MAILBAG - Feb. 3, 2000

READERS MIXED ON BUSINESS OWNERS BACKING HARMAN

Campaign contributions by special interests can often be looked at as

sleazy attempts to buy elections and influence (“Tom Harman’s campaign

donations, ethics questioned,” Jan. 20).

But I would propose a moral distinction between offensive and defensive

contributions. Offensive contributors seek public subsidies and special

privileges at the expense of others. But defensive contributors are

essentially victims, paying what amounts to protection money to preserve

their right to pursue their interests free of unjustified taxation,

regulation and other political obstacles.

Two examples of defensive contributions are Wal-Mart’s financing of the

campaign against Measure I and the Holly-Seacliff business owners who

contributed to Councilman Tom Harman’s campaign prior to a redevelopment

vote.

Wal-Mart is seeking to conduct a legitimate enterprise but must fend off

the political influence of those who refuse to accept the reality that

they live not in a rural town but in a major metropolitan area.

The Holly-Seacliff business people, who I assume were there long before

the nearby expensive new homes, are trying to resist confiscation of

their property under eminent domain.

On a bigger scale, the federal government’s persecution of Microsoft is

an example of what can happen when you don’t pay the protection money.

Campaign finance reform, whether at the local or national level, is

doomed to failure if it does not recognize the root of the problem: the

excessive and corrupting power of the institution we call government.

OTHER FOUNTAIN VALLEY SCHOOLS PERFORMED WELL

When comparing Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach school Academic

Performance Index results, you missed one important fact (“Fountain

Valley pupils outscore Huntington Beach counterparts,” Jan. 27).

Ethan Allen Elementary School, 16200 Bushard Ave., Fountain Valley,

scored 878. This is higher than Courreges, which means Fountain Valley

had two schools in the county’s top 25. That Allen is and has been the

top elementary school in Fountain Valley is one of the city’s best-kept

secrets.

Yes, Allen is in the Garden Grove Unified School District, but it is also

in the city of Fountain Valley. So is Northcutt Elementary, Monroe

Elementary and Los Amigos High schools.

The Independent occasionally covers sports at Los Amigos, but these

schools are otherwise rarely acknowledged. Why is that?

If you claim to cover Fountain Valley, then do so and cover all of

Fountain Valley.

RUSTY FENCE AT DOG BEACH IS A DANGER TO EVERYONE

I’ve been complaining to your paper in various messages and notes down

through the years about the destruction [and] the poor care of the

infrastructure for Huntington Beach.

I’ve been after the city to fix my curb and gutter since I’ve been here

for more than 15 years. It still sinks, and it’s still full of water, and

still full of mold.

I had quite a surprise when I took my new dog down to the Dog Beach last

week. As I walked back to my car, I noticed a, I guess you would call it

a fence, at the last parking lot down there to keep people from falling

off the small embankment. All of the metal in the gate, which happens to

be an inch square tubing ... I’ve never seen anything around here rusted

so badly. It was rusted completely, so there was no fence effect left at

all. There was jagged rusty pieces of metal sticking up from the bottom

and down from the top, ideal for some dog or some young child to go

through there and be cut all to heck and get some infected problems with

all the rust in the gate.

If the city of Huntington Beach can’t afford to fix it, then send someone

down there with a torch or a hacksaw and cut it down so somebody won’t be

maimed badly.

HARBOUR RESIDENT CALLS TAX ASSESSMENTS ON HOME UNFAIR

I recently received two augmented tax assessments on a home I purchased

in Huntington Harbour in August 1998.

The assessments place my home in such a ridiculously overvalued category

that I would gladly sell to whomever is dumb enough to meet such a price.

My concern is that the county bureaucrats cite a series of very obscure

statutes that are not only vaguely worded but do not apply in my

situation. I made no improvements to my home other than to make it

livable. The house had been seriously neglected.

I have filed an appeal, but this will take time. I would like to know if

anybody else has been subjected to such ridiculous assessments.

I fought for Proposition 13 vigorously in the mid-1970s, even to be told

then that the bureaucrats would find a way around it. It looks like they

have.

I would like to institute a class-action suit to prevent the government

bureaucrats from ever pulling such an illegal stunt in the future. I

would be interested if there are others who feel the way I do.

THIS LOCAL IS GLAD TO SEE THE CITY DOLING OUT TICKETS

I have lived here since 1956. I am delighted that tickets are being

issued (“City doles out 2,297 street-sweep tickets,” Jan. 13).

For years, I have cleaned the gutters in front of my house to almost no

avail due to parked cars. ... I know that our street looks better, and I

thank the City Council for this ordinance.