With no official endorsements and very little money raised, Robert Zirgulis realizes that his candidacy for the Culver City Unified School District’s Board of Education is fraught with a myriad of challenges.
“I know that I’m an underdog,” Zirgulis, a substitute teacher for the school district, admits.
In the third installment of the News’ series of profiles of the contenders for the CCUSD school board, Zirgulis reflected on his first two forays into politics, the dynamics that it would take to win one of the seats and what he could bring to the school board.
A veteran of political campaigns over the last few years, Zirgulis believes that for some candidates there are hurdles that are difficult to overcome. “I had no idea about the ‘old boys’ network that exists in Culver City,” the candidate responded to a question regarding what he had learned in his earlier campaigns that could benefit him in the current race.
Zirgulis ran for the school board in 2009 and for a seat on the City Council the following year.
Running for public office “shouldn’t be a popularity contest,” he continued. “But ‘the machine’ controls who gets the money and who gets the support.”
Allegations of two political “machines” in Culver City surfaced in prior interviews with the News, and as he did on the two prior occasions, Zirgulis declined to name who he thinks is in charge of the supposed political dynasties.
He also claims that many residents have told him that they support him but are too afraid to publicly endorse him. “I don’t want to give their names,” he said. “I won’t do that to them.”
Zirgulis contends that he could surprise the local political observers and naysayers by winning if at least 50% of Culver City’s registered voters turn out to cast their ballots, despite the fact no school board race in recent memory has had a voter turnout that large.
“If new voters vote, instead of the same people, I have a chance to win,” he predicted.
The candidate made a few missteps as a rookie campaigner in 2007. At the city’s annual Fiesta La Ballona weekend four years ago, Zirgulis was confronted by several people who pointed out that he had placed campaign signs posted on public property, a violation of the city’s sign law.
Zirgulis acknowledged that the accusations were true but said that some of his volunteers supporters had inadvertently posted them.
The substitute teacher says “circumstances have changed” four years after his first campaign and he feels there is a chance to overcome his better financed competition of CCUSD Board President Scott Zeidman, Nancy Goldberg and Laura Chardiet. Candidate Gary Abrams is not seeking campaign contributions.
“I hoping that by being out there speaking my mind and telling the truth that people will pay attention this time,” said Zirgulis, who placed fifth out of six challengers in 2009.
“Being out there” means talking to as many people as he can in an effort to convince the electorate that he is a viable candidate.
As in his prior first two races, Zirgulis, who has also been a real estate agent, is focusing his campaign on a couple of core tenets. Raising money for Culver City schools through oil drilling from oil and gas company Plains, Exploration and Production was his signature issue four years ago, although the oil company is prohibited from giving money directly to the school district.
This time around, Zirgulis is backing an oil initiative, Proposition 1481, that could potentially take in $3 billion for the state education system, the proposition’s proponents say.
The initiative would impose a 15% per barrel severance tax on oil extracted in California, which state oil companies and oil and gas trade associations oppose.
Oil drilling is a controversial topic in Culver City. The City Council imposed a moratorium on oil drilling two years ago and was embroiled in litigation with other public interests groups and homeowners against Los Angeles County regarding oil exploration activities in the Baldwin Hills Zoned District, where PXP is engaged in oil drilling operations.
“This is a way to get money to the schools,” the candidate said in a recent interview. “I know a lot of people don’t like oil drilling, but our schools need a lot of work and I’m willing to speak out and say what we have to do, even if it’s not popular.”
Another part of his platform is to curb what he calls wasteful spending by the current board. He singled out the amount of money that the school district pays to consultants and attorneys as a way to save funds. “I think there should be binding arbitration instead of paying attorneys,” asserted Zirgulis, who has clashed with Zeidman and board member Steven Gourley, who are both lawyers.
An attempt to force school districts to engage in arbitration was introduced in 1990 former state Supt. Of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell, then an assemblyman from Carpinteria. Culver City Federation of Teachers President David Mielke said the teachers union would never consider relinquishing their collective bargaining rights.
“I think that (Zirgulis) has a point about some of the contractors that have been hired, but the idea that any teacher or employee would give up their voice in negotiations… that would not happen here,” Mielke said.
The union president said there were already provisions for arbitration in certain cases. “When there are grievances, they are decided by a neutral third party,” Mielke explained. “Collective bargaining serves both the union and the district well, and despite our differences, I don’t think that we’ve had any problems with collective bargaining.”
Zirgulis is also opposed to furlough days as a budget tool as Culver City and other school districts continue to struggle with budget deficits. “There is enough money in (the district) through savings and (the elimination) of wasteful, sloppy spending that there don’t need to be furlough days or layoffs,” he claimed.
The teacher advocates renting out CCUSD facilities as an alternate revenue stream.
Regarding charter schools, Zirgulis said he would examine each application on a case-by-case basis.
Charter schools are publicly funded schools that offer themselves as alternatives to traditional schools. Building Bridges International and Innovate! Charters applied to CCUSD this year.
Zirgulis believes that much of the public has been mislead about his position on oil drilling, and he feels that has cost him votes in his campaigns for school board as well as city council. “I am for environmentally safe oil drilling,” he said. “But I think there are a lot of misconceptions about my positions on PXP.”
The school board candidate sought to assuage an audience that largely takes a dim view of the oil company at a forum in Culver Crest on Oct. 12.
Michael Bauer, a Culver Crest homeowner who attended the meeting, was not convinced that the candidate’s stance on oil drilling was misinterpreted.
“I think that he probably means well, but I think that the tactics that he used were offensive,” said Bauer, the vice president of the Culver Crest Neighborhood Association, referring to Zirgulis’s first school board campaign. “I didn’t hear him apologize for what he did the last time or offer any explanation why he acted the way that he did.”
Zirgulis said what sets him apart from other candidates is his passion for activism. “I’m not afraid to ask questions, and I don’t mind stirring things up,” he said. “The board needs someone like me to stand up and tell it like it is.”
Robert Zirgulis is hoping that four years after he introduced himself to the Culver City electorate the third time will be the charm.
“I know that I’m a long shot (candidate) and the only way that I can win is if I can get 50 %of the vote,” he reiterated. “But I’m the eternal optimist.
“I wouldn’t be running if I didn’t think that I could win.”
Election day is Nov. 8.