With the dust still settling slowly over the statewide primary on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, local elections are already moving towards November.
With both City Council and School Board seats coming up, candidates have declared in both races. Council candidate Freddy Puza has launched a ‘First Friday’ rally by gathering supporters to cycle together on the first weekend of each month.
This past June 3, 2022, Puza invited Culver City voters to bike together from Culver City High School to Lodge Bread and enjoy a ‘happy hour,’ discussing the need for the city to address transportation. More than 30 people joined in the ride, and crowded the sidewalk tables at Lodge Bread.
“Mobility is a central issue that we need to prioritize,” said Puza at the event, “it really touches on everything from the urban landscape to climate change.”
Puza fell only a few votes short of success on his first run for council in 2020, and his position on the General Plan Update committee give him a front row seat on what policies need to be changed. That he is running for office as a cyclist is just one part of his campaign focus,
On June 4, 2022, School Board candidate Triston Ezidore held a fundraiser at a private home in Carlson Park, showcasing his support by current Culver City Unified School Board officials such as Dr. Kelly Kent and Paula Amazola de Herrera. Kent shared a story about how she met Ezidore, “When he was in his senior year [at CCHS] he came to me [as a school board member] because he realized the structures set up for students to advocate for themselves were not sufficient. I’m saying it with respect, because the [Associated Student Body] is the governing aspect, but it’s a bit performative, there are some pep rally aspects, and Triston formed a Student Union to address [what was lacking] in the students ability… to express their needs.”
Ezidore, who just completed his first year at university, is the youngest person ever to declare for the CCUSD School Board, and shows a deft knowledge of how to run a campaign.
With Darrel Menthe also committed to a school board run, and Denise Renteria formally campaigning for council, there are several other candidates for both bodies who have not yet made official annoucments. Once the rest of the dust settles on the votes still being tabulated from the primary, we can expect this to be a busy election season.
Judith Martin-Straw
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