Junior Vera is home from State Prison, for keeps, his friends and family hope.
If he had not been seen in his father’s store, the popular Sorrento Italian Market on South Sepulveda Boulevard, how else would anyone have known?
By following the bouncing ball, the cement-sealed protective shield that his father seems to reliably provide in times of crisis for his 42-year-old son.
A Favorable Reputation
Universally liked but dogged by drug problems, Junior Vera is the seemingly blessed scion of a family treasure pot created purely by the sweat of his father’s brow.
Whether his motivation is guilt or paternal instinct, for a number of years Albert Vera Sr. has stood accused of finding creative ways, privately and publicly, to deflect attention from his son’s occasional run-ins with the law.
The blend of Albert Vera Jr.’s two-tiered image — a nice, easy-going guy with a penchant for mild legal flirtations — combined with his father’s knack for immediately attracting attention to himself on an unrelated subject, long has intrigued family-watchers.
According to the family-watchers, the wall of silence that goes up when trouble beckons tends to extend even to officials involved in the cases who reputedly and repeatedly clam up.
Mr. Vera Sr. is deeply respected in Culver City and beyond the Westside for his sphere of influence.
Two Motivations
Not by accident, say friends, is Albert Vera Sr. a magnet for publicity. They describe the three-time former City Councilman’s sheer love of publicity as a rival for the other prominent passions in his life.
Friends say Mr. Vera Sr. loves to tease the Culver City print media, on numerous subjects, because it quenches his desire for the spotlight and, significantly, because he holds a lifetime guarantee against blowback. There is no downside.
He tends to distribute his largesse equally between the Culver City News and the Culver City Observer, newspapers not known for covering Junior Vera’s legal follies.
In the last 20 years, hardly any pronouncement in this town dependably has made news faster or louder than whether Senior is going to run for the City Council.
The Rhythm and the Routine
Self-made and self-anointed as an idol of the people, Mr. Vera Sr. has made two declarations in the past 10 months, with accompanying bombast:
One came the week after Junior Vera’s latest arrest, last March 6.
The other came last week, in the first edition following his release from State Prison.
Late on the evening of Tuesday, March 6, last year, Mr. Vera Jr. and a comrade were arrested in El Segundo. They were accused in a scenario that included breaking into the vending box of a water-dispensing machine at a Ralphs Market on Sepulveda Boulevard.
Feeling of Relief
Subsequently, Junior Vera was behind bars for his longest stretch ever, from that late night in March until a few days ago when he won early release from State Prison. Last Sept. 13, he was sentenced to 16 months. Between gaining credit for time served and overcrowded conditions, Mr. Vera Jr. is welcomed home by his relieved family.
As Mr. Vera Sr.’s statements are recalled, the affirmations, followed by hedges/denials are amazingly similar in content. The new year marks the third consecutive winter Mr. Vera Sr. has said that he will run in spite of “family” objections/obligations. Later on, it becomes the reason he cannot run. Performance of the current City Council is a staple that bridges into the main story. The only variation seems to be in emphasis not content.
To recount the permanent candidate’s latest declarations:
Close Enough?
Since Junior Vera’s arrest last year came too late for a reaction in the edition under way when the vending box was emptied, Mr. Vera Sr. told Culver City News reporter Gary Walker for the March 15 edition, under the Page 1 headline “Vera Goes for Fourth Term”:
“I am officially running for City Council next year.
“I did not plan to run for office again, because I have to take care of my family. But at the same time, things have happened during the past year that I was gone that greatly bother me.”
This is a familiar theme for Mr. Vera Sr., to complain that the present stewards in City Hall, absent his guiding hand, are driving Culver City into a “radical” ditch. One odd criticism by Mr. Vera in the story concerned the since-killed South Sepulveda redevelopment. His side of South Sepulveda was bypassed while dozens of merchants across the street may have lost their businesses if the project had gone through. Neighbors had believed that while his properties mysteriously were deemed exceptions to the rebuild, he would have emerged as a or the principal beneficiary, as he has in other cases.
In the Rotation
When Junior Vera was reported paroled from State Prison, it became the Culver City Observer’s turn to be ordained the carrier of the newest Vera message.
Being slightly more flamboyant than the News, the Observer headlined last week’s two stories on Mr. Vera Sr. in the largest type it has available, all in capital letters: “EXCLUSIVE.” The second line: “Vera Asks Council ‘What Have You Accomplished?’” Third line: “Former Mayor Says Group Lacks Vision.”
In case readers overlooked the predictable lead-in story, the Observer carried a large photo of a splendidly smiling Mr. Vera Sr. above what actually was the main story with he tentative headline: “Vera To Decide Whether To Run.”
The Central Focus
With this coming Friday looming as the deadline for candidates to register and complete a bit of paperwork for the City Council election in April, Mr. Vera Sr. backed away from last March’s promise.
The four-paragraph story could be read as saying he will run, he won’t run or he may run. Without directly quoting Mr. Vera, the first paragraph said he “has yet to make a final decision on whether he will run.”
The second paragraph: “At the present time, I am running,” he told the Observer. “As you and everyone else know, my wife is very sick — and I am hoping that in the next week or two I see some improvement — but as of the present time, I am speaking as a candidate.”
As of this morning, seven candidates have indicated an interest at the City Clerk’s office in the race for three Council chairs. Mr. Vera’s name is not among them,
