Court deems initiative fair

The controversial initiative to slice Huntington Beach into five City

Council districts and reduce the council’s members from seven to five

will be on the March 2004 ballot after a Superior Court ruling last

week that the initiative is not legally flawed as the council alleged

in January.

The council voted in closed session on Monday night not to appeal

the ruling.

“As of now, the election will go forward as planned in March of

next year,” Councilman Dave Sullivan said.

The Fair District Initiative Measure, which would also impose a

two-term limit on council members, was proposed by former Assemblyman

Scott Baugh in March 2002. Voters obtained more than the 16,000

signatures needed to place the initiative on the November ballot, but

the City Council in August voted to postpone a vote on the initiative

until the March 2004 ballot, saying that residents had enough on

their plates with the race for four council seats.

Huntington Beach resident Joseph Jeffrey immediately filed suit

against the city, claiming the council’s actions were illegal.

Jeffrey contended that by delaying the vote, the council had acted

against the wishes of the 22,000 registered voters who signed the

petition to put it on the ballot.

The city prevailed on both the lawsuit and the appeal, but filed

its own lawsuit challenging the text of the appeal. The city’s

concern was that the petition contained misleading statements and the

initiative violated the single subject rule, City Atty. Jennifer

McGrath said.

Mayor Connie Boardman felt that term limits, redistricting and

reducing the number of council members on the board should be

addressed separately.

“To me, those are three distinct issues,” she said.

But the court ruled that the initiative did not violate the

single-subject rule and that there was no evidence of intentional

misrepresentation.

“The voters of Huntington Beach are entitled to cast their votes

on this petition,” Jeffrey said. “Now, we can let the voter’s

decide.”

Infected mosquitoes found in nearby county

Mosquitoes carrying a virus that can infect the human central

nervous system have been found in neighboring Riverside County.

Health officials warn residents to take extra precautions against

mosquitoes, although no cases of the disease, St. Louis encephalitis,

have been found in California this year.

“Mosquitoes are more than just a nuisance, they’re a health

hazard,” said Howard Sutter, spokesman for the Orange County Health

Care Agency.

The disease is closely related to the West Nile virus, which has

plagued the East coast for several years and can be deadly in some

instances. Only about 20% of those infected with the virus will

develop West Nile fever, and of those, only about one in 150 will

suffer a severe case of the disease.

Symptoms in its most severe forms include headache, high fever,

neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions,

muscle weakness and paralysis.

More common symptoms are fever, headache and body aches, skin

rashes and swollen lymph glands. But most healthy people experience

no symptoms at all and carry the encephalitis without knowing it.

In its mild form, the disease usually only lasts for a few days,

but severe cases can last up to several weeks and cause permanent

neurological effects.

The last human case in California was in Los Angeles in 1997 and

the last outbreak occurred in 1989, when 29 of the state’s residents

fell ill.

Any area where pools of water sit for a period of time, such as

storm drains, swimming pools and puddles, can be breeding places for

mosquitoes, Sutter said.

“People need to be aware of areas that water congregates,” Sutter

said.

Any place where water sits for a week is a place where mosquitoes

can breed. In many parts of the country, dead wild birds are the

first sign that West Nile virus is in the area.

The Department of Health Services encourages people who see dead

birds to report them to toll free hotline (877) WNV-BIRD.

The health department suggests taking precautions against

mosquitoes such as avoiding the outdoors during dusk and dawn, when

mosquitoes are most active, wearing long-sleeve shirts and pants,

using insect repellent, securing tight-fitting screens to doors and

windows and eliminating all sources of standing water on your

property that could support mosquito breeding.

“We don’t want to wait to get this message out until West Nile

arrives,” Sutter said.

Sidewalk will offer foot access to Bella Terra

A raised footbridge will let residents cross Beach Boulevard at

the intersection of Edinger Avenue where it meets with the San Diego

Freeway.

The sidewalk will be 800 feet long and will stretch across Beach

Boulevard, providing access to the Bella Terra shopping center.

With construction for Bella Terra underway, the issue of creating

a walkway over Beach Boulevard was raised at community meetings. The

Public Works Department has been working directly with Caltrans on

the project.

Public Works officials are hoping to have the walkway complete by

July 2005.

Senior Outreach offers course on aging

People interested in learning more about the aging process are

invited to attend a free six-week training class offered by Surf

City’s Senior Outreach program.

The topics covered by the course, “Connecting with Seniors,” will

include communication skills, the aging process, psychological

changes and dealing with grief and loss. Volunteer Coordinator Diane

Swarts and local gerontologist Ellis Waller are leading the course.

“We teach folks how to engage [seniors] in conversation and how to

get to topics that seniors will share,” Swarts said. “We also talk

about the psychological changes that they’re going through.”

The section on loss, Swarts said, deals not just with loss of

life, but the loss of a driver’s license and loss of motor skills.

Graduates will be offered a certificate of completion and be asked

to join the Council on Aging Senior Team volunteer program.

The course is recommended for senior volunteers, those interested

in volunteering and anybody with an aging parent or grandparent,

Swarts said.

“Everybody walks away feeling that they have gained a great deal,”

Swarts said. “I have not had anybody leave this class and tell me

that they didn’t find it tremendous.”

The class will be held Tuesday mornings from Sept. 9 to Oct. 14 at

the Seniors’ Outreach conference room, at 1718 Orange Ave.

For more information or to register, call Swarts at (714)

374-1544.