District idea needs a revamp

Perhaps it is time to revisit how Surf City is run.

The districting initiative currently on the table, however, is

clearly not the answer.

Since last spring, when former Assemblyman Scott Baugh proposed

the initiative that would split Huntington Beach into five City

Council districts, reduce the number of its members by two and impose

term limits, it has caused an uproar in the community -- especially

at City Hall.

It garnered more than the required number of signatures to be

placed on the ballot, but residents complained about how signatures

were gathered.

Then the City Council moved it to the back burner. Lawsuits were

filed and settled and new lawsuits cropped up. This is obviously not

a proposal everyone agrees with.

It does indeed seem to violate the state’s “single subject” rule,

which requires initiatives to stick to one issue, and is therefore

likely to be taken apart by the courts.

But the idea does deserve its day on the ballot -- without

interference run by the city and politicians.

Therefore, those behind the initiative should pull it back,

rethink the proposal and come up with something everyone can live

with.

What about seven council districts? Cutting the number to five

would result in less representation. Five is just too few members for

a city of nearly 200,000.

Look to our neighbors to the south. Newport Beach has a district

system that seems to work quite well for them. They have seven

members (for a much smaller city) who are elected citywide. Adopting

that idea would quiet many of the objections of residents who want to

be able to approach any of their elected officials with a problem,

not just the one in their district.

As for making the city’s current term limits law more stringent,

that is an issue unto itself and should be proposed separately.

Instead of pushing for a proposal that has already divided the

city and wasted taxpayers’ money on multiple lawsuits, let’s go back

to the drawing board and compromise.