Natural Perspectives -- Vic Leipzig and Lou Murray

Ruth Finley, a great friend of the environment, former council member

and past mayor, passed away last week. We attended her memorial service

in Central Park on Sunday. We noted many staunch defenders of the

environment among the gathering of Finley’s family and friends, many of

them past mayors and other prominent community leaders.

Finley made her successful bid for council back in the days when women

were just beginning to run for office. In its nearly 100-year history,

Huntington Beach has had only 10 women serve on city council, all

relatively recently. Those 10 women, many of them pioneers in the women’s

movement, were Norma Gibbs, Harriett Wieder, Ruth Bailey, Ruth Finley,

Grace Winchell, Linda Moulton-Patterson, Shirley Dettloff, Pam Julien

Houchen, Connie Boardman and Debbie Cook. You’ll note that of those 10

women, four are currently serving on the council, a sign that times have

changed and that the tide of political power has turned.

Finley’s good friend and fellow former mayor, Ruth Bailey, related the

story of how Finley came to run for council. They were both active in the

League of Women Voters during the 1970s and 1980s. Both women expected to

be tapped for grand jury service. They agreed that whoever didn’t get on

the grand jury would run for council. Finley was selected for jury duty,

so Bailey ran for council first. Finley ran next. Both women racked up

strong records for integrity, independence and defense of the natural

environment.

As we listened to the service in the amphitheater, we looked around

and marveled at how Central Park has grown in value as wildlife habitat

since its inception in the mid-1960s. Monarch butterflies flitted about

in the eucalyptus around us. A pair of mourning cloak butterflies went

through their courtship ritual overhead as warblers plied the trees in

their never-ending search for insects. After the service, several of us

debated whether the hawk that had flown through the trees during the

service was a Coopers hawk, an immature redtail or a redshouldered hawk.

We are grateful to the environmental visionaries such as Finley who left

much of Central Park in a native state so that all of us can now enjoy

its many natural wonders.

Finally, we thought about the balance of nature, and remarked that it

is like politics, a delicate thing that is easily altered. For example,

four seats on the council will be up for grabs in November, leaving only

Houchen, Boardman and Cook as the seasoned veterans, but Boardman and

Cook will have had only two years experience by then. With newborn

triplets to care for, Houchen may often be absent. The balance of power

will shift strongly in the fall and such a shortfall of experience on the

council may be a dangerous thing. The recent resignation of Dave Garofalo

will also affect the city. His successor will soon be appointed by the

City Council.

As we listened to her friends and family celebrate the life of Ruth

Finley, we thought about the balance of nature and the upcoming shift in

balance of power on the council. We also thought about Finley’s former

appointee to the planning commission, Tom Livengood, who was in

attendance. Like Finley, he is a person of quality and integrity. He

still sits on the planning commission. Livengood has served the city well

and long and, like Finley, is a staunch defender of the environment as

well as a pragmatist with business experience and an appreciation of the

importance of a healthy local economy. Livengood brings the perspective

of nearly two decades of experience in city government to the commission.

As a businessman, he understands finance and the needs of the business

community. Most importantly to us, he also has strong credentials as an

environmentalist. As past president of the Amigos de Bolsa Chica, he led

the community effort that successfully culminated in the state’s purchase

of 800 acres of the Bolsa Chica wetlands in 1997.

The council is currently searching for a replacement for Garofalo.

With Livengood’s long service to the community in city government, his

record of strong defense of the environment, and his considerable acumen

in business management, we think Livengood makes the best and most

logical choice to fill the empty seat. It would be good to see Finley’s

planning commissioner finally gain a seat on the council, a seat he has

earned and deserves.

* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and

environmentalists. They can be reached at o7 vicleipzig@aol.comf7 .