Even on the autumn Sunday afternoon two and a half years ago when we sat down in front of City Hall to talk about the circumstances that led the new Gov. Schwarzenegger to dismiss him as director of the Dept. of Motor Vehicles before they ever met.
The hook for this latest Candidates Forum was that it was the first of the campaign to be televised. Like every good performer, Mr. Gourley strode in long before the show was to begin, a change, an update in clothes, in tow.
In a smart light-toned sweater over a button-down dress shirt, he looked presentable enough for Channel 35 viewers. While we shmoozed, he looped a fashionable — just right — dark necktie around his shirt collar.
The Race Is a Tie, a Necktie
Even while maintaining a fast-paced conversation, without the aid of a mirror, without ever glancing downward, he tied a perfect knot that looked as if it had been essayed by a couturier. Both strands of his necktie were exactly even, which about three men on earth can manage.
That’s the way it works in show biz. A certain number of tasks you have to be able to do mindlessly.
Mr. Gourley could take his act on the road. He probably would earn an even better living than he does these days practicing law.
He had glided into the slow-to-fill Council Chambers to present the Pro argument on Measure V, the proposition to bring a new Charter to Culver City.
Invited to joust with the Con side’s favorite debater, City Councilwoman Carol Gross, Mr. Gourley was comprehensively prepared, as you would expect a good lawyer to be. Here was Rex Harrison giving his four thousandth rendition in “My Fair Lady,” a Shakespearean actor playing Hamlet for the fortieth consecutive year.
A few minutes later when I blinked, he slipped off his sweater and slid into a magnificent double-breasted suit coat that I could handily afford if I sold my first two sons. Only my wife could accurately characterize the color.
If Oleg Cassini had not died last week, he would have turned away in blushing embarrassment, seeing how classy Mr. Gourley looked in an outfit that did not even bear his label.
Another Oldie but Goody
In mid-shmooze, Paul Jacobs, another former City Councilman walked by and spoke.
Which reminds me: Aren’t there enough “former City Councilmen” living in this town for them to revolt, secede and organize their own separate village?
The almost ubiquitous Mr. Jacobs, seldom seen for a long time, has been a regular in the halls of politics this spring. He may be the most vigorous stumper in town for the passage of Measure V, the proposition that would deliver a shiny new City Charter.
When Mr. Jacobs is on, every time he speaks publicly, he could sell overpriced ice cubes to residents of Juneau. His smooth, seductive oratory reminds me of butter that has been lying atop a heated stove.
In a different way from Mr. Gourley, Mr. Jacobs, too, always is loose. He brings an elegance of manner that elevates the atmosphere around him.
I was reminded of his considerable presentation talents last autumn at an outdoor retirement party for one of the premier personalities of City Hall, the Building Engineer Lewis Nealy.
For an hour or so one afternoon, the crowded courtyard of City Hall was converted into a festive playground to celebrate the career of one of the magnificent gentlemen of our town, Mr. Nealy.
If authentic smiles were gold, Mr. Nealy could go to court and change his name to Getty.
Light on both his tongue and his feet, Mr. Jacobs was one of the presenters that day, brightening Mr. Nealy’s upbeat departure with lamp-lit sentiments.
Mr. Jacobs makes his emceeing and his advocacy work look magically effortless. He was Johnny Carson at the top of his game in the 1970s.
Both multi-termers, Mr. Gourley and Mr. Jacobs officially have been gone from City Hall long enough to be forgotten by present-day staffers.
On the way out the door on Tuesday night, I spoke to Andy Weissman, the Godfather of Reform, the aw-shucks successful chair of the Charter Review Committee.
A couple of years ago, he took nine people with mixed motivations and agendas, people who disagreed with each other, and he matched them up against a vision he had carved.
Deftly, almost invisibly, Mr. Weissman, possibly the best group leader in this town, led his disparate troops across emotional minefields that could have been intimidating and discouraging. With subtle leadership skills, he weaved an unpredictable gang of activists into a focused, enthused, committed, single-minded team of disciples for heavily changing the City Charter.
Postscript
Culver City today needs the mature, professional, alert, creative, pragmatic, visionary leadership abilities of these three gentlemen. They are plenty young enough to sit astride the dais and steer an unsteady community onto the path of its civic destiny.
The campaign for Measure V unintentionally has provided Mr. Weissman, Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Gourley with a showcase for their under-utilized abilities.
In two years, three seats on the City Council will open up because Ms. Gross, Alan Corlin and Steve Rose will be trapdoor’d by the nasty concept of term limits.
Scott Malsin, Mehaul O’Leary and Vice Mayor Gary Silbiger are running stimulating, gaffe-free campaigns. They have performed to a level that should be energizing voters who are attentive and perceptive.
It is disappointing, though, that these were the only three candidates who could be unearthed in a town of forty thousand to run for two City Council seats.
That means there will be ample room on the ballot in ’08 if Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Gourley can be talked into making comebacks, and Mr. Weissman also can be convinced to go for the gold.