Long-time friendly librarian checks out Weekends bring...

Long-time friendly librarian checks out

Weekends bring a slower pace to our hectic days. The errands, or

soccer games replace the frenetic pace of the work week. My usual

Saturday morning ritual is the cleaners, pick up a Starbucks drink

and make a run to the hardware store.

My duties completed, my final destination is the local Mariners

Branch Library and finding the latest bestseller or book on tape.

Only this morning when I dropped in at the library, Andy’s familiar,

friendly and smiling face wasn’t there.

Andy is Andrea Lingle, one of the local librarians who has

supported our local library in Newport Beach. She retired on April

29. She always had a friendly word for people, a comment on the

latest book, or news about the goings on in the Mariner’s area -- or

as she and I liked to do, have a friendly disagreement about a local

issue.

Lingle is very special. The people she interacted with will miss

that smiling face, the helpful words of encouragement and her sense

of humor.

Thanks, Andy.

THOMAS COLE EDWARDS

Newport Beach

* THOMAS COLE EDWARDS is the president of the Newport Beach

Library Foundation and a former Newport Beach mayor.

Correct cellular phone etiquette is a must

I was going to write to extend my thanks to Maxine Cohen for her

Community Commentary on the improper (read rude) use of cell phones

(“Can you hear me now?” April 16). I thought her comments were right

on.

Isn’t it interesting that two “health professionals” also wrote to

say that Cohen’s comments were somewhat “heavy handed” related to

rude cell phone use (“Forum columnist misses the mark” May 5). They

went on to point out that Cohen should have been more tolerant, and

these folks really needed more “understanding.”

Well, I’d like to point out that there is no place for loud,

obnoxious cell phone conversations, particularly when the talker is

oblivious of those around him or her. People need to know that cell

phone use is fine, when they’re not within earshot of anyone.

I say bravo to Cohen for perhaps helping to save you and me from

this upsetting and boring behavior.

PETE RABBITT

Newport Beach

Municipal terminology makes a big difference

The Tuesday edition of the Daily Pilot indicated that the City

Council passed an ordinance reflecting extensive new restrictions on

fireworks in Costa Mesa, but that’s not precisely true. The most

substantive changes are contained in a new council policy. These

include restrictions on the number of fireworks stands and a ban on

the items known as “spinners.”

But why should we care? Policy? Ordinance? It’s all the same,

right?

Wrong.

By state law, an ordinance can only be adopted after two public

hearings. A public notice must be published in the newspaper at least

10 days before the first hearing, and the final ordinance must be

published in the newspaper afterward. Except in specific emergencies,

an ordinance doesn’t take effect until at least 30 days after

adoption. An ordinance can be challenged through referendum by the

voters. Violation of an ordinance can result in fines and jail.

By contrast, all that’s required to enact a council policy is to

place it on a posted council agenda three days before a council

meeting. In fact, if the council votes by a four fifths majority to

move ahead, a policy can be passed without even that minimal advance

warning. No special notice or formal public hearing is required.

Changes to council policies can be buried in the consent calendar.

There’s no mandatory waiting period for a policy to take effect, and

council policies can’t be challenged through a referendum by the

voters.

In the past, Costa Mesa council policies have primarily addressed

matters such as use of the city seal, naming city parks, and other

minor or procedural types of issues. Council policies can easily be

waived or ignored, such as the policy calling for council meetings to

be adjourned by midnight -- a policy breached more often than not in

the early 1990s. One can violate a policy without serious

consequence. One would certainly never go to jail.

Staffers say that plunking a reference to council policy in the

actual code gives the policy the force of law. However, this is

questionable. They’ve laid out a kind of cake and eat it too

scenario: create a law with real penalties without having to comply

with all the State requirements to do so.

Of course, in the case of fireworks, this is pretty moot, since

less than 1% of fireworks complaints result in issuance of any kind

of citation anyway.

So why would staff recommend that the council adopt the new

restrictions as a policy instead of an ordinance? According to the

staff report, a policy was recommended instead of an ordinance “for

ease of modification.” At Monday night’s meeting, the city attorney

stated that a policy was preferable because it would be “more

convenient” to change it in the future.

Well, sure. Including us members of the public can get real

inconvenient sometimes.

This isn’t the first time they’ve tried to do this. Just a few

weeks ago, the council considered adopting regulations pertaining to

sports field banners in an “administrative regulation,” a similar

strategy.

If this trend continues, pretty soon we can have a one-page

municipal code that does nothing but reference council policies and

administrative regulations. New frontiers in government streamlining.

Looks like they’re ready to streamline the public right out of the

process.

Our council majority seems to think that’s a pretty good idea.

Well, I don’t, and neither should you. Let’s not allow our City

Council to move on this course toward short-circuiting the public

participation process.

SANDRA GENIS

Costa Mesa

* SANDRA GENIS is a former Costa Mesa mayor.