Mailbag:

In January, residents received a drought notice that laid down new parameters for watering lawns and such for different times of the year.

Every day, I see flippant disregard by residents on this new ordinance, and I am very concerned about our water use and supply. I have had the opportunity to work with several water agencies, so I know how important the issue is. And I understand that most people do not, but that these agencies are continually trying to educate.

I searched the city website for any information regarding enforcement, but could find none. Is the city of Huntington Beach just as flippant? Or ignorant?

As much as I despise the idea of “water cops,” I would at least think that there could be a simple “neighborhood water watch” web link that could alert the city, which could then send out friendly warnings to violators.

This would perform three functions:

1) Educating residents by reminding them that there are restrictions in place (which they may have forgotten or didn’t know);

2) Letting them know that their usage is being monitored;

3) Actually saving water — the main intent.

If there is actual enforcement in progress, great. But from my viewpoint, a resident who keeps current on these city-related matters, it seems that the issue is not being handled at all.

But the city, and the Independent, should address it from time to time to keep residents continually aware of the issue ... especially with summer coming up.

I might as well ask more about the ordinance that was mailed. It stated what was prohibited and that it was permanent but did not mention any enforcement, by fines or otherwise.

So is the ordinance really a paper tiger? Or, from the light blue slip of paper, more like a paper mouse?

I especially enjoyed the line on the bottom which read that I could view the ordinance online.

So I did, expecting greater depth. And found it was exactly the same information.

So help me out here. Am I missing something? Or am I onto something?

Candidates should be in the open

With the November election a good six months away, we have almost 20 candidates for the four available City Council seats in Huntington Beach. Half the hopefuls are first-time council candidates. With a field this large, all of them bear a special responsibility to make their views and positions on issues known to the electorate. There is plenty of time to do this.

Candidates must be open and responsive to civic and community groups who wish to inform the citizenry with candidate questionnaires, interviews and candidate forums. They must also respond to media inquiries about their campaigns.

We have an opportunity this election year to get it right in terms of informing the voting public about those who seek to lead and represent us.

I salute all of those in the community who step forward in helping to make this happen.