Re “Violin and His Reasoning Are Whacked by a Duty-Bound 27-Year-Old”
Early in November, just after the School Board election, self-styled philosopher Ron Robertson attacked my longtime friend Efrem Violin for his opposition to Measure EE, the school parcel tax measure here in Culver City.
I happened to disagree with Efrem on his opposition to Measure EE.
I voted for it.
However, Mr. Robertson is wrong when he says he “knows” Efrem Violin.
Efrem Violin's father emigrated from Russia.
He was an accomplished musician and violinist.
He performed at Carnigie Hall at the age of 19 and conducted live music programs at Radio City Music Hall.
He came to Los Angeles in 1939 with his family and was a conductor for motion pictures and radio for more than 20 years.
When My Friend Grew up
Efrem served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He worked at Hughes Aircraft and found time to freelance as a violinist with a Cuban band.
He raised his family here in Culver City.
He and his wife Beverly volunteered their time with many organizations including the Culver City Democratic Club and the Culver City Historical Society. Efrem also taught music appreciation at the Culver City Senior Center for many years (free of charge), and he was a library commissioner for many years.
I have known Efrem since the 1980s.
Never have I heard him say that he wanted to be on the City Council or any other legislative body.
Core of the Problem
While I voted Yes on Measure EE, I don't look at it as anything more than a band-aid for the financial problems the schools face.
I hear all sort of rant from politicians about how Prop. 13 destroyed the ability of local governments to operate. When Prop. 13 passed in 1977, the state was collecting $5 billion a year in property taxes.
Today, they collect $50 billion a year.
Where is all that extra money going?
The real problem that is finally being recognized is that we, the taxpaying civilians, can no longer afford the politicians and the “public servants” who are supposed to represent us.
A Congressperson gets a yearly salary of $165,000. Nancy Pelosi, as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, gets a yearly salary of $212,000. That does not include her perks.
The average salary in this country is $45,113 a year, a far cry from what our public servants in Congress are getting.
Not bad for a body that has only a 25 percent approval Rating.
It is estimated that the 2010 election will cost $2 billion.
Here, in what used to be the Golden State of California, we have 40 State Senators and 80 warm bodies in the Assembly.
Recently I attended a symposium where the majority of people in the audience were writers who had recently been terminated at the Los Angeles Times.
These people were advised to go to Sacramento and get on the gravy train. One former staff writer at the Times gleefully confided that although there was a hiring freeze in state government, there was still gold in them thar hills.
If you make the right connections and get placed in a little cubicle with a computer, it is practically impossible to get fired or terminated.
When I Google’d the County Board of Supervisors, I couldn't find out what their salaries were.
But I did see that each one of the Four Little Kings and One Queen had a discretionary fund of $3 million a year.
Pretty hefty walking-around money.
That is $15 million a year that is extracted from us civilians.
Culver City is blessed in that roughly 60 percent of its residents own their own homes.
Culver City is the only municipality on the Westside where the majority of the residents are homeowners. The only other area on the Westside where homeowners are a majority is Westchester.
Even plush Beverly Hills only has 39 percent homeowners. I wonder how many people would still be homeowners if Prop. 13 hadn't passed.
My solution to the current economic crisis:
Term limits on every single politician in the country.
Two terms and out the door.
People will argue that we would lose all of that valuable experience in government.
Where would our Senators and Congresspersons learn how to govern?
Let them become butchers, bakers and candlestick makers.
They could use their experience as an employer or employee in governing.
Finally, it is one thing to disagree with one's political opinions.
It is something quite different to resort to namecalling.
Mr. Hawkins may be contacted at rjhculvercity@aol.com
