Ax campaign money in City Council races...

Ax campaign money in City Council races

I have a idea about how to clean up the City Council: Maybe not

let them spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to be elected. If

they are really people who are here only to help the community, why

spend all that money to get elected for a job that doesn’t pay much?

Unless they have another good reason to be in there.

I know I wanted “Firecracker” Norm Westwell or Joey Racano to win.

They have things I liked, like trying to keep the city running right,

and I voted for both, but they didn’t have a chance with their

limited funds.

The City Council should be for the people of the city, not the few

who can afford it, or get paid to get in and change things for the

rich. Please consider this next time you vote, and just watch how

these people you elected this last time vote on city issues. Are they

for the people or for big business?

BARRY JOHNSON

Huntington Beach

A little ethics class is needed in City Hall

Ethics 101 is not part of the Huntington Beach oath of office.

Look at the track record: The most “honest” mayor of Huntington Beach

and the mother of triplets that the people of Huntington Beach paid

for faces wire- and mail-fraud charges. What about the $975,000 that

walked out of City Hall’s front door when it came to the Sports

Complex? And look at the groups that endorsed these people, and they

cannot find $975,000 as it waltzed past them.

MILT DARDIS

Huntington Beach

What will it take to clean up City Hall?

First the voters have to decide what kind of leadership the city

needs. Do they want one-dimensional people who serve with blinders on

and who can’t see the big picture? Do they want people who are

beholden to only those who supported them financially? Do they want

puppets or marionettes who only respond to their masters? Do they

want people who are using the office as a political stepping stone?

Or, do they want people who are truly public servants rather than

self servants, people who provide selfless service instead of

self-indulgence?

The city will always get whoever the majority votes for -- and

look what it has gotten us over the past several years. People who

are ruthless, are liars, are incompetent, are careless, are

spineless, are dictatorial, and the list goes on.

Should all council members be painted with the same broad brush

based on the few who have betrayed the city? No. But do they have the

responsibility to be on the lookout for the rotten apples? You bet

they do.

Along with the invocation wherein there should be a seeking of

divine guidance, every meeting should begin with the reading and

affirming of the “Code of Ethics.”

Finally, each council member needs to remind himself or herself

that, as Lord Acton wrote, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute

power corrupts absolutely.” And whenever you begin to fall into that

trap, ask yourself, “Who’s interest is this really serving?”

ED BUSH

Huntington Beach

A few hopes for 2005

My hopes for Surf City for the new year are that any remaining

incompetence and corruption be rooted out of City Hall so we don’t

have anymore “mistakes” made with property taxes, nor any more

millions given to fake “nonprofit organizations,” and, of course, no

more conflicts of interest or real estate schemes.

I also hope more people will support the Arbor Society’s efforts

to add trees.

Lastly, I hope historical preservationists and people with some

aesthetic sense will win out over developers of “McBoring” buildings

like the new Main Street. The old Main Street was an American

classic, as beachy as beach gets. There should have been a way to add

restaurants without destroying the character.

DIANE STREETT

Huntington Beach