Choosing Sides
Mayor Gary Silbiger, favoring a single, intact committee, said homelessness was not just a one-park problem. In defense of the mid-town neighbors of Vets Park,however, Councilman Scott Malsin said, “It’s easy to say homelessness is a global issue when it is not next to you.” Mr. Malsin believed “it is important to address a neighborhood-specific problem.” Mr. Silbiger took umbrage at a statement by Mr. Malsin that he interpreted as a sharp criticism. Mr. Malsin said no criticism was intended. As members of the once full audience began to peel away, unclear who was against whom and why, the five Council members argued to distraction about the makeup of the Ad Hoc Homeless Committee, which is entering its second year. Currently, it is evenly split between residents and City Hall staffers. Should it be composed of all residents? Should it be larger? Or, in honor of an apparently shrinking problem, should the committee be shrunk, too? But everyone agreed that committees never shrink. At the conclusion, by which time the homeless population may have grown, the Council decided to advertise in the coming weeks for four new committee members.
What Do You Think?
On an evening when the unusually large number of three agenda items were posted merely for discussion, not binding decisions, the City Council capitalized on the opening. Choosing arcane points, they batted subjects forth and back until the few people left in the audience stood to leave even though the meeting was far from over. One trouble may have been the Council was given too many options. Take the new County ordinance that calls for a mandatory spay and neuter plan for dogs. The law also requires that all dogs above the age of four months be implanted with a microchip, a potential guarantee of a return if lost. This was the most heartfelt debate of the meeting. Disagreeing in this instant was not as acute as on more politicized subjects. The course Culver City will take, however, was left unclear.
A Smiling Rose
Only two of the three alleged excesses that Councilman Steve Rose intended to bring to the attention of his colleagues were reviewed. It just plainly got too late, well after midnight. Mr. Rose won approval for a reduction in the number of public notices sent out each week, as a cost-saving gesture. The language on the postcards, deemed impenetrable because of the legal overtones, will be overhauled and written shorter and more simply. Possibly out of sheer exhaustion, Mr. Rose also prevailed in gaining a reduction in the number of proclamations that he said are ground out too freely each week, cheapening the policy.
Postscript
At some point before the clock struck 1 a.m., Mr. Silbiger made an intriguing announcement. Two weeks ago, one of his favored projects, a youth advisory council, was defeated lopsidedly, 4 to 1. Mr. Silbiger informed the opponents of a youth commission that he would be organizing a youth commission anyway. The teen group will report only to the Mayor. This unique response to a 4 to 1 defeat will be explored in Wednesday’s edition.