Something to Worry About
The keynote for Wednesdays meeting, underscoring the sheer complexity of the project, was sounded today by Vice Mayor Alan Corlin.
A whole lot of things have to fall into place for this to work, he said.
As ever, the most worrisome question is whether enough funding is available to reach Culver City.
Pivotal Player
Todd Tipton, Interim Director of Community Development, will sketch the proposals for a joint session of the Planning Commission and the City Council.
Casual to the core, the single-item agenda (at culvercity.org)will, effectively, be a shmooze session.
No voting. No decision-making.
Just listening, probing, challenging.
A Listening Post
The City Council and the commissioners will listen, not necessarily with consummate patience.
Some officials at City Hall suggested this morning that this meeting is more for the benefit of a curious public than a bull session for insiders.
It will be one of those meetings where nearly everyone may think he knows what is coming, only to end up surprised.
Up to Tipton?
Public satisfaction at the end of the evening may hinge on how closely Mr. Tipton, a young man with imagination, follows the script of the dust-dry staff report.
If he chooses to accent the 7 Planning Principles, an epidemic of whooping cough and sudden water-cooler trips may sweep across Council Chambers.
Otherwise, if Mr. Tipton fights his way through the tall, engulfing weeds of tripping-prone details and dwells on the light rail station, the audience will hunch forward as one.
The Public Focus
Whether the vision of the city and the developer Urban Partners brings a 3-story sub-4-star hotel or a 13-floor top-of-the-line attraction will spark a debate.
But that is not where the public is yet.
They want to know where the elevated station is going to be, and so does the recuperating Vice Mayor Corlin.
Deafness
His eardrums were perforated on last months speeded-up lobbying trip to Washington. He has been in discomfort for close to 2 weeks, and his recovery is not proceeding at nearly the pace of the cross-country trip.
Mr. Corlin has been hearing-impaired since returning to Culver City.
It is very disconcerting to be almost deaf, he said this morning.
Pace of Recovery
Following treatment, the Vice Mayor said doctors told him he will make a full recovery, but the gains are taking place very slowly.
For the past year, Mr. Corlin has teamed with Councilman Scott Malsin on the City Council subcommittee that meets with the light rail construction wing of the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Who Knows Where? No One
Even at this relatively late date, with Culver Citys station due to open in 3 years, he does not know where the station will be built.
Will the MTA overrule virtually every Culver City resident and elected official?
Will they place the station, temporarily, in the densely crowded, parking-space-starved East Side residential neighborhood of Westly Street?
Best Informed Person
Or will they render what the community considers the correct decision by ordering an elevated station built within the commercially-anxious Washington-National triangle?
Before perusing the Vice Mayors response, keep in mind that he may be the most roundly informed person in Culver City on the subject.
My personal opinion, Mr. Corlin said, is that we dont know which location will be chosen. Nothing is signed off on. Nothing is final.
Triangle or Nothing
Repeating an earlier statement, from which he said he never has wavered, he noted:
I am not willing to sacrifice anything in Culver City to get light rail here.
Meaning, barring a cataclysmic change, he would rather have nothing than a Westly station.
But, Mr. Corlin insisted he is not assuming a radical position. Just because you question what the MTA is doing does not mean you are a rebel, he said. It does not mean you dont think they have our best interests at heart.
Why Hesitate?
While grousing about typical government indecision and misdirection, Councilman Steve Rose said that the elevated station should be built inside the Triangle instead of in Westly Street. It will cost a lot less to build it today than it will in 10 years, Mr. Rose said.
Go Directly to Goal
As one of City Halls light rail insiders, Mr. Malsin echoed the majority view. Everyone wants to see it built the right way the first time, he said.
We will know the decision in a matter of months, by the end of summer. I am very optimistic we will see it built in the right location, north of Washington.
If it isnt, I will fight it for as long as it takes to win.
The Big Picture Is Gorgeous?
Taking several steps back to study and admire a panoramic view of the entire light rail project, Mr. Malsin expressed confidence that beauty would be in the eye of everyone who beholds what he has been privy to see.
The design is quite striking, he said. It will set the bar high for future transit projects in Los Angeles County, and it will place Los Angeles at the forefront nationally.
