Isn’t candor as refreshing as a just-opened container of chilled orange juice?

The question put to 50 percent of the City Council’s Sustainability Subcommittee was:

“Do you think it will be difficult for you and Meghan (Sahli-Wells) to come to a resolution on a ban for Styrofoam food containers?”

“I have no idea,” said Goran Eriksson, an enthusiastic, roundly informed environmentalist who practices this philosophy in his international businesses.

“She seems to think so.”

Ms. Sahli-Wells is a long-practicing environmental activist.

She has been outspoken recently in citing differentiations between her and his understandings of sound environmental methods.

Eminently pragmatic Mr. Eriksson, unlike his teammate, is not given to prolonged pronouncements.

As confident as he is succinct, “I don’t think so,” Mr. Eriksson said of a potential clash between the two.

Important to remember the difference in styles and negotiation habits could be a factor as Ms. Sahli-Wells and Mr. Eriksson work against the clock.

While technically there is no time limit, segments of the community are in a large hurry.

Activists are pressing the Council so boldly to move with alacrity that Mayor Clarke felt compelled to issue a 540-wrd statement yesterday, two days after the Council meeting.

The kernel of it was, this is complex and we are moving at open-throttle speed.

Of the numerous models of polystyrene bans floating around California communities, the methodical Mr. Eriksson said he does not have a favorite that he will promote.

“We need to look at the many models and understand what the implications are,” he said. “In the discussion Monday night, the vice mayor (Jeff Cooper) said he did not have enough background data on the various issues. We need to look at and evaluate them and come back with something that fits for Culver City.”