Don’t forget that revelation of such information would have proven embarrassing to Stew Bubar and Marla Wolkowitz, the two School Board members who were (successfully) running for re-election in the autumn of ’03. Based on the Board¹s previous years of secrecy, I can only guess that they still didn’t want the community to know how much they actually had received in compensation beyond their meager monthly stipend, which was much acknowledged publicly. 

New Era

     In the past when an "error" like this occurred, it would blow over in a couple of months. The public would move on to an new subject. The School Board would go into damage control. They would issue carefully worded statements to the eagerly receptive Culver City press. All the while, they would be carefully controlling the time frame of the releases.
     Past actions have shown that the longer a School Board can wait, the less impact the truth will have if /when it finally comes out. Board members know it is human nature for the public to be more forgiving the longer they can hold off acknowledging the facts. 

     But with the opening of the upstart Front Page early in ’04, the old ways of handling such problems proved almost impossible to control.
Our community needed a truly independent ‹ even if at times irreverent voice that was unafraid to rock the Establishment. There is little doubt that The Front Page has had a profound impact on our community.
     The School District has found it necessary to counteract this so-called "Front Page factor." One way was to rehire its Public Information Officer to get its own version of the facts out to the public.

Closer Look Was Needed

     Last November, the other two Culver City newspapers gave you the basic headlines of the year¹s School Board elections, the who, the what, the when.
     But there is far more to this year¹s election than the totals and names. Only The Front Page will be bold enough to give its readers the where and the why, including the analysis that is critical to understanding the election and the civic dynamics.
     The fact that the majority of the electorate (fifty-four percent) found reason to withhold more votes than it cast for the incumbents should tell you something.
     Although democratically re-elected, the three incumbents, combined, received only forty-three percent of the popular vote. This is far from the public’s previous overwhelming endorsement, fifty-eight percent, which they received in 2001.
     It was just as telling that challenger Brian Block received more votes on Election Day than Dr. Dana Russell.
     These glaring facts either were overlooked or withheld from the public by the other two newspapers.
     Those newspapers may dutifully print the occasional letter of a dissenting, community voice. The Front Page, however, is built on a foundation with an eye and ear toward dissent, even if you think that voice does not always speak from the rational side of the political spectrum.
     Saundra Davis, Jessica Beagles Roos and Dr. Russell, the successful School Board incumbents in November, were elected overwhelmingly four years ago. This time, they were forced into a re-election run by the last-minute entry of Mr. Block, the only challenger.

Next: Distilling the meaning of the election numbers.