At the Culver City Democratic Club candidate forum Feb. 10, I spoke about why I am supporting Meghan Sahli-Wells for re-election to the City Council, along with new candidates Daniel Lee and Thomas Small. I said that these candidates’ closing statements made it very clear that all three are forward-thinking individuals who hold an inspiring vision for our city.
According to George Lakoff, distinguished professor of cognitive science and linguistics at UC Berkeley, “The basic progressive vision is of community—of America as family, a caring responsible family.”
Interacting with Sahli-Wells, Lee, and Small since their Democratic Club endorsement, I see that they envision the same kind of America and city that Lakoff describes. As a former teacher, I look closely at candidates’ views toward public education—the bedrock of democracy.
Incumbent candidate Meghan Sahli-Wells, having received both the teachers’ and non-certificated employees’ endorsements in 2012 and again in 2016, ran on a platform of peace in 2012, bringing together the City and School Board, who now meet quarterly. Her grant-funded Safe Routes to School program has created a beautiful sense of community, encouraging parents to get out of their cars and walk with their children to school.
Daniel Lee, with degrees from both USC and UCLA, now serving as a documentary filmmaker, social worker, and volunteer with the Young Storytellers Foundation at El Rincon Elementary, has a very positive attitude toward public education and teachers unions. He believes Culver City’s teachers should be paid enough to live in the city where they work. His ear is also attuned to those from the Culver City Employees Association, who express fears about privatization and outsourcing.
Thomas Small, an architectural writer/consultant and parent volunteer in the before-school Spanish language program at Linwood Howe Elementary School, believes the City Council needs to advocate more for children and families, especially homeless children. Small says it is important to support teachers and their unions, and to advocate for a living wage and conditions where they are happy in their jobs and not overworked.
Acting responsibly on the environmental front, Small advocates development of a joint City/School District environmental sustainability master plan and envisions a family-friendly Ballona Creek linear park, inspired by one of the most successful urban designs in the country, the Highline in New York City. Both Lee and Sahli-Wells envision the Inglewood Oil Field as a wind and solar farm, once it has been cleaned up, with Sahli-Wells adding that environmental and economic justice are equally important.
I now invite you join me in supporting these three candidates who envision with George Lakoff “an America where people care about each other, not just themselves, and act responsibly both for themselves and their fellow citizens with strength and effectiveness.”
— Carlene Brown, MA. Ed.
