Coercing signatures unfair to voters A...

Coercing signatures unfair to voters

A comment to Joseph Jeffrey regarding how upset he says he was

that the judge ruled in favor of Huntington Beach and that 22,000

voters that signed his petitions were not given an opportunity to

vote on this initiative: How many of those 22,000 were bullied, or

talked, into signing his petitions while leaving supermarkets and

other stores and how many of the 22,000 even knew the facts of what

they were even signing?

I was hounded by the signature takers and they did not want to

take no for an answer. And why? Because they were being paid for

every signature that they could get. Their best interest was not for

Huntington Beach, but for themselves.

CAROL IBERS

Huntington Beach

Solid law experience most important

In the Independent article “What it takes to be a City Attorney”

on Sept. 5, the writer says it is clear that at the top of the list

of qualifications is “a firm grasp of municipal law.” That may be

true for smaller cities that have a total attorney staff of one or

two people, where each lawyer must function as a jack-of-all-trades,

such as Fountain Valley or Westminster as noted in the article.

It is certainly not true for Huntington Beach, which has a staff

of eight specialized attorneys well versed in municipal law. Our city

attorney, as leader of the office, should have extensive diversified

legal experience, and not be limited by training and experience

solely in municipal law. At the top of my list would be an attorney

with broad general law experience, with experience drafting and

reviewing contracts and with research and writing skills.

I would want an accomplished trial and appellate lawyer who can

minimize our current practice of hiring expensive outside lawyers. I

would want someone who knows how to approach each task and how long

it should take, with considerable experience budgeting and planning a

legal operation. I believe we should have someone from the private

sector who has been forced to justify his performance and costs, not

just a continuation of a bureaucracy that has been in place for the

last 25 years.

While some knowledge of municipal law is necessary, it is

secondary to the above qualifications.

CHUCK SCHEID

Huntington Beach

We need brains and guts in an attorney

I think that the recent Top Story “What it takes to be the city

attorney” (Sept. 5) was one of the best features I have seen in the

Independent in a long time. It really focused on what is needed and

what the voters should be looking for from this office.

In this perilous time of major legal issues and challenges to our

city, we need a city attorney with brains, guts, and experience. We

cannot afford to perpetuate the “prevent defense” played by our

current city attorney’s office if we expect to move our city forward.

This is no time to promote a junior city attorney or take chances

with attorneys lacking in municipal law experience that would require

“on the job training”.

After reading all four candidate statements for City Attorney, I

find the choice is clear. We must elect Ron Davis as our next city

attorney.

TIM GEDDES

Huntington Beach

City attorney should have experience

I think they that a city attorney should have some experience and

at least three years minimum experience in municipal law and some

type of city government experience. That is based on having an

understanding, not only of the public’s needs, but of the various

departments internally, such as working with the police departments

and fire departments and public works in resolving matters that the

community pulls those types of agencies into.

PAUL MADRID

Huntington Beach

As a former city elected official I think that it is extremely

important that the city attorney have experience working in municipal

law and without it would be absolutely lost in the process for years.

WES BANNISTER

Huntington Beach

One of the most important things the city attorney position

requires is to have the experience in working with the municipal

government or experience in municipal law alone.

BRUCE PULCINI

Huntington Beach

The qualifications I think are more important: one would be

municipal law experience. So [Jennifer McGrath] will be a great

candidate and I’m very excited for her hopeful win.

BOBBI CRAWFORD

Huntington Beach

What I think is most important is that we have a city attorney who

knows and understands municipal government; who understands the

issues our city is dealing with, which are very significant, and

municipal government is very complex.

And I think it is very, very important to have a knowledgeable

person who has worked in the municipality.

BONNIE CASTREY

Huntington Beach