District vote delayed
Jose Paul Corona
Residents will have another year and half to debate the proposal
that would cut Huntington Beach into five City Council districts.
The City Council Monday night voted 6-1 to put off the Fair
District Initiative measure, proposed by former Assemblyman Scott
Baugh, until the March 2004 election, saying that council members and
voters needed more time to study the issue.
Mayor Debbie Cook cast the sole dissenting vote, arguing that
voters asked for the measure on the November ballot via petition.
The initiative would slice the city into five districts, with one
council member to be elected in each of those areas. The plan would
cut the council from seven members to five.
Supporters of the initiative were anxious to cast their ballots in
November, but council members felt voters already had enough on their
plates this fall.
“This November’s election is going to be extremely important
because the citizens will elect a majority of the council,” said
Councilman Peter Green, who will be termed out this fall.
Green said he was concerned that the initiative would distract
voter attention from the more important issue of electing city
leaders.
Four of the seven council seats are up for grabs this fall, with
no incumbents eligible to run. Those who are elected to fill those
vacant posts will end up deciding the way the city is run for the
next several years, he added.
The current budget crisis facing the state and the city is also an
issue that voters will have to deal with in November, he said.
Green said he hoped putting it off would keep it from being a
pressing candidate issue.
“That’s secondary, whatever position they take on that means
nothing because the voters will decide,” Green said.
Councilwoman Connie Boardman was swayed to delay the vote by the
diversity of the residents asking that it be put off, she said.
Members of the both the business and environmental factions of the
community urged council members to give them more time to examine the
issue, Boardman said.
“It was the most unified group I’ve ever seen,” she added.
Huntington Beach resident Joseph Jeffrey, who helped gather
signatures for the initiative, was surprised by the council’s
actions.
While he knew that some members of the council didn’t agree with
the proposed initiative, he feels its wrong to take the decision out
of the voters hands for so long.
“It never dawned on me that they would pull something likes this,”
he said. “I had hoped that the council would give the voters the
right to vote on the item. I accept the fact that it might be a bad
initiative, but I’m willing to let the people decide.”
* JOSE PAUL CORONA covers City Hall and education. He can be
reached at (714) 965-7173 or by e-mail at jose.corona@latimes.com.
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