Mailbag - Feb. 21, 2002

I believe our City Council should open with prayer. If our United

States Congress, senate and house can open with prayer and our money says

“In God We Trust” then I think Mayor Debbie Cook is wrong and I think she

should reverse her decision. I think the Christians in Huntington Beach

should be allowed to have prayer at the beginning of City Council

meetings.

ARDETH TAYLOR

Huntington Beach

Yes, I think an invocation should be part of City Council. Since our

state, national and many local governing bodies regularly include an

invocation, I think we should, too. Since the invocation rotates among

different religious faiths, there is no conflict of church and state.

We have an active body of church representatives in the Greater

Huntington Beach Interfaith Council who would, I am sure, be willing to

assist in providing individuals to give the invocation.

I am a member of a church, which has been part of Huntington Beach

since 1910 -- First Church of Christ, Scientist. Churches are a vital

part of this community, and a reminder to the City Council in the form of

an invocation would be important to all.

JIM WHEELER

Huntington Beach

Silence is a viable option to prayer

I think the solution to prayer or no prayer at the City Council

meeting is for the mayor to ask for a moment of silence so each person

can do whatever they want with the moment.

Christians can say a prayer to Jesus. The other religions: Bahai,

Jewish, Islam, Buddhist, agnostics, atheists and any others can pray to

whomever they pray to for guidance or not pray if they don’t want to.

What’s the harm in a moment of silence?

I see nothing divisive in a moment of silence.

EILEEN MURPHY

Huntington Beach

For all those who wish to pray in City Hall and in public places, take

the advice of Jesus Christ your Messiah who said, “When you pray do not

be like the hypocrites, they love to say their prayers standing up in

synagogues and on street corners for everyone to see them. Truly I tell

you they have their reward already. But when you pray go in your room by

yourself shut the door and pray to your father.”

JOHN BOAG

Huntington Beach

Does the embarrassment ever stop? Will good judgment ever prevail

again? Have the words, integrity, dignity, self- control and honesty

vanished from the hallowed halls of City Hall?

We have had to live through the benevolent dictatorship of one mayor

who believed he had the dominion over who should have freedom of speech

at public meetings. As I recall this resulted in a lawsuit that the city

lost.

Then we had an “it’s hard to be me” mayor who was smitten with the

idea that whatever he did, even if it was illegal, was OK as long as he

denied it. Of course this has resulted in years of bad publicity, and

ultimately changes in the law that could have been avoided by the use of

honesty and good old common sense.

Now we have a mayor, who by fiat has determined it is in the best

interest of the city to eliminate the invocation prior to Council

meetings. Her reasoning hinges on what she has described as “the

separation of church and state,” and her duty to uphold the Constitution.

Her use of this politico-babble seems to fly in the face of what is done

in the Congress of the United States, wherein an invocation is used. And

then of course, the Supreme Court Justice uses a Bible to swear in the

president of the United States.

It is hard to understand why a council member with less than two years

of experience feels that an invocation is no longer needed. Or, why it

was not discussed at a public meeting with all the council members

present. I have no idea what the fallout of her decision will be, but it

definitely points out a flaw in her character.

I have drawn one conclusion, after experiencing the “leadership” or

lack thereof of our past few mayors, that the position of mayor of

Huntington Beach gives credence to the saying, “power corrupts, and

absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Finally, I voted for and supported our current mayor, but I won’t make

that mistake again.

ED BUSH

Huntington Beach

I’m very very disappointed in Mayor Debbie Cook that she has stopped

this practice. God knows they can use all the help they can get.

SANDRA COLE

Huntington Beach

The clergy has spoken

I’m in favor of the invocation. It’s a tradition here in the city and

it’s also a tradition in our national Congress in Washington DC.

The only thing I think I’d urge those who do the invocation to do, is

be sensitive to the faith tradition of others when they do lead the

prayer, but to speak in a way that addresses a higher power and asks that

higher power for blessing upon the council and upon the city in a way

that will not be offensive to others. But I think it’s a worthy tradition

to continue.

FATHER CHRISTIAN MONDOR

St. Simon and Jude Church

Huntington Beach

Yes. I think the Huntington Beach City Council meetings should begin

with an invocation.

RABBI STEPHEN J. EINSTEIN

Fountain Valley

Thank you for seeking our viewpoint regarding prayer at council

meetings. Although I understand the desire for separation of church and

state, I am also aware that the United States Senate has a chaplain, and

that prayer is offered at the opening of each meeting of the Senate by

faith leaders of many different traditions.

As a clergy person, I believe in the power of prayer. I believe prayer

sets the tone, brings people closer to the divine and also works to lift

our consciousness in a higher place than that of our day to day

humanness.

Prayer works. I believe we are all created by the same divine

intelligence, by whatever name we call it. To open ourselves to the

blessings of a supreme being prior to a communitywide meeting, it lifts

us in spirit to conduct ourselves and our business from the “high watch.”

I also support the idea that our prayers must not exclude, but include

people of all faiths and beliefs, including those who do not have a

belief in the divine presence. It is not a time for proselytizing, but of

simply anchoring everyone in a reverence for one another, our leaders,

our community and the world. Clearly written guidelines may be one way of

assuring that this is observed.

I respectfully request that our mayor reconsider her position on

prayer at the Huntington Beach City Council meetings.

The Rev. PEGGY PRICE

Senior Minister

Huntington Beach Church of Religious Science

Former Co-chair Greater Huntington Beach Interfaith Council.

I find the issue of an invocation prior to the City Council meetings

very interesting. I am a pastor in the city of Huntington Beach and have

been a resident for nearly 50 years. I have had the opportunity and

privilege of giving the invocation at the council meetings on several

occasions through the years.

I have found there is little or no faith in prayer expressed by the

City Council members. As one councilwoman has expressed “it is a nice way

to begin the meetings.” God hears and answers the prayers of all who will

seek him, however the first criteria is the seeker must believe that he

is and that he is willing to answer, Hebrews 11:6.

Without faith, prayer is just a nice thing to do with no other benefit

than filling a formality. If the council as a whole does not believe they

need prayer or help from God, then an invocation is a needless formality.

To do away with it shows the heart of the council.

A far more critical issue at hand is the mayor’s stated reason for

doing away with prayer. Mayor Debbie Cook expressed that she is upholding

the Constitution. I assume she is referring to the separation of church

and state. If she is upholding the meaning of the Constitution in the

matter of church and state then why does the U.S. Congress and Senate

find it so necessary to have invocations to open their meetings?

Further why does the Congress and the Senate have a Chaplain?

Chaplains and the invocations are far more than a formality for our

highest level of government. They find it both vital and necessary.

Certainly Congress and the Senate do not see separation of church and

state in the same light as our mayor, neither do I and neither does most

of America.

I would be pleased and privileged to serve our city in offering an

invocation to open the council meetings, but only if the City Council

finds it necessary and vital. Prayer is not just a formality.

STEVEN H. PURDUE

Huntington Beach

Residents disagree with Tarwater

In a recent newspaper article regarding the Ocean View School

District’s controversial gymnasium projects at the middle schools, Supt.

James Tarwater was quoted as saying, “Residents need to decide if they

want to live near a school because it’s not my responsibility.”

Well, last week Supt. Tarwater demonstrated to neighboring property

owners of Mesa View Middle School that he indeed is not responsible.

Problems with soil conditions at the new gymnasium’s building site are

forcing contractors to import and export at least 180 large truckloads of

material. Some of our knowledgeable neighbors are of the opinion that up

to 600 truckloads may be required. To provide access, the district

installed a fence for a truck lane along the rear property line of the

school within 20 feet of many neighbors’ bedrooms, living rooms and

swimming pools.

The neighbors were simply not happy about this arrangement. After

threatening the district with lawsuits, the district has now promised to

move the truck lane fence to a location where it won’t cause potential

property damage to the neighbors’ properties. Any reasonable person would

have done this to begin with.

I hope this avoidable and costly incident has taught Supt. Tarwater a

lesson. All property owners, including school districts, are responsible

for actions that can adversely affect their next-door neighbors. Everyone

should know this.

ED FALZON

Huntington Beach

Bond will help schools maintain excellence

We bought our first house in Huntington Beach 12 years ago. We moved

here because of the beach, and the reputation of the schools. Our

second-grader has received an excellent education at both Eader and

Peterson schools, but the facilities have desperate needs. Most

classrooms have no phones with access to outside lines and most

classrooms have only one electrical outlet.

The schools have been maintained, but they need to be modernized. We

can facilitate these improvements at a cost to the average homeowner of

less than $50 per year by passing Measure DD.

By investing in our schools we are not only helping our young people

get a better education, but we are improving the quality of our

neighborhoods, thus increasing our property values. Please join me in

supporting our local community by voting yes on Measure DD on March 5th.

JAN CAMPBELL

Huntington Beach

Increase cops presence and save pedestrians

Re: Pedestrian Fatalities in Huntington Beach: (The Independent; Week

of Feb 14-20)

The underlying primary cause for pedestrian injuries/deaths in this

city, and indeed most of the accidents, is driver failure to obey traffic

laws.

This all-too-common practice stems from an absence of police presence,

that is, there is an insufficient number of police officers in this city

assigned to traffic law enforcement.

This absence of police presence manifests itself in a prevailing

attitude by many drivers that they can do just about anything on the

streets and get away with it. Drive anywhere in this city and you will

encounter too many drivers who are speeding, blowing through stop signs

and pedestriancrossings, running red lights and cutting in and out of

traffic lanes.

The only way to remedy this situation is to put the fear of punishment

into the perpetrators via a strong police presence to enforce the traffic

laws. Otherwise, we can discuss the situation until the end of time, and

nothing will change.

GIL NIXON

Huntington Beach

Perhaps we need to tell motorists what a crosswalk is.

I think you would do us all a favor if you could write an article

letting us know what a “crosswalk” is. I take mylife into my hands when

trying to get across Lake Street and Utica Avenue.

I am an adult, but many children cross the street there as it is on

the way to the high school and middle school, and cars actually speed up

when they see anyone trying to cross, even if they are halfway across the

street.

Three small girls were almost across one day when I witnessed a real

creep wait until the last minute and then slam on his breaks honking the

whole way until he was inches away from them. The visibility is not

impaired in any way from where he was and he saw them well ahead of time.

Even though I believe that any corner has an “unmarked” crosswalk, I

have found that Huntington Beach’s crosswalks are only observed as such

when there is a double painted line and a stop sign and then sometimes a

crossing guard is needed to enforce that.

DOROTHY M. LAGRANDEUR

Huntington Beach

Appalled at Rohrabacher’s campaign finance vote.

It is extremely galling to me that Representative Dana Rohrabacher

(R-Huntington Beach) voted against campaign finance reform, opting

instead to maintain the current and unethical method of raising money for

reelection.

The current Enron debacle should have provided sufficient evidence to

Rohrabacher of the toll this spurious activity takes on “ordinary”

citizens, to bring him to vote for the people rather than for the party.

Fortunately, many of his fellow Republican congressmen went with the

country rather than bow to the political pressure brought by party

leaders. Oh, were it but so of our representative to Congress.November is

not so far away.

TOM HAMMAN

Huntington Beach

Write on Ron Davis

It has been a pleasure reading Ron Davis’ column for the past three

years and it’s a bummer that Through My Eyes will no longer be among the

Independent’s weekly offerings.

I will miss Ron’s great sense of humor, knowledge and insight into our

community and its people -- the characteristics that consistently made

his column not only entertaining, but at the same time very informative.

His views on Huntington Beach’s issues and local happenings have made

me look forward to the Independent’s Thursday arrival and will be greatly

missed.

Thanks, Ron. Write On.

SEAN MAHONEY

Huntington Beach

Surf series knows darn well what’s wrong

About Seth’s surf series -- there’s a couple things wrong in there.

Seth knows exactly why Hurley won’t sponsor his contest. The best

sponsor probably would be like Coca-Cola or something because the surfers

are fed up with the biased judging, certain people win every time.

And that’s why surf companies won’t sponsor it and that’s why the

entries have been down the last couple years.

DENNIS TIPTONHuntington Beach

Harman thinks “one size fits all”

Bill Orton’s letter on Assemblyman Tom Harman’s AB 1797 made it clear

that he did not condone Garofalo’s behavior, but opposed this Bill based

on free speech grounds and as too specific to the Garofalo case. Harman’s

response shows he is indeed motivated to create a “one size fits all”

solution based on Garofalo, and reprehensibly willing to paint any who

dare criticize it as Garofalo’s cronies.

The current law prevents officials from casting votes under conflict

of interest; Garofalo and the city attorney should have taken proper note

of this from the beginning. But Harman’s proposal moves beyond to give

those officials less voice on the matter than the public addressing the

City Council, some of whom will undoubtedly have personal interest at

stake themselves. And after having failed to make any such change locally

during his time on the council, Harman’s solution will be imposed on

every jurisdiction in California -- ironic for the Party that preaches

“local control.”

It is not unreasonable to argue that this approach is too heavy

handed. For those supporting AB 1797, the point is that reasoned

individuals can disagree and that doing so does not make them corrupt, as

Harman is so quick to imply.

MARK SHELDON

Huntington Beach

This column has a ‘Natural’ following

Bravo to the authors of, “The sirens call of the midshipman

fish” Natural Perspectives, Feb. 14, which revealed to the public the

saga of the trials and tribulations of the homeowners affected by the

midshipman fish and other marine life who are destroying the stability of

the sea walls in Huntington Harbour.

The Bolsa Chica Conservancy became involved in this issue in 1998 when

we acted as an intermediary between the homeowners and the ecological

reserve manager for the California Department of Fish and Game.

We wanted better tidal flow in the mudflats around our building and

suggested that the soft bottom mitigation would be a wonderful

enhancement to the wetlands at the Bolsa Chica, which are bordered by

Warner Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway.

The pending 5,300 square feet of enhancement will increase the total

size of mudflat improvement that the Conservancy has contributed to the

Bolsa Chica wetlands to more than 6,500 square feet. Certainly not

hundreds of acres, but still a welcomed addition. The Conservancy is also

prepared to monitor the contractor’s work as well as the success of the

mitigation.

Now that the soft bottom permit has been signed, we are very close to

realizing our goal, even though the homeowners’ bulkheads have not been

repaired and are being eroded constantly.

The question that sticks in my mind is, why were the permits not

granted to allow the residents to proceed with the repair work to protect

their homes two years ago when the eel grass was first planted?

If it were my home, my definition of “eminent danger” is when my sea

wall problem is detected, not when I have to evacuate my home, as it

appears the Coastal Commission views the term.

Hopefully, reason will prevail and the homeowner’s consultantTetra

Tech will be able to proceed in working out the details with the county

to allow the eel grass mitigation to proceed quickly.

As an novice “wannabe” biologist, I really appreciate Vic Leipzig and

Louann Murray’s clear concise style of writing which, instead of being

highly technical as they are capable of, is reduced to understandable

scientific information, which the average adult can enjoy reading and can

gain knowledge.

The entire community benefits from reading the Independent’s Natural

Perspectives column, just as we all will benefit from the increase in

birds and wetland plants on Warner and Pacific Coast Highway when the

mitigation is completed.

ADRIANNE MORRISON

Huntington Beach