Residents of Surf City want districts The...

Residents of Surf City want districts

The districting of the city of Huntington Beach is the proper way

to represent the citizens of the city. We are governed by the consent

of the governed. Two hundred and fourteen years ago we established a

representational style of government, where citizens gather together

and elect an individual to enact their will. That is the only purpose

of a government. Government is not a debating society established to

pontificate upon the cause celeb de jour.

This city has important issues that need special attention because

the citizens are of that opinion, not because a special interest

group can raise enough money, and convince a minority of the voters

to support their candidate. This city has been in a decades old

malaise ricocheting off one issue to another, creating a city

government with no accountability to the people.

The opponents to the districting plan speak of the necessity of

qualified experts to lead the city. It seems these arguments could be

used in favor of a benevolent dictator, to kindly rule over the land.

This is the exact opposite of what is required. Issues arise from

the citizenry, and stem from the genuine concerns of the same.

Similarly, if a citizen has a concern, it shouldn’t require the

resources of a special interest group to be heard.

Districting will make the council members more accountable, and

that is the real fear of those who oppose the idea.

WILLIAM G. PRESCOTT

Huntington Beach

I hope everyone will vote for the redistricting plan as it will

put the cost of a councilman within my reach. Admittedly, the cost of

an individual councilman or councilwoman will go up because of the

competition, but I can handle it.

And please, those of you who support the redistricting plan, do

not bring [Scott] Baugh or [Rep. Dana] Rohrabacher into it. As for

Rohrabacher, not only is he the guy who voted himself a pay raise in

the face of our ever-mounting deficit, he voted on the federal level

to overturn California’s anti-pollution laws. But then, he spends

most of his time traveling, probably at taxpayer expense.

PHILLIP GOOD

Huntington Beach

No wonder 22,000 people signed the petition for district

elections. Anybody watching the City Council debate districts will

come away believing districts are better for the city. Anything that

changes our current council is an improvement.

JAMES COWAN

Huntington Beach

Cook’s tirade was an embarrassment

Council member [Debbie] Cook embarrassed herself and the entire

City Council with her tirade last week concerning districts. Cook

apparently believes that her opinions are worthy and those who

disagree should go to hell. We should have a healthy public debate

about districts and then let the voters decide. Disparaging people

because they disagree with you is childish.

MIKE GUEST

Huntington Beach

City underestimating its district opponent

I am insulted when the opponents of districts say people who want

them do not understand what they have signed. Then the opponents

discount the initiative signatures. I read all documents before I

sign and for anyone to assume your opponent is just too naive to

understand the issue is an insult. I hope opponents of the initiative

keep this “thought process,” underestimating your opponent is a

brilliant approach. Another concern from the council was maybe a

district would not have a qualified person in that area. You mean out

of a district of 28,000 people we could not find someone with the

leadership and vision as our current council, how arrogant they are!

Simply Amazing.

What we the people see now are one group of people with one

similar agenda, attempting to dominate city politics. Maybe it is

time for everyone in the city to have their issues represented by

someone they know and won’t insult them if it is not their idea.

JEFF RULON

Huntington Beach

Our “good” Mayor [Connie] Boardman is still complaining about the

voters’ right to petition. She thinks that the only reason why 22,000

people signed the Fair Districts petition is because they were lied

to and didn’t know what they were signing.

Boardman please don’t save us from ourselves. We signed the

petition because we want to hold our council accountable to the

people with district elections. Why are you so afraid to let us vote

on it?

HUGH MCGLYNN

Huntington Beach

Council districts are a no-win for the city

In my opinion, districting is a no win way for the city to go. If

anyone has tried to have county supervisors help you for things in

Huntington Beach you know I’m right.

The other district supervisors say “That’s in District 2 and you

have to ask [Jim] Silva your district supervisor.”

The city now has seven council people elected at large and any one

of the seven can help you with problems you have in the city.

Why Scott Baugh, a lobbyist, wants to change the way our city is

run is beyond me.

Just vote no on any ballot measure that wants districting whether

it’s five or seven districts.

EILEEN MURPHY

Huntington Beach

Guilty employees should forfeit money

It is outrageous that government employees -- whether it be the

city, county, or state level -- who are found guilty of wrongdoing

are allowed to keep their administrative leave with pay. There would

seem to be an easy solution to this problem: employees who collect

salaries while being investigated would not take home the pay

themselves, instead it could go into a trust fund. If the employee is

found innocent, then the trust is released to them at that time. If

guilty, then the pay is revoked and the trust returns to the

government.

JULIE BIXBY

Huntington Beach

El Toro airport could provide some relief

Frank Alvarez of Dana Point theorizes (“El Toro won’t be more than

a park,” Nov. 6) that El Toro International Airport may have stopped

the D.C. sniper, kept the New York ferry from crashing, spared Laci

Peterson’s life and prevented Kobe [Bryant] from spending the night

in Colorado. Well, despite the wishes of park true believers, the

airport is not quite that miraculous.

However, turning on the lights at El Toro will instantly provide

relief to victims in other cities, including Huntington Beach, who

are impacted by other airports. That alone is a good reason to open

it. No one is in the noise zone if we created an El Toro

international airport, and it will provide 126,000 jobs and $18

billion of income every year.

It took the fires, [“Another good reason to use El Toro,” Oct. 30]

and the illusion of a great park in Orange County to galvanize public

opinion against the city of Irvine’s federal land grab for the

benefit of housing developers.

DONALD NYRE

Newport Beach

Recently a couple South County letter writers weighed in with

rebuttals against El Toro. Much to the Independent’s credit, they

allow a diversity of opinions from folks in different cities, which

makes for a healthy discussion.

On the other hand, in a South County paper, a letter writer

suggested using the Seal Beach Naval Weapon Stations as an

“alternative” to El Toro.

Since I live in North Huntington Beach near the base, I fired off

a rebuttal letter that was never published. So, why is there not a

two way street between North and South County papers?

REX RICKS

Huntington Beach