Editorial

New Fountain Valley City Councilman Sam Lew may be a newcomer to local

politics, but he seems to have the city’s glossy motto down pat already.

“I have no personal or political agendas to promote,” he said upon his

appointment to the council. “I plan to do the best that I can do for

Fountain Valley so that it remains such a nice place to live.”

OK, we can forgive Lew for such bumper-sticker platitudes for now, but

we still can’t help but remind him that “nice place to live” or not, he

got here by way of less-than-nice means.

Sure, most times Fountain Valley’s political machine whirs along

smoothly as a Rolex watch.

But Lew would do well to remember that while the leadership within the

city’s administrative and City Council ranks is typically lock step,

often getting unanimous agreement on the direction the town should head,

there have been some notable exceptions.

Every once and awhile, the gears on this reliable piece of machinery

get gummed up, and the result is well-publicized and sometimes

embarrassing outbursts.

Councilman Fred Voss was busted for soliciting a prostitute.

Councilman Jim Petrikin was busted for drunk driving near his Sacramento

ranch, which was found to be his primary place of residence and thus left

him ineligible to be on the council.

And most recently it was Chuck Conlosh. A young police officer with

loads of promise who came out of nowhere to win a council seat four years

ago.

Unfortunately that promise turned tragically bleak as Conlosh

embroiled himself in public fights with his fellow city leaders, making

outlandish statements about wrongdoing and malfeasance.

It all ended earlier this year after Conlosh resigned from his police

officer position at Huntington Beach, checked himself into a hospital for

evaluation and then went AWOL at council meetings, triggering a state law

that caused his removal from office.

So, that’s where Sam Lew comes in.

Lew, who did not run for council in November, was appointed by the

majority of the council to succeed Conlosh and take over the seat until

the 2002 elections.

He’s certainly not steeped in political experience. But he and his

family have deep community involvement and ties, he serving on the city’s

housing board and his wife, Joanne, on the school board.

We and others concerned with Fountain Valley’s future, will be looking

to Lew to forget the feel-good mottoes for now and instead provide the

leadership needed to heal the wounds from the Conlosh debacle.

We wish him the best of luck.