The Culver City City Council Meeting

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On Monday, April 13th, 2009, I visited the Culver City city council meeting, and found that they operate using a council-manager form of government. For a city with a population of about 38,000, this type of governmental structure is fairly common, and I was not surprised to see it in action in a community where the median household income is around $56,000 a year. Culver City is also a culturally rich community with a 60 percent Caucasian population, and a quarter of the residents are either of African American or Asian decent. The mayor, D. Scott Malsin, is one of five members on the council, and his term as mayor is on a rotating basis. Having been to a Hermosa Beach city council meeting with a similar council-manager structure, I knew what to expect. Hermosa Beach and Culver City were awfully similar in their structure, and the topics discussed were tedious and difficult to fully comprehend without prior knowledge. Also, both meetings had people coming before the council and airing their grievances in regards to what some individuals considered unfair ordinances. At this meeting in particular, a couple of men in their early 60s were upset about an ordinance relating to rose bushes, and they let the mayor know that he could shove that section of the municipal code “back into the recesses of mayor Malsin’s mind”. The mayor, probably having heard his distaste before, just nodded his head and thanked the upset man. His friend clapped, and an older gentleman sitting in the back row snickered. After witnessing the older gentleman give a piece of his mind to the mayor, I was hoping for more residents to stand up and demand action from their local government. I wanted people to step up and tell the local government that some of ... ... middle of paper ... ...an try to comprehend the ins and outs of creating budgeting contracts with consultants. At times, I noticed that the mayor would have probably been more attentive hearing from irate citizens than listen to Armenta trying to get clarifications to C-5. Unexciting as the council meeting agenda items might have been, it was still fascinating to see local government at work in such an orderly, proper fashion. We may disagree on particular ordinances or agenda items, but we will do so in an appropriate way that does not disrupt the city at large, and even though the topics of discussion were mostly mundane, students should still at one point or another witness their local governments at work. Doing so leads to a greater understanding for how day-to-day city improvements take affect and how important it can be to voice your opinion and be a leader within your community.

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