Vote Tally Confirms Council Winners

By Stephen Hadland

Observer Publisher

With the counting of more than 1,000 mail-in and provisional ballots, the numbers for each candidate went up but the final result did not change, Meghan Sahli-Wells was elected to a second term while newcomers Thomas Small and Goran Eriksson will join her on the City Council.

There are still 288 ballots to be counted. However, those are not enough to change the outcome.

The current vote total as reported is:

Megan Sahli-Well 3,631

Thomas Small 2,316

Goran Eriksson 2,110

Daniel Lee 1,854

Scott Wyant 1,671

Marcus Tiggs 1,420

Jay Garacochea 732

The surprise of the election was the emergence of little-known Small and virtual unknown Lee. They were promoted and endorsed by Councilwoman Sahli-Wells with former CCUSD School Board member Karlo Silbiger listed as Small's campaign manager.

Karlo's father, Gary Silbiger, served on the council for eight years and was known as its "progressive" member. For most of those years, he was on the losing end of many 4-1 votes. With the combined forces of the Sahli-Wells camp and, what city hall observers are calling, the "Silbiger Machine," they helped elect Small and almost elected Lee, another political unknown.

With the defeat of Lee and former city planning commission Marcus Tiggs, Culver City remains one of the few communities never to have elected an African-American to the council. The school board, however, has had African-Americans elected.

All eyes now point to the next election in two years when Councilmen Jeff Cooper and Jim Clarke term out. Retiring Councilmen Andy Weissman and Mehaul O'Leary will both be eligible to run again at that time. Neither has made any statements either way.