Dear Editor,
We were all horrified and sickened by the actions of the Minneapolis police officers who killed George Floyd. Conduct such as demonstrated there and elsewhere that targets persons of color in particular, but in general, all persons who are targeted and mistreated need to be condemned, rooted out and stopped.
The City Council has scheduled a special ‘virtual’ council meeting (because we currently are unable to meet face to face in the council chambers) at 7 pm Monday June 15, 2020 to discuss the “police department policies and budget and to provide additional direction to manager and/or chief of police as appropriate”.
No one really knows that this means. No one knows what the Council intends to discuss or what direction it may give to the city manager and chief of police. We have an outstanding police department. One that deserves to be recognized for the job it does when it does good and needs to be criticized if it does bad. There is every reason to examine policies, training, tactics and recruiting and identify what areas relating to the police need to be addressed, what problems with policing, real or perceived exist and how best to go about correcting them.
I submit that a virtual meeting, let alone one held on short electronic notice is hardly the right forum to discuss issues as important as the police department policies. If you don’t have a computer and are not subscribed to Culver City’s email notifications, you probably don’t even know about the meeting.
Decisions of this magnitude require input and deliberation. We need open discussion with direction and decisions coming after careful deliberation. The community should be informed. The community should have sufficient time to think. The community should have an opportunity to participate in the discussion.
Former elected members of the City Council, such as Ed Wolkowitz, Jeff Cooper, Jim Clarke, Jozelle Smith, knowing how important community input is, have gone on record requesting the Council take the time our community needs time to consider and discuss our future. As monumental as decisions relating to public safety are, with its potential impacts to residents and businesses on community safety and security. We encourage you to contact your city council members by phone or email and make your voices heard on Monday evening and ask them to engage the community in a dialogue and not at an online meeting.
The members of the Council can be reached as follows:
[email protected]
[email protected]
(310) 559-6015
(424) 253-4724
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
(310) 253-6000
(310) 845-5831
(310) 922-7286
Andy Weissman
Former councilmember/former mayor
Councilpersons:
If you really want to learn of Culver City’s budgetary and other problems; hopefully, to prevent or cure them, rather than bury them, you will cause Culver City to implement an independently operated fraud, waste, and abuse hotline. CCPD insiders would inform you of the waste, e.g., the Chief’s improper use of his Culver-City-issued-credit card. On the other hand, you already know about that and other abuses and have failed and, thus, refused to take action to cure them.
Also, instead of wasting $200,000+ to study Wiley E. Coyote’s poop, you could have spent $200,000 for a study of the efficiency of CCPD’s operations.
To do otherwise would lessen your credibility and reputation.
Someone who cares more about Culver City and its residents than you do,
Les Greenberg
Mayor Eriksson states that he wants “to engage the community in a dialogue and not at an online meeting.” As they say in poker, I’ll call and raise you.
It appears that the City Council desperately needs useful ideas. That would not be so had the City Council given more than yawns to our long-ago suggestion that Culver City establish a formal suggestion/idea system.
On 7/9/19, this newsletter published “Dear Editor – Any Suggestions?” (https://culvercitycrossroads.com/2019/07/09/dear-editor-7/ ) That opinion states, in part, “Suggesting ideas to improve Culver City should be a part of every employee’s job description.” As per our custom and practice, we emailed a copy of that article directly to each City Council member. None responded.
On 7/9/19, we made a formal-suggestion/idea-system presentation to the Finance Advisory Committee. We purchased a copy of the book “Ideas Are Free” and donated it to Culver City by placing it in the custody of Chief Financial Officer Onyx Jones.
At the 9/9/19 City Council meeting, we presented details of a formal-suggestion/idea system, showing you a copy of the book “Ideas Are Free.” We informed you that Culver City is not able to document the receipt of one suggestion in the past ten years. We asked the City Council to agendize a discussion of implementing a formal system. After the presentation, the audience applauded with approval.
Hopefully, the City Council will re-raise me, but, if history is any guide, it is more likely to fold.
Paulette Greenberg
Culver City Resident Since 1975