No Place in Culver City For Character Assassination

EDITORIAL

No Place in Culver City For Character Assassination

The vicious and uncalled for personal attacks on two candidates running for City Council are reprehensible and deeply disturbing.

What is worse is the way some of former leaders in our city were portrayed.

As a member of the Culver City Chamber of Commerce and a former chairman, I can speak from firsthand knowledge that the chamber is not run by fat cats who control City Hall. In fact, the chamber has a long history of working with local community groups to find common ground and a balance between residents and local businesses. Most of the chamber members are small business struggling to keep their doors open. If you look around the city, you will see our members everywhere. They are your local car washes, dry cleaners, restaurants, bookkeepers, auto repair shops, etc. I would hardly call them fat cats.

We do have a few fat cats, Sony, Culver Studios, etc. They contribute money, time and effort to our city to make it a better place. They know that a strong, healthy community makes Culver City a better place for them and their employees. If that’s the definition of Fat Cats I would like to have a few more.

Yes, the chamber -- as a PAC and like many other PACs -- makes a small contribution to the candidates they endorse. There is a limit on how much an individual or PAC can contribute.

The most disturbing thing to us is the character assassination the cartoon implies. The individuals identified in the inflammatory flyer have given repeatedly to our community.

Three were identified; the fourth, former mayor and Chamber President Steve Rose, had his name blacked out because he had passed away just weeks earlier.

Former Mayor Andy Weissman distinguished himself on the City Council with the goal of returning civility and decorum to the council meetings. He has headed almost every volunteer organization in the city. Too many to even list. Each year, I would get the call from Weissman asking for my donation to help the Culver-Palms YMCA.

Former Mayor Paul Jacobs and his wife Joy have donated thousands of hours to the community they live in and love. Paul recently chaired the Centennial Committee which planned and orchestration the yearlong 100th anniversary of the city. He serves as President of the Raintree Townhouse Association and sits on the Board of Directors of the Sister City Committee. He served on many commissions and committees.

Former Mayor Jozelle Smith also donated many hours of community service and has served on the board of directors of local non-profit organizations, including the Culver-Palms YMCA, CC Parks & Recreation Commission, CC Historical Society, CC Sister City Committee; Agape International Spiritual Center; graduate CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) and CPA (Citizens Police Academy).

Look around Culver City, much of what we have today were created by Andy Weissman, Paul Jacobs, Jozelle and Steve Rose:

The Redevelopment of Downtown Culver City -- including restaurants, movie theaters and renovation of the iconic Culver Hotel -- the New City Hall, the redesigned streets of Hannum, Malat and Rudman to control traffic, and the creation of Sid Kronenthal Park, West Culver Park and Fox Hills Park

Finally, the late Steven Rose. Yes, Steve was a strong advocate for the business community but, as a lifelong resident and homeowner in Culver City, he was also dedicated to maintaining and improving the quality of life of its residents.

You may disagree with these individuals on policy and direction of the city, but I must tell you their characters are above reproach and it is an insult to our city and our residents to try to attack the character of each one of them.

This insults them and our whole community.

The attacks on two candidates, Albert Vera and Marcus Tiggs, are also unjustified. We believe each candidate has the best interest of the city at heart. They differ however in their approach.

All four candidates have a story to tell and policies they would like to enact. Each one of them has a deep caring for our city.

It’s time to help our city that we all love and elevate this City Council campaign out of the gutter and act like the “City of Kindness” we all believe in.

Culver City Observer