FOUNTAIN VALLEY CITY COUNCIL ENDORSEMENT

Change is needed in Fountain Valley.

For the last four years, the Fountain Valley City Council has been a

cohesive body that has done what it has believed to be in the best

interest of the city. That is, until the last few months.

Most of the recent discord can be linked to Councilman Chuck Conlosh.

Conlosh has been making waves since he publicly accused city officials

of wrongdoing -- which he has not been able to prove. The councilman has

also been making his colleagues uncomfortable by placing his service

revolver -- he is a Huntington Beach police officer -- on the dais during

public meetings. And then there’s his failure to file campaign disclosure

statements on time for several years.

Conlosh, who is next in line to fill the city’s rotating mayor

position come January, does not deserve to be part of this board for four

more years.

Instead, the Independent believes incumbent Larry Crandall should be

reelected and Planning Commissioner Cheryl Brothers should be elected to

help lead Fountain Valley into the future.

Crandall is seeking his second term on the council. He has also served

as a trustee of the Fountain Valley School District for eight years, as

well as a member of the Advisory Committee for the Disabled, 67th

Assembly District Republican Central Committee, Fountain Valley Traffic

Committee and the Orange County Sanitation District, to name a few.

His main goal is to continue to support a fiscally responsible budget

and strong fire and police departments because he said safety is a main

concern of city residents. He also wants to consider expanding the

Fountain Valley senior center to accommodate the city’s aging population.

Crandall has a positive track record in the community, and he is

dedicated to making Fountain Valley a positive place to live. He supports

the city’s recreational vehicle parking ordinance, but if reelected, he

said he will propose to change the language of the law to require that

all RVs be moved out of the neighborhood after the time limit is up.

A seasoned candidate, Brothers has said she wants to focus on

providing needed recreational opportunities for residents without

bringing in new taxes. Like Crandall, she also wants to ensure the needs

of the city’s seniors are met.

Besides the Planning Commission, Brothers has been a member of the

Fountain Valley Community Services Commission, Orange County Grand Jury,

Citizens for Mile Square Park and the Fountain Valley Chamber of

Commerce, among other groups.

As for RV parking, Brothers said it is a safety concern to have them

parked on city streets. She said the city needs to try harder to enforce

the ordinance that is already in place.

Together, Crandall and Brothers can work together with the rest of the

City Council.

That’s not to say the other three candidates -- John Briscoe, Douglas

Henry and Mark McCurdy -- don’t have the will and tenacity to be part of

the City Council in the years to come.

Briscoe, who is also a member of the Planning Commission, has vast

experience serving his constituents. Henry and McCurdy, while new to the

political arena, are not without merit. They should continue to be active

in the communities, for they are good for Fountain Valley.

Either of these candidates could well be elected when three seats come

up for election two years from now.

They all have good ideas and the energy to fill any of these seats.

But for now, we say Brothers and Crandall are the ones the council

needs now to pick up the pieces left over from controversy brought to

this body by Conlosh. They deserve your vote Tuesday.