First of two parts. 

This was Mayor Jim Clarke at his purest this morning:

In the weeds, where serious politicians love to frolic.

Neither storyteller nor a jokester, he leaps from the highest diving board, plunging irresistibly into a pool of wonk-y water.

Pleasant to a fault, accessible at all times.

If he were a radio station, Mr. Clarke would be branded Easy Listening.

The open-faced mayor of Culver City addressed a Chamber of Commerce audience at the Courtyard by Marriott on prospective policies being pursued by his fellow City Council members.

Hizzoner’s ostensible charge was to define in detail the six futuristic policies Council colleagues voted to commit to 90 days ago at their first-ever Strategic Planning Retreat.

They convened, Mr. Clarke said, “to establish a sense of direction” for Council members of the near and farther future.

Mr. Clarke opened softly, explaining the story behind his nascent moustache, which one person in the Marriott crowd swore that he saw. The mayor said this was an expression of solidarity with Culver City-based Movember, an advocate for men’s health issues, especially prostate cancer.

Steering toward his main theme, “I really like local government because you become involved in a myriad of topics,” he said, and not a single member of his audience bowed to shock and fainted.

“My favorite subject is the Centennial,” said the leader who, virtually singlehandedly, birthed and figuratively breast-fed the robust year-long Centennial celebration.

“My least favorite subject is the (state) Brown Act,” which forbids a Council member from speaking to more than one colleague outside of meetings.

Speaking for an easy-rolling half hour, Mayor Clarke finished with a kick, almost apologizing for introducing a topic “some of you will think is touchy-feely.”

Well, a little.

The sixth goal of the August Strategic Planning Retreat is to “create a community of kindness” for those committed to burnishing Culver City’s image.

(To be continued)