Restrictive ordinance is poorly written I attended...

Restrictive ordinance is poorly written

I attended the Jan. 20, Huntington Beach City Council meeting and

spoke in opposition to this wide-open,

subject-to-broad-interpretation proposed demonstration ordinance.

I carried with me a homemade peace sign (made of pipe foam

insulation with a 4-foot long, 3/4 in diameter wooden dowel as the

standard.) I have carried the emblem in peace marches in San

Francisco, Los Angeles (three times) and San Diego. I find it

incredible that they are trying to pass a law saying I cannot carry

this emblem down Main Street in the city where I live.

The Huntington Beach Police chief was surprised I wasn’t arrested

in Los Angeles as apparently the dimensions of my emblem violate Los

Angeles ordinances. I would guess I wasn’t arrested because I wasn’t

using it to assault anyone. It was obvious to me, a veteran of many

protest marches, none of these people had ever marched or walked a

picket line. When preparing for such events, common sense dictates

you use the lightest but sturdiest support for your message. One does

not carry an iron pipe or two by two-- too big, too many splinters --

for a mile or so in a march or for six to eight hours on a picket

line.

This ordinance is poorly worded and insufficiently researched, as

admitted by the city attorney. And this woman got her law degree

where?

If she is providing legal services to the city pro bono then I

will temper my criticism. If she is receiving income from taxpayer

money, she needs to be fired.

I see this proposed ordinance as an extension of the current

federal administration’s flawed policy of preemption. Because I could

or might use something as a weapon does not mean I will.

Will Lowe’s, Osh, True Value Hardware or the Home Depot collect

the names and addresses of every person buying PVC pipe, wooden

dowels, lath strips or molding, exceeding 3/4 of an inch, so the

police chief can keep them under surveillance? Will majorettes lose

their batons? Will an American flag, with a shiny brass eagle perched

on the top, be banned from the parade? Will banners, supported by

PVC, carried by Boy and Girl Scout troops disappear from public? This

is how poorly this ordinance is written.

A greater insult to all the residents speaking in opposition,

there was not one word of support, was when the council members

supporting this ordinance found a way to postpone the vote. They were

quick to wiggle out of embarrassing themselves in front of residents

opposed to their lack of vision and laziness. Pathetic bunch of

cowards in the end.

ROSALIND FREEMAN

Huntington Beach

Ordinance would take our freedoms

The Huntington Beach ordinance against protest signs is another

attempt to suppress dissent in this country. The police have argued

that a sign mounted on readily available materials from Home Depot,

like PVC pipe, present a threat to the community. I think the real

threat is not the plastic pipe, but the sign mounted on it, and this

is what they really want to control. With a news media that only

covers sex scandals and car chases, local issues often only have a

voice as a sign carried at a protest march.

The founders of this nation placed freedom of speech, freedom of

assembly and freedom of religion together in the First Amendment to

our Constitution. It is the heart of the Bill of Rights that ensures

the fundamental liberties that make this nation great.

They did not qualify our rights to “petition the government for a

redress of grievances” based upon not using PVC pipe. I marched in

last year’s Fourth of July Parade carrying a banner, mounted on PVC

pipe, that celebrated our freedom. Will this be illegal this year? Or

will the law be selectively enforced only against those persons or

viewpoints that are considered undesirable? If we allow freedom to be

selectively denied, then none of us are truly free. If the government

can control what we say, or how we say it, then how can “We the

People” hope to control our government.

RICHARD GILLOCK

Costa Mesa

Our children deserve yes on Measure C

As concerned parents and community members, my husband and I

believe that making our schools and classrooms the best environment

for learning is a vitally important element in the quality of

education. Today, the schools and classrooms are not where they

should be. Our district has tried to keep up campus standards by

doing as many of the necessary repairs and upgrades as possible, but

with funding shortfalls, unkept promises from Sacramento, and a

constant rise in operating costs, only those repairs that are

critical to safety can be addressed. Others must wait, contributing

to the deterioration.

Measure C, the Huntington Beach Union High School District bond on

the March 2 ballot, is the only reasonable answer in this time of

state and federal budget cuts. Every year that we put off repairs,

our costs will increase. Our children should have the opportunity to

learn in a safe, healthy and stimulating atmosphere. We want our

local schools to be the pride of our neighborhoods. Please vote yes

on Measure C.

DEANNE AND DAVE KEEFER

Huntington Beach

On March 2, those of us who reside within the Huntington Beach

Union High School District boundaries (Huntington Beach, Westminster

and Fountain Valley) will have the opportunity to assist our aging

schools with critical and long overdue repairs. I have been a parent

in this district since my oldest child entered Huntington Beach High

School in 1994. My youngest will be graduating this year and will not

directly reap the benefits if Measure C passes, but our entire family

strongly supports this measure for the sake of the continuing and

future students at all of our local schools.

A support vote for Measure C means our children can count on

toilets that flush, functioning water fountains, an updated fire

alarm system, and a feeling of assurance that walls will remain

standing in an earthquake and roofs won’t leak on them in rainy

weather. The heating system will work in cold weather. The

ventilation system can run without spewing dust and mold spores into

the air that children are breathing. Students can be assigned

permanent, adequate, comfortable classrooms -- not temporary crowded

spaces hoping in vain for the replacement of a sinking building.

These concerns are not exaggerations. I have been an active

volunteer in this district for 10 years, and have had occasion to

visit all of the schools. Ask any student on any campus. Ask any

librarian, teacher or office secretary. They can all provide long

lists of the unsuitable conditions they have had to put up with. The

state of California has never seen fit to provide adequate funding

for any student in any of our districts. And in recent years, our

local schools have continued to be seriously hurt by both state and

federal budget cuts. Prices of operation go up, but funding goes

down. There is simply no extra money to do the necessary renovations,

repairs and equipment upgrades.

Please consider your vote carefully on March 2. There are no

alternatives. If Measure C does not pass, there is nothing but

continuing deterioration to look forward to on our high school

campuses. As a concerned parent, I urge all voters to vote yes on

Measure C.

ROSEMARY SAYLOR

Huntington Beach