The campaign for three
seats on the Culver City Unified
School District Board of Education
is in full swing, with an
early salvo fired at the school
district’s teachers union and its
endorsements.
Alan Elmont, who twice
sought a seat on the school
board, took umbrage recently
with the revelation of the candidates
who were endorsed by
both the Culver City Federation
of Teachers as well as the Association
of Classified Employees
of Culver City. In a letter sent
late last week, he opened by asking
“should we support union
endorsements?” (See the letter
in this week’s Letters to the
Editor.)
The unions chose incumbent
board member Karlo Silbiger
and newcomers Claudia Vizcarra
and Vernon Taylor.
“The question is, how much
credence should we give to candidates
who are endorsed by
a group of people who stand to
benefit financially if their candidates)
succeed?” Elmont asked
in an interview with the News.
Reached at home shortly after
the letter was sent, Culver City
Federation of Teachers President
David Mielke said that he
was surprised by Elmont’s letter.
“To have this kind of knee-jerk
response to our candidates is
really unfortunate,” Mielke said.
“The community wants to know
what the classified staff and
teachers think about our school
district.”
The decision was made this
year to have both unions interview
each candidate and then
make a joint endorsement,
Mielke explained. “It was a very
difficult process,” the union
leader said.
Every election, various organizations-
business, environmental,
educational- endorse
candidates. In recent years,
complaints about union endorsements
have begun to be commonplace
among some members
of the Culver City community,
particularly among those whose
candidates have lost to unionbacked
candidates in prior
elections.
This year has been no different.
Residents who belong to or
are supportive of the recently
formed parent political action
group, United Parents of Culver
City have begin complaining
about the union’s choices and
citing “sources” questioning
the unions’ transparency in the
endorsement process without
providing substantial insight.
Elmont said Mielke’s union
has not necessarily selected the
most qualified candidates in
recent years. “Historically, ( the
Culver City Federation of Teachers)
has endorsed candidates
who know the least about the
district, but whom they believe
that they can influence to provide
them with salary increases,
improved working conditions
and additional benefits,” he
asserted.
All organizations that support
candidates in political campaigns
do so because they believe the
candidate is sympathetic to their
cause or agenda, says Jewett
Walker Jr., a political strategist
who has worked on local, county
and statewide campaigns. “This
is politics 101,” Walker said.
“You can’t expect to get an
endorsement from the League of
Conservation Voters if you support
oil runoff going into Ballona
Creek.
“The purpose of a union is to
support their members and their
interests,” Wlaker continued.
“And like all organizations, they
have their criteria for how they
endorse candidates.”
Asked if he would take issue
with any candidates endorsed
by the United Parents of Culver
City, Elmont acknowledged that
he is a member of the group.
Mielke said he was happy that
the unions’ choices reflected a
diverse coalition. “That was not
our expressed intent, but (having
ethnically diverse candidates)
is a bonus,” he said. “All
three are great people.”
Vizcarra is Latina and Taylor
is African-American.
Some candidates are able
to nimbly navigate the different
Culver City special interest
groups. City Councilman Jim
Clarke and CCUSD board member
Laura Chardiet, for example,
both won endorsements from
organizations that are usually
not allied in any way: Clarke
won a Culver City Democratic
Cub endorsement as well as the
support the Culver City Chamber
of Commerce. Chardiet was
backed by the local chamber as
well as the school unions.
Both featured these endorsements
prominently during their
respective campaigns in 2011
and 2012.
Walker said in a school
board race the most important
endorsements a contender could
receive are from unions. “These
are the people who deal with
the effects of what happens at a
school everyday of their lives,”
he noted.
Elmont said there are two
groups at fault for not confronting
their unions on certain
issues.
“It is unfortunate so many
of our wonderful teachers do
not step up and engage their
own union,” he wrote. “But the
same can be said of our parents,
of whom merely 15 percent
typically vote in school board
elections.”
Mielke pointed out that
Elmont never received backing
from his union. “I’ve known
Alan for a long time and he cares
about the schools and knows a
lot about the budget,” he said.
“But there is no doubt that he
hates unions.”
Ultimately, Walker said the
nature of politics is to support
candidates that an individual or
organization thinks reflect their
beliefs, no matter who they are.
And to complain about an organization’s
selection because it
differs from a voter’s personal
choice is essentially sour grapes.
“What people who support
(United Parents of Culver City)
are really saying is that their candidates
are more important than
the union candidates,” he concluded.
“And that’s just not true.”
