Harman is busy -- doing his job

Assemblyman Tom Harman thus far has been “relatively quiet” in the upcoming state Senate campaign because he is hard at work in Sacramento. Two facts: Tom received an 89% approval rating for 2005 from the California Republican Assembly and at the same time had more of his bills signed into law than any other Republican assemblyman. Tom Harman is not just a solid Republican, he is a Republican who gets things done -- and that is a real accomplishment in a Democratic-dominated legislature.

RICK ROWE

Huntington Beach

Election should provide a real choice

I don’t think the Independent need fear the “meaningless mudslinging” it worried about in its excellent editorial (“Senate election: chance to make a real choice,” Jan. 26) regarding the battle between Republican candidates Tom Harman and Diane Harkey.

Harman, always a gentleman in campaigning, would not want to “hit” a largely unknown and unproven candidate like Harkey, who would only gain more credibility with any attention she received.

Harkey, who was elected to the Dana Point City Council in November 2004, hardly has the “weight” to hit a popular politician who was reelected to the Huntington Beach City Council and to the state Assembly and who has served his constituents well during his years in public office.

Also, Harkey won her council seat in Dana Point, a city of less than 40,000, in a bruising campaign in which numerous and allegedly scurrilous hit pieces were launched against her.

As a result, Harkey spent more than $100,000 in her campaign, with at least a third of that going to defending herself from attacks. I doubt she has the stomach to engage in a mudslinging effort of her own.

Harkey has racked up endorsements from the usual suspects in the right wing of the Republican Party. However, she should realize that endorsements from entrenched incumbents or past politicians don’t mean that much in Huntington Beach.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, former Assemblyman Scott Baugh and Supervisor Jim Silva lobbied extensively for Measure E (the districting initiative), and the initiative was beaten badly by a 2-1 margin.

Harman is clearly and correctly letting his performance in office do the talking for him. He is among the leaders of Republican Assembly members in getting legislation made into law in Sacramento, and he has a distinguished record of achievement.

Harkey is trying to latch on to hot-button issues like illegal immigration and eminent domain to give some fire to her campaign. So far, I haven’t seen much of a distinction in positions between the two on these issues.

And I have yet to see any opposition to either Harman or Harkey from any challengers or from any of the other parties. This is perhaps just as well since the district is so overwhelmingly Republican that the top GOP vote-getter among the two will easily win the seat.

Harkey was clearly recruited to be a conservative cipher in the state Senate race. She doesn’t risk her council seat. She is largely self-funding her campaign. She can only gain positive name recognition if she plays by the rules, and she is collecting markers along the way.

In a sense, she’s taking one for the conservative ball club if she loses to the veteran Harman.

The main value of this race is that it allows district constituents to express their views and elicit positions and points of view from the candidates. As the Independent editorial points out, we have the unusual luxury of a real choice for our next state Senator, even if the differences in positions don’t amount to an awful lot. The discourse in this campaign can only benefit the citizens in our district that these two candidates are seeking to represent.

TIM GEDDES

Huntington Beach

Go with experience in Senate race

On April 11 there will be a special election for the state Senate District 35. There are two candidates, one, Diane Harkey, with just over one year experience on the Dana Point City Council, and the other, Tom Harman, who has served the people of Huntington Beach as a councilman for six years and in the State Assembly for our district.

Harman has the experience for both our city and at the state level. He is well aware of the issues of the 10 cities in the 67th Assembly District, the beach communities and inland cities surrounding his district that would be included in the Senate district.

We need a person who has experience in Sacramento, has personal relationships with the members of both the Assembly and Senate and knows how to get things done. What we don’t need at this point is a candidate from a city of less than 40,000, with very little political experience on the local level and none on the state level.

Huntington Beach and the cities that make up the 35th Senate District need a person such as Harman with his experience and expertise to further our local needs and California state legislation.

TOPPER HORACK

Huntington Beach

Huntington should support its own

Why is Councilman Don Hansen walking in support of a millionaire from Dana Point who has no political experience compared to our own proven Huntington Beach candidate, Assemblyman Tom Harman?

Harman has served the city superbly for the last 12 years as a councilman and in the Assembly.

He is our own homegrown Republican and should be elected to the state Senate.

EILEEN MURPHY

Huntington Beach

Tree huggers caught in Catch-22

The homeowners are caught in a Catch-22 (“Tree huggers last stand,” Feb. 2). I love trees -- they clean the air, beautify, etc. -- but when they become a liability to the homeowner, then they should be removed. I know a case where the tree was breaking the landscaping and encroaching into the sewer line, and when the city was called, the answer received was that we cannot remove the tree without their permission, and the city has no money to remove the tree. Yet if they give the owner permission, the tree could be removed only by a city-approved landscaper (is that politics or what?). So when the homeowner removed the tree at his own cost, he was being cited even though he planned to put another tree into the ground at his own expense. But would the city pay for the damage caused by breaking his driveway, brick work, etc.?

I wonder what kind of landscape people the city employs. All one has to do is to walk on the west side of Magnolia between Garfield and Yorktown and see what the trees are doing. Why would anyone with landscape knowledge plant this kind of tree in the first place, where the roots do so much damage? But I guess these are educated folks in horticulture.

M. BAUER

Huntington Beach