Whom not to ask for voting advice

As much as we in the newsroom would like to think we’re experts on

what’s going on around our towns, I don’t know that I’d bet on voters

choosing us as their personal lodestones come ballot time.

Editorial endorsements, such as are running today on our Forum

page, are one thing; getting the personal take of an editor, reporter

or even photographer seems something else entirely.

Much more likely a source for keen insight would seem to rest

inside our city halls, especially at the top of the heap in the city

managers’ offices.

But, both Costa Mesa City Manager Allan Roeder and his Newport

Beach counterpart, Homer Bludau, say they don’t get too many “whom

should I vote for?” questions.

Which is just fine with them. Both agree they’d decline to say

whom they would support (just as they don’t endorse in any official

manner).

“I say that, while I have some personal opinions, it would be

unprofessional of me to suggest” a candidate, Bludau said.

“It’s far better off to not say anything,” he added, pointing out

that he treats the city “like a small town.”

In other words, word would get around that he was encouraging

votes for one candidate over another.

Roeder said that most people understand the relationship he has

with the elected council -- that they are his bosses, with all the

hiring and firing power that comes with it.

“I very, very seldom have people ask me who I vote for or who I

think they should vote for,” Roeder said.

The exception are people, often neighbors, who might know he’s

involved in the city but don’t realize he’s top dog.

And the question does tend to arise more the closer the days come

to the election, Bludau said.

Another answer Roeder has at the ready: “I ask people to make a

point of looking into the candidates and doing their homework,” he

said.

ONE MORE WEB SITE

Giving Roeder’s comments about voters doing their homework, here’s

another Internet site to check out for those planning to vote in the

Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Trustees election.

Tom Egan, who is challenging incumbent Wendy Leece for the board’s

Westside district, has information at www.smartvoter.org/2002-

/11/05/ca/or/vote/egan_t. Tom points out that “a less clunky URL

people could use is www.smartvoter.org.”

“The downside is that one must then search for my page by typing

in ‘Tom Egan’ in the search window,” he writes. In his favor, his is

an easy name to remember.

A HEART ATTACK WAY FROM THE HOUSE

Those listening closely to last week’s (not last night’s) episode

of the West Wing probably heard something a little familiar. A

Congressional district discussed was none other than Newport’s own

47th.

The premise was this: Sam Seaborn, the deputy communication

director played by Rob Lowe, has no idea who the Democratic candidate

running in the district (highlighted as from conservative Orange

County) is, or that he had just had his fourth heart attack. This

horrifies the woman -- Lowe refers to her as the “third-ranking

non-male member of the minority on Ways and Means” -- who questions

the Democrats’ commitment to winning House races and points out that

the party does not provide financial support for those candidates.

Seaborn’s retort, of course, is that a Democrat doesn’t have a

chance of winning that seat.

I wondered what the real Democratic candidate in that district,

John Graham, thought of almost being mentioned on national television

and whether he agrees that the party does not adequately support all

its candidates. Unfortunately, by my deadline, I had not received a

return call.

But I’ll keep after him.

* S.J. CAHN is the managing editor. He can be reached at (949)

574-4233 or by e-mail at steven.cahn@latimes.com.