[Editor’s Note: At this week’s Tellefson Park election forum, City Council candidates explained why they are running in the April 12 race. Today: Daniel Lee.]
This is a very hard question for me.
The short answer is that Councilwoman Meghan Sahli Wells came to our MLK Committee celebration in 2015, and she mentioned that there never has been an African American City Councilperson.
That was the first time I thought about running for the City Council in Culver City.
The longer answer has more to do with my family and a history of service. I grew up in Alabama. My grandmother was part of the Montgomery bus boycott.
My mom was a nurse. My brother and his wife are doctors. We are a family that believes in service.
The biggest issue for me was not if I would run for City Council but when.
I originally had thought it would be four years from now.
But a number of things coincided to make it feel like this is the right time.
With two incumbents (term-limited), this is a great time to win.
Coming here tonight was a very short trip for me. I live just a few blocks away on College Avenue.
I will start by saying what I did at the first forum: I am older than I look (which drew a hearty laugh from the church audience).
I am 36.
I recently completed my MSW at UCLA Still a Bruin. But I did my undergrad at USC. So I am also a Trojan.
I have been a resident of Culver City for 13 years.
I have served for the last four years on the national leadership committee for Move to Amend. Their focus is to amend the Constitution and say that corporations are not people and money is not free speech. We ae planning a leadership summit in D.C. in May.
I also have been a member of the Global Climate Conversion. I have been very active with Occupy here in Los Angeles, in New York, D.C. and Chicago.
I am a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and the California Air National Guard. I served for six years. My base was here in Van Nuys.
