By Alan Corlin
Re “While I Disagree with Corlin, We Are on the Same Team”
While I appreciate Patricia Levinson's response to my questions as to how the Culver City Democratic Club endorsement process works, I believe the underlying issues transcend my views alone.
Many different groups successfully poll their members by absentee means.
The list is long and varied. Our local, state and federal governments do it. Unions do it, too, to find out what a majority of their members desire. Corporations do it to find out what stockholders desire. The list of clubs and organizations who feel it is important to hear from their entire membership is too long to list. They all feel the cost of finding out what the members want is of ultimate importance.
The Culver City Democratic Club already has a data base of members. If it does not, how do you know who has paid dues in the first place? It would be easy to mail out an endorsement ballot to paid members.
Those who cannot attend the endorsement meeting would mail in the ballot. Those who wanted to attend the meeting could bring it with them. As for the cost of this process, the club just has to figure out for itself how important the endorsement of candidates is for the members and community at-large.
There are many other means of absentee balloting.
I submit that now the endorsement process is being manipulated, and I do not see any movement by the club board to address the issue.
These are the main issues I believe should be addressed:
I believe all paid members should be able to voice their opinion. Now only those who attend the endorsement meeting have their ballots counted. How many of the 58 who attended the Democratic Club endorsement meeting were new members at their first meeting?
I believe that only those members who reside in Culver City should have a say in who is endorsed by the Culver City Democratic Club for Culver City elected positions.
How many of those new members who showed up to vote at the last endorsement meeting live in Culver City?
How relevant to Culver City Democrats is the opinion of non-Culver City residents when it comes to who to vote for in this city?
Ms. Levinson, I do not know how long you have been a member of the Culver City Democratic Club, perhaps longer than I have.
I do express my surprise at the paltry number of members in February (97, by your count). Perhaps the club needs the endorsement process to remain the same simply to keep the membership numbers from dwindling further.
When I do go to a meeting, I look around the room. The people I know who no longer attend meetings is a virtual Who's Who in Culver City.
The process can be improved. Can you help out with that process?
We are on the same team. Let's figure it out.
At least we agree on that.
Mr. Corlin, a two-term former City Councilman, may be contacted at ad747@lafn.org
