See last night’s Candidates Forum at smartvoter.org
Four weeks before two candidates will be elected to the City Council, the field looks so even as to be indistinguishable — bad news if you were a favorite, encouraging for underdogs.
At last night’s audition in Council Chambers, the four of them tried out the elevated seats at a Candidates Forum sponsored, classily, by the League of Women Voters and the inimitable emcee, Frances Talbott-White.
Philosophically and physically, the swivel chairs neatly fit the contours of all of the contenders, reading from left to right, Meghan Sahli-Wells, Jeff Cooper, Scott Malsin and Robert Zirgulis.
In a community where citizen politicians are the norm, it is not markedly unusual that the race feels like a dead heat with Tuesday, April 13, looming.
Frequently, personalities more than convictions are determinative, and that brings us to the lone incumbent.
Some are surprised Mr. Malsin has been unable to put space between himself and the field.
Because the three pursuers have caught up to him?
Or because he has not made his case impressively enough?
Probably the former.
For one reason, they have made long strides of improvement since the round of forums started two months ago.
They had to.
Their grasp of Culver City’s germane issues and their own perspectives ranged from shaky to cloudy.
Since mid-January, Mr. Cooper, Ms. Sahli-Wells and Mr. Zirgulis have worked ardently at accelerating their research, broadening their pool of knowledge of the issues, developing their opinions and sharpening their deliveries.
Meanwhile, to state the immutable, Mr. Malsin’s record is his record. If it has not changed in eight weeks, neither has his manner of delivery. Sometimes his talks resemble recitations more than sales pitches.
In every appearance, his message is a fairly narrow, inflexible characterization of how he has been primarily responsible for bestowing comprehensive enrichment upon Culver City the past four years.
If that is a neutral or plus factor, Mr. Malsin still has not overcome what some voters see as a vexing quality, a tendency to be critical of colleagues — whether his fellow Councilmen or fellow candidates — with peripheral cracks that mar his much improved presentations.
If members of the living room-sized audience in Council Chambers had closed their eyes and concentrated on the candidates’ workmanlike responses, only a coin-flip could have determined a prevailing party.
Meghan Sahli-Wells: Although she has spoken at City Council meetings — three minutes per night — the last couple of years for various causes, she could have been considered the greenest candidate at the beginning. With a lower register personality than her rivals, she has steadily, solidly upgraded her message, and muscularized her grasp on convictions and the clarity with which she presents them. Her political creed seems to differ little from the soon-to-be term-limited Councilman Gary Silbiger. But her firmly held beliefs are offered in an appealing, pragmatic, low-key way without attracting notice to herself.
Jeff Cooper: Will his charisma, unflagging optimism, unbending youthfulness and chamber of commerce manner convince voters he is the best solution-finder? Arguably, he has been around longer and achieved more across the community than any of the other candidates. He needs a new script writer, though, because his introductory line, “What will they say about Culver City in 2030?” was born a pancake and died a pancake the first time it was used some months ago. When he says, “I have the background to listen and be responsive,” and when he adds, “My goal is to bring fiscal responsibility to Culver City and expand our business base,” he sounds rhetorically bullet-proof.
Scott Malsin: Possessing a more wide-ranging, sophisticated knowledge of City Hall, the greater city, its personalities and its nuanced tendencies than all of your rivals, their spouses, their in-laws, their delivery boys and their grandchildren to come, has two edges. Either it can be like taking Superman to war with you, or it can be like bringing a loaded cannon to a birthday party for tykes. Gotta know how and when to use it. For a hometown politician, there never has been a question about his massive arsenal. Handsome, beautiful family, successful professional, charming raconteur. But what naggingly lingers in his wake is his disposition to consider himself the most equal in a roomful of equals.
Robert Zirgulis: Easy winner of the Most Improved Candidate trophy, he has settled comfortably into the role of a richly seasoned, mature, traveled, accomplished candidate of the community. Through constant and serious campaigning, through dedicated diligence he has found the savvy and the command that eludes many first-year candidates. A far distance from the erratic Most Criticized Candidate, which he was in the beginning, he has traded in earlier eccentricity for a modulated, well-grounded grasp of priorities framed in a pleasant, Everyman pitch. He has 27 days to persuade a critical mass of voters.
