ON THE TOWN:Voters’ trust is fragile

Someone whose opinion I respect only next to my own has met Barbara Venezia a few times. When I asked what she was like, I was told, “She’s a very nice lady.”

Funny and gracious were two of the other adjectives used to describe her.

Funny, gracious and nice. Hardly the personality traits of someone who should be serving on a city council.

Yes, we need more Barbara Venezias in local politics, but I am afraid that the system no longer allows for the best and the brightest to serve us.

Oh, sure there are exceptions. Once in a while there is someone who manages to stumble into an election victory, stick around for a few years, then leave.

The good ones never stick around too long, mostly because after a time they realize that many of the people with whom they have to associate do not have the same value system and that it’s nearly impossible to buck the trend.

There is only so much fight in each of us.

When I first heard that many people were going to vote for Venezia even though she has officially withdrawn, I thought that was about the silliest thing I’ve heard all year, a waste of time.

Now I’m not so sure. Perhaps the votes for Venezia will serve as an important reminder to anyone running for office that trust is on loan.

In Newport Beach, residents have dealt with a series of people on the City Council who have earned so much mistrust over the years that their constituents voted to take key planning decisions out of their hands.

And voters are set to decide on another round of their return to power as Greenlight II appears on their ballot Nov. 7.

Yes, it’s true that the City Council members were elected to decide such things, but it’s also true that if residents want to remove that power from them, they have the right to do so.

All the whining from Greenlight opponents about representative government is just that. Instead of blaming the people who are proposing the new rules, it may be useful to try something that hasn’t been done in a while: Try listening to voters and being responsive to their needs.

One of the best features of Newport Beach is that even if you remove the ocean, it is still a beautiful city. It is beautiful not only for what it has but also for what it lacks.

There is no Home Depot, no Target and no Wal-Mart. Oil change shops do not appear on every other corner.

Residents like it that way. I like it that way, and I don’t even live there.

Those who support Greenlight are concerned about mega hotels, car dealerships, big box stores and other structures that will remove one of the best reasons for living in the city.

Here’s to Assemblyman Chuck DeVore who gets this year’s medal of valor for trying to get industrial hemp legalized for use in rope, clothing and other items.

The governor, who chickened out in an election year, vetoed the bill, which would have created a brand new industry and tax base in the state.

At a time when our state’s budget shortfall is expected to reach $5 billion next year and when the state is working overtime to support its unfriendly attitude toward business, DeVore’s bill would have had an effect on both issues.

But the governor, apparently taking some very bad advice, chose the wimpy way.

Now who’s the “girlie man?”

All we can say to DeVore is thank you for trying and please play again soon.

Upon reading the news that Costa Mesa City Councilman Gary Monahan, who will not be returning next year, is running for a seat on the Costa Mesa Sanitary District board, I wondered about that body.

Is it me or does the sanitary district board seem like a bus stop — a place where junior politicians go to improve their resumes and veterans go to soften their landings?

And is there really that much trash to talk about?

Of course there is, this is an election year.