Because of the peanut-sized but persistently vocal criticism, the tenure of the latest Chief Administrative Officer has steadily dripped with drama and pathos.
To his credit, say friends, Mr. Fulwood never has blinked. In a fascinating psychological study, he never has surrendered to what they said would be a natural impulse to fight back against those who appear to criticize "just because."
At City Hall, there is strong concurrence that more arrows and slings have been directed against the person than against the policies. The CAO¹s supporters contend strenuously that he is not a polarizing figure, that ignition never starts with him.
An arm¹s-length kind of guy, Mr. Fulwood is the ultimate anti-schmoozer. He maintains what he regards as an appropriate distance or curtain of separation between his personal and professional lives. It is inviolable.
What Is Private Is Private
Another perceived sin relates to his character, the iron barrier he steadfastly maintains between his public and private personas.
This has rankled some at City Hall. They hoped he would blossom into chumhood. Chuminess is not in Mr. Fulwood¹s lexicon or portfolio.
Far from the stoic person he sometimes appears to be -who ever heard of a phlegmatic New Yorker? – Mr. Fulwood, away from the office, is witty, thoughtful, talkative, possibly even a borderline raconteur.
Further, his determined critics have complained, not very privately, that if he were seriously committed to the welfare of Culver City he would move his family here.
A gentleman in public and private, Mr. Fulwood maintains a lifestyle that friends say the fifty-nine-year-old has worked hard to achieve. He presides over a handsome, sprawling ranch, fragrantly bucolic, with riding horses for his family. Trouble is, in the view of his critics, the spread lies across Los Angeles County, well away from Culver City. Nonetheless, he is a dependable, and sociable, presence at city events, official and otherwise.
Mr. Fulwood¹s army of defenders explains that he has impressively met the overarching objectives he was charged with fulfilling in the spring of ’02.
– To financially stabilize a city that was riding a fiscal roller-coaster and,
– Through policies, appearance and performance, to establish himself as the unassailable chief thinker and chief architect .
Mr. Fulwood was told to act firmly in marching toward these very general goals because the city was lying on some psychiatrist¹s couch, trying to escape from its own identity crisis. For at least a decade, Culver City, emerging from a sleepy-eyed, early twentieth-century mindset, had been unclear whether it wanted to be
Mayberry or a burgeoning, sophisticated, modern community.
In different words, while Mr. Fulwood¹s boss figured out who he was, the boss¹s star employ was to comport himself as if everything were normal.
First to Reach $200,000?
Barring unanticipated hitches, always possible, the astute Mr. Fulwood will be offered a new multi-year contract in a fortnight. To say it differently, the highest-ranking African American officer in city history officially will be asked to return to his volatile station just hours after the end of Martin Luther King Day.
He is expected to become Culver City¹s first $200,000 a year executive.
Even if nearly a quarter-million dollars does not buy what it used to, the new figure will represent a hefty raise from his present salary as his original four-year agreement approaches expiration.
Two weeks before the two sides return to negotiation, every indication is that a majority of the City Council wants City Hall to be Mr. Fulwood¹s final waystation before retirement.
But then a majority of Council members- Steve Rose, Gary Silbiger, Alan Corlin – has vigorously supported Mr. Fulwood, his policies and philosophy, almost every inning since June of ’02.
On the other side, Mayor Albert Vera and Councilperson Carol Gross often have been unstinting in their criticism of key judgments by Mr. Fulwood and the no-nonsense way he prefers to do business.
The collisions between the two of them and the one of him mark a rock-hard clash of personal styles. The ubiquitous Ms. Gross is known for investing more daily hours at City Hall and city-linked events than paid employees. Eschewing nearly all modern forms of communication, when Mr. Vera wants to engage in a serious meeting, he invites the other parties to huddle with him in his cozy office at the rear of his market.
The informal, back-fence preferences of the two Council members are as firmly grounded as Mr. Fulwood¹s choices, inevitably leading to strong words
from the elected officials.
On every occasion that insiders could recall, Mr. Fulwood has declined to joust, which has not led to a serene denouement.
Sources told thefrontpageonline.com that the betting is Mr. Fulwood will be in the saddle on July 1 when, backers of city charter reform hope, Culver City converts to a city manager form of government. Pro-Fulwood sources say city manager, with its increased wing-span of authority, is the job he was made for.
