“For a variety of reasons,” City Councilman Gary Silbiger said this morning, he sought on Monday night to postpone a vote on once again waiving a $12,000 fee to be paid by the Exchange Club for staging next month’s Downtown classic cars extravaganza known, simply, as the Car Show.
Even though he spoke against the proposition, as it was presented, and even though he offered a substitute motion that died, Mr. Silbiger said the 3 to 1 vote reported in yesterday’s edition was incorrect.
After resisting, the Councilman said, in fact, he joined his colleagues in supporting a waiver of the fee.
This was the essence of the agenda item addressed jointly by the Redevelopment Agency and the Council:
Instead of paying the perceived steep fee to City Hall, Exchange Club supporters noted, thousands of dollars are channeled toward certain Culver City charities.
It is within those last four words, “certain Culver City charities,” where the conflict lies between Mr. Silbiger and his City Council colleagues.
The charitable recipients may be comprised of nice people, he acknowledged, but they are not necessarily groups that Mr. Silbiger strongly backs.
Although he was reluctant to detail his objections, Mr. Silbiger has his own notions about which charitable groups should be deemed appropriate recipients of Exchange Club gifts.
Reaching for one of his trademark suggestions when colleagues disagree with him, Mr. Silbiger asked them to push back from their desks in order to research and reflect a little longer.
“Before giving money to one organization,” he said, “we should look at all of the good things that other people are doing.
“We should prioritize all of those good things people are doing in Culver City. This should be an opportunity for the City Council to look at everything.”