Perception, fact somewhere in El Morro gray area

Central to the continuing debate about the future of El Morro and the

residents now happily ensconced there is the gray area of difference

between perception and fact.

There is a perceived lack of public accessibility to the beach at

the south end of Crystal Cove, those residents say. No, it’s a fact

that there are signs and purposeful barriers to keep nonresidents

out, others say.

Residents there have had it too good, for too long, for too cheap,

outsiders say. That’s just a misperception, residents say. El Morro

is one of the last true beachfront communities left in California is

the truth, they counter.

And now there is the perceived special treatment residents are

getting from Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, who’s proposed two bills that

would extend their leases for as many as 30 years and provide the

money to different state financial needs.

DeVore, it turns out, received thousands of dollars in campaign

contributions from El Morro residents and still owes $28,800 to a man

on the board of the company that handles the community’s leases, a

man who also happened to be DeVore’s campaign finance chairman.

Naturally entangled with those donations is the perception,

harbored most strongly by those wishing to see El Morro turned into a

public campground, that DeVore is doing a clear favor for a

relatively small group of supporters.

This perception, of all those surrounding El Morro, is the most

disappointing, the most troubling, because it adds to the public’s

seemingly ever-increasing disillusionment with our elected officials.

It was that disillusionment that helped lead to the recall of

California’s governor a year ago, and that disillusionment is even

striking Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose approval rating has

dropped in recent months.

We doubt that DeVore intended to add to this cynicism and hope,

indeed, that DeVore is telling the truth when he says his support of

the bills fits into his long-standing belief in conservative fiscal

values. But when so clear a line can be drawn between what seems to

be a relatively obscure issue -- one that’s largely come out of

nowhere -- and cash contributions, it’s understandable that the

public would have questions about DeVore’s sincerity. And that is a

disheartening development so early in his term in office.

It also is a development that DeVore should challenge and rectify.

Before he won the Republican primary a year ago, he told the Pilot:

“If the voters trust you and send you up to Sacramento, you have an

opportunity to shape public policy, and by doing so, I hope to make

California a better place for my children.” Key to that point is that

politicians enjoy the voters trust. DeVore -- not to mention the rest

of our elected officials -- should be as careful as possible to earn

and keep that good will.