Strike up the Band…

Ari L. NoonanSports

I was wondering what George Washington would think if he climbed from his grave and inspected America on its 230th birthday. Would he be more disappointed by the low-grade attacks on President Bush and the federal government or more surprised that the government he helped found has lasted this long? Or would he just yawn? Criticism of the government is older than prostitution, you know. In Mr. Washington’s day, criticism was just as vicious, just as vulgar as the anti-American arm of the Democratic Party is today. Left wing Democrats, such as the ACLU, National Public Radio, CNN, the Los Angeles Times and lately The New York Times, may not date back to the 1700s. But the coarse script they are using is wheezing. The script has more miles on it than my car. If liberals knew their history, the sloganeers would realize they are imitators not originators. Going into the holiday, the only comfort is that we have survived these kinds of internal attacks before.

4th of July Flips Tradition on Its Head

Ari L. NoonanA&E

Even though the 4th of July fireworks spectacular in Culver City — the gates open at 5 on Tuesday evening —is rich in history and tradition, the crucial preparations are the direct opposite of every other holiday. Usually, the setup is done under the usually helpful cover of darkness. When the brightness of daylight arrives, the background for the holiday looks as if it has been waiting in place for you for years. On the 4th of July, though, family men such as the attorney Andy Weissman, and the Vice Mayor Alan Corlin, Culver City’s most eligible mid-life bachelor, link arms with fleets of comrades. Like an invading army, they head over to the athletic field at Culver City High School to lavishly dress it so that the layout will look elegant and beautiful by the time children and taller persons begin wandering in just ahead of the dinner hour.

Fiello Takes an Interim Step

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

One month before School District Supt. Dr. Laura McGaughey officially retires after spending portions of two centuries in Culver City, Dr. Diane Fiello was named the Interim Superintendent. Around the District, the announcement was greeted with a mixed reception. She is expected to serve for at least four months in the position. One condition of Ms. Fiello’s selection by the School Board was that she would not be a candidate for the permanent position. Formerly the principal at El Rincon School, she is presently the Assistant Superintendent for Educational Services.

‘A Piece of My Heart Is Gone’ — Officer

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

Part Two

 Especially in the two and a half years since Chief Ted Cooke retired, colorful stories that only could have taken place out of public view have emerged about the well-polished Police Dept. that Mr. Cooke led for almost 30 years. But even those yarns that are most contrary to the public images of some officers are not in the same universe as the tales of horror being told these days about the South Gate Police Dept. Regular citizens and fellow officers have complained about corruption, intimidation and terrorism by South Gate officers since the late 1990s. In mostly off-the-record situations, frightened victims who said they were bullied into anonymity, have described chilling encounters with officers. State authorities are aware of the bizarre behavior by a band of officers. But they have not acted. It is as if a security wall has been thrown up around the department. Those who are inside have been deemed untouchable for close to a decade. Persons familiar with circumstances say there is little hope for change in the near term. Insiders direct many of their accusations toward the powerful Police Officers Assn., which recently won, astonishingly, almost a 30 percent raise from the City Council. The latest forthright public testimony about the department was given last week.

When Ship Sinks, Jump

Ari L. NoonanSports

As one who has been criticized for his alleged stubbornness by several wives, several dozen relatives and the final survivors from a coterie of friends, I can empathize with the mayor of Culver City. Some of the time. Gary Silbiger is stubborn to a glossy level of attainment. On many Monday nights, Mr. Silbiger, in an almost programmed manner,  displays his stubborness to a degree that causes needless harm to his unique progressive agenda. With three years and nine months remaining before term limits sideline him, I hope that he awakens to the damage he is doing to himself. By recognizing when he is beaten, he should fold, act collegial and join his four fellow members of the City Council. Initiating goodwill is a rudimentary lesson in hometown politics and in federal politics.

One Last Glance at ‘Wellness’

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

The School District’s closely scrutinized new Wellness Policy — governing nutrition, discipline and conduct — underwent one more inspection at Tuesday night’s School Board meeting, and it will be returned for a vote at the Board meeting of Tuesday, July 11. The outcome of the balloting at the final Board meeting until September packs the drama of a summer day’s weather forecast for Culver City. A portion of the broadly based nutrition and conduct code is government mandated, which is the main reason it will pass. Wrinkles, mostly related to District-spawned regulations, remain, and so does grumbling from several corners. Some parents who are committed to fundraising are not yet convinced they will be able to earn as much money for the District under the more demanding guidelines. Further, some coaches and teachers questioned the Wellness Policy restrictions in disciplining errant students who are late for class or fail to turn in homework. Concerns also were expressed about obesity in students (one motivation for the Wellness Policy) and the large number of children being diagnosed at an early age with diabetes.  Meanwhile, Food Services Director Ron Hacker will continue to take comments at the District’s website, ccusd.org.

Dignified Protest — Will It Work?

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

More than 100 members of the Culver City Employees Assn. poured into Council Chambers on Monday night in a spectacular display of brawny unity that they hope will loosen the logjam in negotiations with City Hall. The refined, intentionally understated protest — for the benefit of the City Council — was designed to highlight the labor union’s objection to the city’s most disagreeable proposal. For the first time, the union’s 172 retirees may be forced to pay for 5 percent of their healthcare benefits. Union leaders claim this would impose an unusual hardship on their retirees because they spent their careers in the lowest-paying jobs at City Hall. “Culver City was built on the backs of these people,” a spokesman for the 400-member Employees Assn. said. “Five percent to our people hurts a lot more than 5 percent to people in other unions.” While all union members would be affected, the strategy in Council Chambers was to appeal to the City Council’s emotions. The protest was pegged to the contention that a slash in benefits would imperil the daily lives and the stability of the union’s retired members.

Anyone for a Concert?

Ari L. NoonanA&E


Robert David Hall, 
Coming on Thursday July 6th
In air temperature and on the musical mercury, the 12th season of weekly Summer Sunset Musical Festivals is away to a just-right hot start after two Thursdays. With the hot jazz and swing music of the Rhythm Brothers due up at 7 this Thursday evening in the Courtyard of City Hall, the Producer Gary Mandell said the momentum began climbing earlier than usual this year. “We must have had 900 people on Opening Night for the Afro-Cuban music show (Ricardo Lemvo and Makina Loca),” he said. “You should have seen them. I never saw so many people dancing in the aisles at one of our concerts. This is probably the biggest first week we ever have had. Ricardo Lemvo has a good following, and he has energy. Those are the reasons I picked him.”

Youth Will Be Served — Later in Life

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

Organizing teenagers has been one of several pet projects that Mayor Gary Silbiger has tirelessly promoted since he first was elected to the City Council a little more than four years ago. He would have succeeded in rounding up a representative group of boys and girls except that all of his colleagues are opposed to the idea as wasteful and overlappingIt also is broadly unpopular with teens themselves, the rest of the City Council has declared numerous times. On Monday night, employing empirical logic as a vehicle, the Council unanimously gunned down the latest effort to organize what would have been called a Youth Advisory Council. Scanning the many unoccupied seats in Council Chambers, Councilman Steve Rose observed that there was not a single soul in the audience whose eligibility would be challenged if he entered a tavern. “The issue that bothers me most,” said Mr. Rose, “is that there are no youth here. That kind of tells me that youth are doing what youth want to do.”

Cops Gone Wild, Says the Ex-Chief

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

At a news conference last Friday to discuss the latest blockbuster settlement won over a city government by attorney Brad Gage — a cool $4.8 million — the fired Deputy Chief of the notorious South Gate Police Dept. wanted to talk about his livelihood. Mark Van Holt, a strapping 6-foot-5 cop-for-life, says he had his career hijacked by the South Gate department he was hired to reform four years ago. He has not been the same since even though this is supposed to be the prime time of his professional life. His career would seem to have been reduced to an unseemly pile of rubble. From lofty positions in both the Maywood and South Gate police departments, Mr. Van Holt has skidded far. These days, he supports his family on the meager salary of a school cop in Orange County. “It was all I could get,” he told thefrontpageonline.com after the South Gate department riddled his reputation three years ago. “Nobody would hire me,” he says. He is hopeful, perhaps even optimistic, that the overwhelming jury verdict will restore his onetime reputation.