Disappointing way to leave

Two days.

That would have been the difference between a graceful exit and

the one made by Councilwoman Pam Julien Houchen, who resigned her

post on Sept. 1.

By stepping down 62 days before the Nov. 2 election, the former

mayor has forced the City Council to replace her before the election.

Maybe she didn’t know of the stipulation in the City Charter.

Then again, maybe she should have as a two-term council member. If

not, she probably should have at least checked into it as a council

member resigning just before an election.

Regardless, it still serves as a final wrench in the works from a

board member who has become very controversial during her last term.

Houchen has come under fire regarding a paintball tournament at

the pier, which she voted in favor of approving. She also acted as a

real estate broker for the president of the paintball league and her

husband was hired to refurbish the office she procured for him. Many

wondered if she should have abstained from voting on that tournament.

Now she is being investigated by the city, the FBI and the U.S.

Attorney General’s Office for her part in selling several

condominiums that were not properly converted before being sold.

Guilty or not, her being mixed up in the whole condo situation

drags Huntington Beach’s good name through the mud again. So, it is

not her departure that we necessarily quarrel with, it’s her timing.

She should have waited at least two more days, if not two months,

to ensure that the voters get the right they deserve to choose her

successor, not the council.

She has been the cause of enough ill will toward the council

without also wasting its members’ time and the taxpayers’ money to

replace her for just a couple meetings until the election.

With no time for a special election, the council will, by order of

city law, now have to take applications, interview candidates and

appoint a new member for a very brief time, distracting them from

more important city matters.

Either way you look at it, that’s a disappointing legacy for

Houchen to leave us with.