A ‘late’ entry in the 2026 Culver City Council race, former Mayor Thomas Aujero Small formally announced his candidacy on August 5, and launched his campaign with a ‘kick-off’ on August 21. The event was crowded with elected officials from all over Los Angeles County, and many local supporters as well.
Noted comedy writer Patrick Meighan was the master of ceremonies for the occasion, and he began by introducing Leah Pressman of the Culver City Democratic Club, the Chair of the Politics and Elections Committee. “I think we all thought that the city council race would be pretty quiet, dominated by two incumbents who were likely to win…[when one incumbent dropped out] Thomas stepped up.” Pressman noted many of his accomplishments from his previous time on the council, and closed with the note, “Dream Big! Think Small!”
Jen Caspar of the Village Well Books and Coffee came to share her enthusiasm about her own experience with Small during his previous term on council. “Thomas was one of the first people I spoke to when I wanted to open a bookstore and cafe, and he got me connected with the process right away… I knew this was the place I wanted to be. The longer I am [here] , the more I realize so much of what I love about Culver City is because of Thomas. These things come through in every conversation I have with him … it’s about the ability to impact the narrative.”
Current Mayor Freddy Puza was also on hand, lauding Small’s ability to facilitate dialogue. “It’s about listening, about building coalitions… and knowing when to stand your ground. Government is all about relationships. If you have an idea, but you can’t get people excited about it, it stays an idea.” Puza noted that Small’s track record showed how successful communication had already led to many excellent municipal improvements.
When Small spoke, he admitted to being “almost speechless” by the amount of praise and applause from the folks in attendance. “We talk about things we can do, about things we’ve accomplished in the past, and I think our future is incredibly bright… we are finding a new way to go forward; how we house people, how we get around, looking from neighborhood to neighborhood, I see lot of excitement.”
He thanked many of his supporters from various Culver City organizations, and electeds from nearby municipalities, pointing to their roles as part of his own inspiration.
“Not only can we have justice and compassion, and growth and a great [economy] those things help each other. That is what a lot of people don’t recognize.”
He cited his recent travels involved in writing his new book, and reflected that “Each city comes to these things in a different way – when cites are designed right, they can be incredibly accessible. That is something I intend to make happen. We don’t just need any kind of development; we need excellent development…when the city works better, it works better for everyone. The future we can have here, it could not be more exciting.”
Judith Martin-Straw
