The Culver City City Council said goodbye to one councilman and welcomed another Monday, April 26 in a ceremony filled with memories of the past eight years and the beginning of another legislative career.
A visual and vocal tribute to termed-out Councilman Gary Silbiger preceded the official welcome to Jeff Cooper, who defeated Meghan Sahli-Wells by a scant 31 votes April 13 to win a seat on the council. Silbiger, who some saw as a polarizing figure during his two terms in office, was seen by his supporters as a champion of public notification, the welfare of animals and one of the driving forces in establishing Martin Luther King’s birthday as a recognized city holiday.
“It’s an honor that too few get to have,” said Silbiger of his time on the council the day after he officially was no longer a member of the city’s governing body. “There are aspects of my time on the council that seemed to go by very quickly and other times it seemed like it went very slowly.”
Silbiger’s son Karlo, who himself was elected to the Culver City Unified School District Board of Education in November, remembered his father’s first election campaign in 2002. That year, the elder Silbiger was on the ballot against a sitting councilman, a former councilman and the son of an ex-city officeholder.
“Even with that steep competition, he won a seat,” his son remembered.
The younger Silbiger praised his father as someone who often voted alone on “imperfect ideas rather than having accomplishments.”
“I hope that the new council will follow his uncompromising ethics when it comes to working for the greater good and focusing on the community.”
Sahli-Wells, whom Silbiger backed in the council race, told the audience about one of her first encounters with the former councilman, which was during a time when she and several of her neighbors were lobbying against a downtown development project.
“You listened and understood and fought for us,” Sahli-Wells recalled. “As I was campaigning, I can’t tell you the amount of people who once they saw your picture on my brochure said, ‘You’ve got Gary’s support? Well, I’m going to support you.’”
The former candidate praised Silbiger for fighting for causes that some deemed unpopular.
“You have stood up when it was not easy,” Sahli-Wells said.
Silbiger, who was often the lone vote on a number of legislative items, said sometimes his position was later adapted by the majority. One such instance was the fight to get civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday recognized by City Hall, a feat the former councilman and his supporters view as one of his most significant legislative accomplishments.
“Sometimes one vote at the beginning can often lead to a majority vote later,” Silbiger noted.
Assistant City Manager/City Clerk Martin Cole presented the retiring councilman with a full-sized public notification card in a humorous tribute to one of his signature rallying cries.
“His steadfast belief that Culver City actually have a very much improved public notification system, (which) I think many would agree is not perfect, but certainly has improved significantly since Mr. Silbiger joined the city council,” Cole said. “So we thought, what more fitting token of our esteem in working with him from the entire city staff than but a life-sized public notification (card).”
Christopher Armenta, who served as vice mayor last year, was named mayor, succeeding Andrew Weissman. Micheál O’Leary was named vice mayor.
“I’m very honored to be your mayor,” Armenta told the audience.
He thanked his wife Colleen, his father and his friends, and also paid tribute to Silbiger, who backed him during the new mayor’s election campaign in 2008.
“You leave this council with a proud record of government transparency,” the mayor said.
Armenta’s nomination and ascension to the center chair was without controversy, unlike last year when Silbiger’s supporters lobbied for him to become mayor and the council instead chose Weissman. A new policy governing the nomination process was crafted last summer in the hopes of preventing a repeat of the uncivil and politically charged process that took place last April.
Under the new policy, where councilmembers finished in the election as well as their seniority on the council will be part of the criteria in choosing the new mayor each year.
Weissman told the News that he was proud of the fact that the current council, in the eyes of much of the public, views the body as much more civil than past councils.
“The renewed sense of civility has been restored, and I’ve worked hard to renew that spirit,” Weissman said.
Armenta also credited Weissman for leading the council toward “a new era of civility.”
Cooper and Scott Malsin, who won a second term on the council on election night, received their council pins following Silbiger’s tribute. Cooper thanked his campaign supporters and pledged to honor the promises he made on the campaign trail.
Per an agreement with interim City Manager Lamont Ewell, the new council postponed establishing new subcommittees until May 3.
