Dear Editor – O’Brien and Renteria’s Multiple Campaign Violations

Dear Editor, 

Dan O’Brien is a Film editor. And despite all the money invested in his campaign he has created ONE campaign film. This film is getting shorter and shorter with each new iteration. Want to know why?

The original film was reported by many people because it violated FPPC rules about 501(C) 3 non-profits being forbidden from endorsing candidates. If they do so they are they in danger of losing their non-profit status. So Justin from The Wende Museum and anything showing Grace Diner and the Lutheran church was edited out. To remind everyone The Wende was built on city owned land which was formally used as a center for homeless veterans – so I personally struggle with this valuable public land being given over to the Wende for a peppercorn rent but that’s a done deal.

Also the falsehood that Dan initiated Feed Culver City was also taken out of the original version of the film. Interesting that Lisa Skelley from Grace Diner says she has “a very high trust wall” but Dan’s bad judgement and his (let’s just all it) ‘unfamiliarity with the truth’ has now endangered her hard-working non-profit. To be clear Dan did NOT initiate Feed Culver City. I believe that it was conceived by Thomas Small who bought in others.

Then we have arts advocate Heather Moses, who appears to be saying that Dan had the idea to re-open the Frost. I think she means the party that they had to celebrate the reopening but it’s breathtakingly unclear. Something of an insult to every person who volunteered to pass Measure C, and every tax payer who funded for the Frost. Of course Dan might have thought to safeguard Heather’s integrity and avoid any confusion. But it’s an election win at any cost for O’Brien, and his ruthlessness has of course been well publicized, and has appalled many people in the city.

Finally we still have former CCUSD Superintendent and non-Culver City resident Leslie Lockhart who is filmed in front of The Frost, the school and the Sandy Segal Youth Health Center which is on campus. School signs in the background are clearly still in the edit. Yet another campaign violation.

Once these violations, exaggerations and falsehoods are all cleared up, this ‘masterpiece’ is just going to be Dan awkwardly pointing at things and Albert Vera making sandwiches. Which feels apt.

Renteria has a sponsored Instagram ad. featuring Grace Diner’s somewhat gullible Lisa Skelley, which again renders Grace Diner’s non-profit status vulnerable.

And anti-vax Republican Marci Baun has a door hanger with school signage in the background.

I wish these very incredibly well funded candidates would try to understand the very basics of running a campaign.
Or maybe they just don’t care about election integrity.
It doesn’t bode well for their competence or Culver City’s confidence in their ability to understand the complicated details of being on council or school board.

Can we PLEASE just support competent candidates who actually put in the work rather than taking credit for the work of others?

Polly Beale – Culver City resident, Business Owner and Educator

The Actors' Gang

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