’t it disclosed early on? No answer needed. Truth in advertising. That darned old truth or lack of will always come back to haunt you.
What was Ms. Seehusen’s crime?
Someone enlighten me.
She was quite correct to conclude that if the voters had known of Karlo’s and Kathy’s preferences, it may have made a difference. Karlos even cites Culver City’s Prop. 8 voting. It was her personal opinion. She did not represent it as an official mediation position.
Karlos also maintains that “City staff members who are gay would feel uncomfortable working with someone who holds homophobic views.”
Landlords and tenants who were gay and sought mediation would feel uncomfortable being judged by a woman whose partisan views are known across the community.
Karlo, I hope that you are not that naive to believe that all the people who voted against Prop. 8 have now changed their beliefs because you and Kathy have been elected to the School Board without their knowledge of your preference beforehand.
Maybe you both pulled a fast one off. Definitely got over on me, and I consider myself streetwise. I can imagine the poor Culver City citizens not standing much of a chance.
How was homophobic derived from her stated observation?
This mentality is a throwback to the W Bush years, that if you did not go along with him, you were being unpatriotic.
I mentioned in one of my articles that after I read about Karlo, that I had begun to appreciate him. Not that this will make a difference to him, but his statement condoning the “punishment” of terminating Ms. Seehusen’s position on the Mediation Board has me taking a second look.
Where is the compassion for an 80-year-old citizen? Is this California style or is it the result of forward thinking Culver City.
It never fails. Once a politician gets elected, the true colors come out. Must be the power punch they drink after being elected.
I hope the citizens wake up to the unjust treatment of one of its elders. I am the first in line to request that Ms. Seehusen is reinstated to her position.
I do not expect much from most of the City Council members, because they have already demonstrated they lack civility by the treatment of one of their own.
Mr. Abrams, a former School Board candidate, may be contacted at gabrams@ca.rr.com
