The Final Score
With his two most reliable defenders, aided by a newcomer, stating a forceful case for him, Mr. Fulwood was formally anointed the City Manager of Culver City on a historic Monday night by a 3 to 2 vote. It becomes official on July 1. By a clear margin last April, voters approved of a revised City Charter, which calls for changing the form of city government from one led by a Chief Administrative Officer to a City Manager. Authority now is to become more concentrated in the chief executive. The City Manager will, it is widely agreed, become a more powerful figure than the Chief Administrative Officer was. Vice Mayor Alan Corlin, and Councilmen Steve Rose and Scott Malsin needed to summon all of their grit to barely prevail over Mayor Gary Silbiger and Councilwoman Carol Gross. The wounds from this barbed-wire blockbuster are likely to remain open. No strangers to frosty sarcasm, Mr. Corlin and Ms. Gross were at their salty best, exchanging verbal brickbats comprised of withered flowers. Arguably, they were the main combatants.
Separating ‘Strong’ and ‘Loud’
“You have to know when to fight and when the fight is over,” Mr. Corlin said icily on Tuesday morning. “Carol and Gary did not make a strong case for Mr. Fulwood. They made a loud case.” Ms. Gross charged that Mr. Corlin was wrong in personalizing their disagreement. She said she only wanted to talk about the process of starting a search for a new chief executive. Mr. Corlin was just as adamant that the issue was about Mr. Fulwood and his continued employment, not process. The debate was made more complex by the fact that Mr. Fulwood, whose original contract expires this month, was awarded a new three-year contract last January. Supposedly, this made his job at the top of City Hall bullet-proof regardless of the April election results. Like Monday night’s decision, the vote for a new contract also was 3 to 2. While one Council seat was changed in the April election, Mr. Fulwood retained his 3 to 2 edge in backers on the Council. The Corlin-Rose-Malsin coalition said that the new contract was executed with the knowledge that the election three months later may or may not have changed Mr. Fulwood’s title but would not affect his job status. Just as ardently, Gross-Silbiger maintained that the election outcome upheaved previous planning. They insisted that the adoption of a new City Charter took precedence over prior actions. They said that since retention of Mr. Fulwood apparently was not literally spelled out anywhere, the job was open. They said the bidding should begin. But it didn’t.
Criticism of Fulwood
Three years into his employment here, Mr. Fulwood has attracted a noisy army of unrelenting critics, even though he is far less of a figure out in the community than almost anyone else at City Hall. His personality appears to be an unknown factor beyond the borders of City Hall. Ostensibly, he seems to have scrupulously avoided any activity outside of his office that would make him a lightning rod or controversial. Nevertheless, he is a lightning rod, in the view of many. ”Jerry is not much for action,” a critical City Hall insider told thefrontpageonlinee.com. “He is known for avoiding decisions, especially those he thinks will make him look bad. Then he ends up making no decision when people come to him with gripes. And that makes him look bad anyway.” With admiration, Mr. Corlin watched the stolid Mr. Fulwood sit through what may have been the harshest ever open evaluation of a public official at City Hall. “Jerry is a better man than I am,” said the Vice Mayor. “If I had to sit and listen to those things being said about me, I would have told them to shove it.”
Revisiting a Familiar Scene
The evolving high drama that unfolded on Monday night was mindful of a sword duel between grudging rivals, daringly slashing and dashing back and forth across the roof of a skyscraper. With his critics on the City Council becoming bolder and striking with more vividity than ever before, Mr. Fulwood, the consummate stoic, looked straight ahead throughout the hour-long debate. That is his style. He may as well have been made of stone. As the sizzling rhetoric grew hotter over whether he should be seamlessly transitioned from Chief Administrative Officer to City Manager or downgraded to interim status while a national search was conducted for a City Manager for the newly created position, Mr. Fulwood reacted with textbook purity. He would not concede to his critics even the slenderest peek at his embedded feelings. Whether he was boiling, humiliated or just disgusted, he offered no free looks.
The Heat Explodes
A proud man, he never blinked, let alone budge or noticeably breathe while the City Council started out slowly and built momentum in their debate. They accelerated from zero to 60 as if they were piloting the latest model Porsche. Their formerly tentative, generically peppered language accelerated from timid to determined. Rhetoric that previously was sheathed now was yanked out of its holder and banged down on the table for discussion.
A Wartime Rerun
Shortly after voters approved of changing to a City Manager form of government, Mayor Silbiger and Councilwoman Gross both said that change should start at the top. They interpreted the revised City Charter to mean that the position of chief executive, occupied by Mr. Fulwood, was automatically vacated. They said a national search should be conducted to fill the role of City Manager. Meanwhile, Mr. Fulwood and his title Chief Administrative Officer, by act of the voters, were dissolved into angel dust, they concluded. Across the aisle, Vice Mayor Corlin and Councilman Rose staunchly were responding that the voters’ decision did not affect Mr. Fulwood’s status. “This is nothing,” Mr. Corlin said at the time. “It is only a title change, nothing else.” Mr. Malsin, the newest Councilman, essentially remained on the sidelines while his teammates quarreled.
As the weeks passed, Mr. Silbiger and Ms. Gross stepped back from their arguments, possibly because it seemed likely they would be outnumbered in a showdown. The matter of Mr. Fulwood’s continued employment melted into a non-issue, publicly. Until Monday night’s eruption.
Commissions Come to Order
Ten citizen-volunteers were selected by the City Council to serve on six city commissions, either as new appointments or returning incumbents. The most persistent Council disagreement every year over this annual rite is to define the ideal applicant — a longtime volunteer who has earned appointment or a newcomer who deserves a chance to replace supposedly old, tired blood. The man in the spotlight this time was the well-liked Andy Weissman, who has served the city for 16 years. The selection process was confusing — for Council members because the parameters were not clear. Mr. Malsin suggested that Mr. Weissman, top vote-getter on the dais for the Planning Commission, be designated for the shorter term, affording the second appointee the longer chance to serve. The suggestion failed.
Here are the selections:
Planning Commission
Andy Weissman (4-year term)
John Kuechle (3-year term)
Parks and Recreation Commission
Jeanette James (Incumbent) (4-year term)
Civil Service Commission
Michael Whittaker (4-year term)
Cultural Affairs Commission
Clement Hanami (Incumbent) (4-year term)
Landlord-Tenant Mediation Board
Ricky Windom (Tenant Incumbent) (4-year term)
Steven R. Reitzfeld (Landlord Incumbent) (4-year term)
Robert M. Pine (Member-at-Large Incumbent) (4-year term)
Disability Advisory Committee
Jay J. Shery (Incumbent) (4-year term)
Robyn Tenensap (4-year term)
COUNCIL NOTES — To the delight of anti-smoking groups, an ordinance was introduced to prohibit smoking in all Culver City parks. Puffing would be permitted on the sidewalks at the perimeter of parks….Half a dozen accomplished, articulate artists, 12th graders from Culver City High School, introduced themselves to the City Council and displayed samples of their work. They spoke elaborately and knowledgeably. Several credited their teacher, Kristine Hatanaka, with guiding them onto the correct career path at a time they were stumped…A representative of Teamsters Union Local 572 implored the City Council to intervene with city officials and allow bus drivers to have a choice as to what union will represent them. Evidently, the Teamsters’ application was rejected on the grounds it was filed too late. The union rep said it was not…A competitive new swim team known as the Royals, with five Culver City members, is hoping to shift its operational base to The Plunge…Heidi Espinoza, of the Van Buren-Farragut neighborhood, still is hopeful of winning City Hall approval for her planned June 24 block party, even though the city rejected her earlier request. She is to meet with Public Works Director Charles Herbertson…
Summer Sunset Music Festival
Thursday night concerts, at 7 p.m., start this week.
June 15 — Ricardo Lemvo and Makina Loca, Afro-Cuban music
June 22 — Witcher Brothers, traditional/contemporary bluegrass, plus the Biscuit Burners, bluegrass/oldtime mountain music
June 29 — The Rhythm Brothers, hot jazz and swing
July 6 — CSI actor Robert David Hall and Pat Colgan, plus Carl Verheyen, folk and country
July 13 — The Surf City All-Stars playing the Beach Boys and Jean and Dean hits
Sunday, July 16 at Vets Park — 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Boulevard Music Summer Festival Sunday show, featuring singer-songwriters and instrumentalists performing a variety of styles
July 20 — Moira Smiley and VOCO, Eastern European/Irish Appalachian songs
July 27 — Katia Moraes and Pure Samba, samba plus L.A. Choro Ensemble, Brazilian instrumental music
Aug. 3 — Fab Forever, Beatles Tribute Band
Aug. 10 — Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five, featuring Hilary Alexander, 1940s swing
Aug. 17 — John Jorgenson Quintet, hot Gypsy jazz
Monday, Aug. 21 — Fiesta La Ballona Week begins (Aug. 21-27). www.fiestalaballona.org
Aug. 24 — Los Pinguos, Latin rhythms/Argentine rock, plus Bjarv, traditional and contemporary Swedish music
Aug. 31 — Firebird, Russian folk songs, plus Extreme Klezmer Makeover, progressive klezmer
Sept. 7 — Geno Delafose and French Rockin’ Boogie, Zydeco