It’s a simple concept — outwork the competition to show you are the best person for the job.

When that coveted position is a seat on the Culver City City Council — and you are Meghan Sahli-Wells, the only one of four candidates running in the April 13 election without a previous campaign or public record to fall back on — work ethic takes on an even greater meaning.

“In terms of name recognition it’s a disadvantage,” admitted Sahli-Wells during a recent 90-minute interview with the News to discuss her campaign and her positions on some of the key topics facing Culver City and its residents as they prepare to head to the polls in a little less than three weeks. “So you just have to work harder.

“I have a team who’s working with me who know how to work hard, and so do I. That (not having a public voting record) is a handicap, but at the end of the day it feels good to have to prove yourself and have success at that. … I’m no stranger to hard work. I like to roll my sleeves up.”

Sahli-Wells made the decision to do just that on behalf of the city last November, when she declared her intention to run for one of the two open council seats. Since that announcement, the 36-year-old homemaker has spent the past four months on foot patrol, going door to door to share her campaign platform and her belief that she offers a fresh perspective that is very much needed at City Hall.

In doing so she has already developed a strong stable of believers, picking up endorsements from such heavyweights as U.S. Rep. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles), current council members Christopher Armenta and Gary Silbiger, the Culver City Democratic Club and the Culver City Employees’ Association.

At the centerpiece of Sahli-Wells’ message are some of the same buzzwords that crop up every election season — balance, accountability, sustainability. However, she was more than willing to explain such broad concepts in greater depth when posed specific questions about her candidacy and what makes her the right choice for local voters.

A good launching point is that concept of balance, as it is clear Sahli-Wells offers up a much different package from her three opponents on the ballot — incumbent Scott Malsin and fellow newcomers Jeff Cooper and Robert Zirgulis — one that she admits has raised plenty of questions in the minds of inquiring voters.

One of the biggest has been her relatively short tenure as a member of the Culver City community. While Sahli-Wells grew up in “The Heart of Screenland” much of her adult life took place outside of the city’s borders before she and her husband, Karim, and their two children moved back to town three years ago — setting up shop with Sahli-Wells’ 94-year-old grandmother in the same house in which the candidate was reared as a child.

That background has allowed Sahli-Wells to fully embrace the community-minded spirit of her hometown, even if she can’t claim the same uninterrupted lineage of residency as her opponents.

“People don’t move here because of Westfield (Culver City). People don’t move here because we have fancy restaurants. People move here because we have great neighborhoods,” Sahli-Wells said. “We have tree-lined streets. We have a kid-friendly, senior-friendly, people-friendly environment. That’s what we need to keep.

“It’s about making sure that we have the city that we moved into, that we have the city we want to be in. That doesn’t mean no development. That doesn’t imply no change.”

What it means is allowing residents to have a consistent voice in how development proceeds in Culver City, whether it’s major projects such as “Parcel B” downtown and the undeveloped lots at the intersection of Centinela Avenue and Washington Boulevard in the west end of town, or smaller ideas that could impact local neighborhoods.

“We’ve got this thing in Culver City that it’s often the residents against the developers,” Sahli-Wells said. “That’s unhealthy and it’s unproductive. Let’s rectify the process.

“Recently the redevelopment agency has changed the redevelopment process. You have earlier opportunities for input. There was kind of a collaborative effort. Now that we have the document, let’s make sure that it really works. Let’s make sure that it’s not just symbolic, that it’s not just a hoop to jump through. Let’s make sure it is something that is fair and works for everyone involved.”

Asked for a specific example of how that process could play out, Sahli-Wells pointed to the ongoing Parcel B dilemma and her belief that community-favorable uses such as turning the lot into a downtown park or marketplace aren’t being considered as the focus remains on developing the land for a more commercial use.

“The idea of putting in an office building and hiding one of our monuments, the Culver Studios, it’s mind-boggling,” Sahli-Wells said. “Open it up, make it a community discussion. It’s our land. We need that. There are so many projects that make sense there. But we have to open up the process.

“Just think of Central Park. Think of the added value that this public open space brings to everything surrounding it. That’s the type of thinking that makes people say, ‘That’s a smart city.’ The heart of the city. ‘The Heart of Screenland.’ Let’s think about that.”

A second area where Sahli-Wells has not been afraid to preach balance is in the undeniable fact that she represents a distinct minority when it comes to running for a Culver City City Council seat — the lone female candidate seeking a spot on an organizational body that has been traditionally dominated by middle-aged white males.

“I’m not going to tell you that just being a woman makes you a good candidate,” Sahli-Wells said. “That doesn’t automatically imbue you with a certain quality. But there is a sense of balance.

“In our whole history of Culver City we have had very few women on the council. We’re not balanced at that point. I’m not saying being a woman qualifies you, but it does have value.”

Asked how she would quantify that value, Sahli-Wells pointed to an area in which she has attained a wealth of experience as a wife, mother of two young boys, and as a member of numerous neighborhood associations: conflict resolution.

“Your job is to make sure they can talk together, understand each other’s needs so we can find a resolution. You can even call it diplomacy,” Sahli-Wells said. “I get asked that question a lot: ‘Are you just going to try to make your point, or are you going to work together and look for answers?’

“I think it can be an asset on a city council. I don’t really have any ego involved. … What I want is for things to work.”

Which leads to the inevitable questions about how to fix some of the things in Culver City that increasingly appear to be broken.

Start with the city budget, where the word “accountability” has been thrown about throughout this election season. Like her opponents, Sahli-Wells has stressed the need to put everything on the table when discussing ways to bring Culver City’s books back into order.

“I liked what (outgoing City Manager Mark Scott) did, which was ask the departments themselves to come up with solutions,” Sahli-Wells said. “They know how to make savings while maintaining those jobs. And we want to maintain those jobs.”

However, also like her opponents, Sahli-Wells admits certain departments — namely the Culver City Fire Department and Culver City Police Department — need to be handled with different parameters.

“Nobody wants to cut police or fire because they’re so important. They are essential. They bring us our quality of life that we have,” Sahli-Wells said. “Again, they have already been asked and they have come up with some solutions for saving money. Is that enough? We have to go through the process and let it play out.”

Sahli-Wells reserved some of her harshest budget criticism for the practice of some city departments to farm out services to independent contractors in the name of short-term savings.

“I don’t really like the math of outside consultants. I’m not convinced that it saves us money,” Sahli-Wells said. “You know what it sounds like to me? It sounds like someone wanted to get it off their books.

“That kind of shuffling is a short-term fix. It isn’t any kind of long-term fix that saves us money. … It’s long-term, how do we get the best value for the money that we have? Let’s make the best choices for a healthy community.”