Re “Dem Club ‘Controlled by Very Small Group,’ Malsin Says”
City Council candidate Scott Malsin can justify his endorsement) loss last week at the Culver City Democratic Club any way he wants. But it is just not accurate.
The Culver City Democratic Club has about 200 members, double the average size of Democratic clubs throughout the state, and certainly not able to be characterized as a “very small group.”
Our club has been around for 60 years. It is chartered by the Los Angeles County Democratic Party and the California Democratic Council, something that would not be done if we were not functioning the way that Democratic clubs are supposed to function.
Most importantly, our club is in line not only with the thinking of mainstream Democrats in our community, but actually with the thinking of the entire population of Culver City.
In November 2008, the Culver City community voted for 100 percent of our endorsed candidates. In November 2010, they agreed with us in all but 1 race. Of the last 13 candidates that the club has endorsed for local office (City Council or School Board) over the past 8 years, 11 have won (and the other 2 have been very close runnersup).
This is not a fringe organization, but, instead, a well-respected barometer of Culver City's political ideology.
Ari Noonan's followup articles on the Candidates Forum focused entirely on the speaking abilities of the candidates. While that is important, I would argue that our club members also considered the ideas expressed by the candidates and their involvement in our club and other important progressive organizations in this community.
Mr. Malsin has not been endorsed by the club during any of his 3 races for 2 reasons.
First, his ideology does not match that of our members. He supported the Entrada development, a project that will be more than 170 feet tall. He refused to support funding for the legal aid representation of domestic violence victims. He voted against the Upward Bound House transitional housing project for families who are temporarily homeless.
Overall, his record just does not match our values.
Second, Mr. Malsin served as the editor of our club's newsletter almost 10 years ago. This was one of the most tumultuous times in our club's history, and Mr. Malsin was accused of stifling free speech by editing and/or omitting letters to the editor with which he disagreed. While a history of involvement within our club usually helps a candidate, this type of a controversial history has, I believe, hurt Mr. Malsin.
Mr. Silbiger, President of the School Board and immediate past president of the Culver City Democratic Club, may be contacted at ksilbiger@juno.com
