Criticism shows man behind the curtain

Geoff West

I found M.H. Millard’s letter to the editor Thursday (“Council

candidates can’t possibly represent everyone”) to be illuminating.

His criticism of Planning Commission Chairman Bruce Garlich’s plan to

represent “all constituencies” if elected to the City Council tells

us a lot about Millard and the candidates he will support for City

Council this fall.

In this city, the voters elect council members “at-large,” which

means that we can, indeed, expect each of them to represent every

single resident of this city equally and fairly and to consider

issues before them based on how they will impact the city as a whole.

Millard’s letter clearly shows his viewpoint, and is a perfect

example of why a narrowly-focused majority on the council -- with

allegiance to one small segment of this community -- is a dangerous

path to follow. In a small group of Westside residents, already

uncomfortable with changes they see in their neighborhoods, he has

found a fertile field.

I suspect Millard’s letter is only the first of what may be a

series of criticisms of candidates he fears this fall. The first

candidate he helped get elected through clever manipulation of the

voting process four years ago, Chris Steel, has proven to be an

abysmal failure. Not only has he not been successful in implementing

Millard’s agenda, but he’s been completely incompetent as a

councilman throughout his nearly four-year tenure. It’s hard to

imagine the voters of this city returning him to the dais in

November, but stranger things have happened.

With Westside activist and budget watchdog Mike Berry apparently

having second thoughts about running, that leaves Millard with only

Planning Commissioner Eric Bever and Steel to carry his banner this

time around. If those two men were both elected they would

constitute, along with Councilman Allan Mansoor, the “Westside”

majority Millard wants in place to implement his grand plan for the

expulsion of Latino immigrants in our midst. He apparently thinks

this can be accomplished by closing the Job Center and the Orange

Coast College Swap Meet, evicting the Westside charities and

re-zoning the Westside bluffs from industrial uses to residential and

thereby eliminating many jobs presently held by Latino immigrants.

Steel, Bever and Mansoor may deny a relationship with Millard, but

they have echoed his agenda in the past. Their actions speak much

louder than their words of denial.

I can understand why Millard fears Garlich as a councilman. I’ve

watched Garlich during his tenure on the Planning Commission. He has

proven to be an intelligent, reasonable and solid leader. His

background as a manager in the aerospace industry for more than three

decades has prepared him for the leadership challenges this city

faces. His volunteer activities show me that he cares about our city

as a whole and is willing to put in the hours to make positive

changes. His entry into the race for a council seat certainly raises

the bar for others.

In a commentary earlier this year, I mentioned behind-the-scenes

manipulation and hidden agendas and speculated that there might be an

opportunity to draw back the curtain to expose the wizard behind it.

Well, I’d like to thank M.H. Millard for performing that task for me.

With the publication of his letter to the editor he has stepped from

behind that curtain and exposed himself, so to speak, for all to see.

I hope the readers of this newspaper now have a clear view of M.H.

Millard. I, for one, am not willing to turn over my city to a group

orchestrated by him without a fight.