The second time around has been good to local candidates running for public office in Culver City. Former councilwoman Carol Gross, current councilman Jeffery Cooper and vice mayor Andrew Weismann, mayor Micheál O’Leary and former councilman Gary Silbiger all won after losing on their first foray into politics.
Now bankruptcy lawyer Marcus Tiggs is hoping to join the “second time is better” club with a win in April, but he will have to navigate the field of seven that includes several newcomers, two candidates with name recognition and a popular incumbent.
Tiggs casts himself a pragmatic candidate, one who can work with a team, as most of the contenders for the three city council seats tend to do in public. But it is his military services, which includes combat duty and a harrowing brush with death, that Tiggs says illustrate his ability to collaborate as well as underscore his leadership skills.
The second time running for office has given Tiggs insight into what many citizens now feel are paramount and while some are similar to 12 years ago the city has changed since he first ran for office.
“In small towns, a resume is often not enough. People need to see you and know you and know that you’ve done things for the community,” he explained. “And this time around, I think I’ve shown that I have done all of those civic-minded things that people look at.”
Among them are serving for 12 years on the Fiesta LaBallona Committee, including a year as its chairman and six years as the city’s Planning Commission.
“I’m older and I’m a little bit wiser and this time I have a core group of professionals/friends that believe in me,” he said.
Cooper is one of those believers.
“I like the fact that he’s level-headed. Marcus is a person who thinks first before his acts and that’s the kind of person that we need on the council,” Cooper said.
The former Army lieutenant colonel does not play up his military experience but does not shy away from it. In fact, he thinks the type of leadership he learned in the armed forces can be useful on the city council. “[Military experience] is very helpful because you get guidance from a field commander and you have a staff and you execute the mission. There are times when you have to make life or death decisions,” he noted. “You always have to have a plan as well as a contingency plan. And if I’m elected, working with our staff and my colleagues would be similar but also easier because no one is shooting at you,” Tiggs added with a laugh.
To those who say military personnel can at time be inflexible, Tiggs responded, “A person who says that was probably never in the military. Things can change in a heartbeat and you have to adapt. But you still have to get the mission done. As a councilman, you are responsible for the health, safety and welfare of your constituents, and as a commander you have the same job,” he said.
A serious helicopter accident changed him, in some way permanently, the former Army officer said.” It reminded me of how fragile life is, how important it is to appreciate what we do you on a day-to day level,” he said. “As a city, our challenge is to plan for the future and maintain our quality of life and not be reactionary.”
Although council candidate Scott Wyant feels his time on the Planning Commission gives him an advantage that other might not have, Tiggs disagrees. “I don’t really look at the Planning Commission as a litmus test to be on the city council,” Tiggs asserted. “I think it’s helpful, but I think it really boils down to leadership.”
Tiggs also got an early jump on the competition- he started walk precincts in November, shortly after announcing his candidacy. “Some people say that it’s not good to start walking so soon. But to me, the benefit is you make that face to face contact with voters and while mailers are nice things, the walking is our force multiplier,” he said. “We’re doing it one vote at a time.”
The race this year features a Filipino-American and two African-American candidates, Tiggs and Daniel Lee. Both have not made a point of emphasizing that fact, but it is not lost on Tiggs. “I really don’t want someone to vote for me because of that, but if I am elected I think I would feel a sense of responsibility to be a mentor and a role model for others, especially kids who might think, ‘Marcus did it, so maybe I can too,’” he said.
Tiggs, a former competitive figure skater who skated for over a decade at the former Culver City Ice Rink, realizes that the city government had no legislative authority to keep the rink open. But he thinks city leaders could have done a better job in getting a different tenant. “The reality is, in order to operate an ice rink takes a lot of money. The sad part is the city probably couldn’t do much. The issue that I have was after a temporary agreement was worked out with the former tenants the city decommissioned it. That really put a sour taste in my mouth,” he said.
Tiggs said after the rink was decommissioned there were no environmental hazards found at the rink, but he doesn’t fault the council because he thinks it “used the best information that it had at the time.”
One idea that Tiggs said was building a sports complex for a variety of sports similar to others cities. “It might not be feasible to build one right now, but I definitely think it should be a consideration in the future,” he said.
One of Tiggs’ supporters in Councilman Jeffery Cooper, who calls Tiggs level headed
He’s not reactionary.
Tiggs says he thinks the city should take what he calls a “proactive role” in limiting any potential hazards for Culver City residents from hydraulic fracturing in the nearby Inglewood Oilfield while he realizes there are limitations to what Culver City can do as oil drilling is an approved use in Los Angeles County.
“I don’t want to see another situation that we had in 2006,” he said, recalling an early release of noxious but non- lethal gas that awaken several Culver Crest residents and led to a moratorium on oil drilling for two years. “I don’t want us to have another Porter Ranch here.”
Tiggs stopped short of calling for a ban on fracking unless it’s determined whether or not cities have that right to outlaw approved uses. Previous attempts to prohibited hydraulic fracturing at the state level have failed twice within the last four years. “If we can’t ban it, there might be other ways to mitigate it,” he said.
Terms limits is slated to be on the November ballot in Culver City and a proposed initiative to bring the appointments of the police and fire chief
“I’d have to look into it a bit. I’m wondering what benefit we would get by changing,” he said.
Next month, Tiggs will learn if the second time around is the charm.
Election day is April 12.
Gary Walker contributed to this story.