The Culver City Council meeting of Dec. 12, 2022 saw the end of term for both Mayor Dr. Daniel Lee and Council member Alex Fisch, and swore in new council members Dan O’Brien and Freddy Puza. Vice Mayor Albert Vera, Jr. was rotated to Mayor, and Council member Yasmine Imani McMorrin was installed as Vice Mayor for the next coming year.
Both departing members Fisch and Lee spoke at some length about their time on the council and the many accomplishments, including ending oil drilling in Culver City, a law which set a new standard for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and the passage of ballot measures that have secured sufficient income for the city to be able pay it’s pensions.
Outgoing Council member Alex Fisch was celebrated at a reception in the Pataccia Room prior to the meeting, where he offered his sincere thanks to the city staff. “Whoever is on the council, the staff are the people whose hard work, talent, skill and focus make all it all happen. I’m deeply grateful to have had the opportunity to work with them, and I’m ending my term with no regrets.”
Dr. Lee will be holding a Kwanzaa Celebration/Night Market at Ivy Station on Dec. 16 to mark the end of his council term, and invited the community to join him in celebrating. Lee was candid in his closing remarks that the incoming council would be making haste to reverse much of the work that had been done, but held that “They can’t reverse the oil drilling ban [now that LA County has also decreed a ban.]”
The new council, after being sworn in and seated, did not hesitate for even an hour to move to repeal the ordinance for a minimum wage for health care workers that had passed earlier that evening, and also made a request to agendize a ban on encampments like the one enacted by the Los Angeles City Council this past year.
The minimum wage ordinance was repealed by a three to two vote, Mayor Albert Vera, Jr., Council member Goran Eriksson and Dan O’Brien all voting in favor.
Judith Martin-Straw
