City already has diverse council Measure E...

City already has diverse council

Measure E would drastically change the structure of our City

Council for the worse. Instead of having the current seven council

members who represent every resident of Huntington Beach, Measure E

would allow each area to have only one representative council member.

Therefore we could vote for only one council member instead of seven.

The city does not need districts because we already have a council

that represents and resides in all areas of the city:

* Council Member Boardman lives in the southeast part of the city

(the 92646 zip code area).

* Mayor Green and Council Member Coerper live in the north part of

the city (the 92647 area).

* Council Members Cook, Hardy, and Houchen live in the central

part of the city (92648).

* Council Member Sullivan lives in the west part of the city

(92649).

Note how all areas of the city are represented. The voters don’t

need to be told how to vote.

Measure E would divide the city into five districts that were

gerrymandered to the advantage of its sponsors. An AES lobbyist wrote

Measure E. Here’s an example of the gerrymandering: Southeast

Huntington Beach would be swallowed up in District 1, which includes

Downtown. The downtown area has completely different issues than the

Southeast neighborhood. Southeast Huntington Beach would be a small

minority in the downtown district, therefore very unlikely to be

heard. Southeast residents have the most to lose from the nearby

pollution of the AES plant, yet Measure E would take away southeast’s

voice, which is what AES wants.

Vote no on Measure E and keep seven council members representing

all the citizens of Huntington Beach. Keep our city democratic and

united.

MARINKA HORACK

Huntington Beach

Measure E won’t benefit residents

If Measure E is voted in for Huntington Beach, and you end up

electing a lemon, not only do you have poor representation in the

city council, but for four years instead of two.

If you vote no on E, keep things the way they are, if your

neighbor gets elected to the city council, and he’s a lemon, you

still have six other council members that can give you just as much

representation as the neighborhood lemon, and in two years (instead

of four), the lemon will no doubt be voted out.

JIM BEELER

Huntington Beach

I would like to know how many of the people who signed the

petitions to put Measure E on the ballot signed because of false

information?

I know every time I went to the market the paid signature

gatherers were accosting us as shoppers. Their spiel was “sign if you

want term limits.” Most people signed because they wanted term

limits; districting wasn’t even mentioned.

The ironic thing was that the council already had term limits.

That was the reason there were four vacancies on the council. I told

them that and they argued with me.

If you want your concerns addressed keep it the way we have it now

seven districts at large.

Districting is all wrong. Please vote no on Measure E.

EILEEN MURPHY

Huntington Beach

District plan is a play for more control

I think the district initiative will result in a new City Council

following the agenda set by their big money benefactors first rather

than serving the public’s interest first.

I’m convinced the initiative is a plan to gain control of the City

Council because I have examined the Fair Political Practices

Commission filings required by law at the city clerks office. These

filings show the AES Corp., their lobbyist, Scott Baugh, and other

corporations that do business with the city were the biggest

contributors to the $101,400 to get the initiative on the ballot.

Can a voter really believe these people have the public’s best

interest in mind?

ED KERINS

Huntington Beach

Measure E, the Fair District Initiative, is a sham perpetrated by

special interests for the benefit of those special interests. There

is nothing fair about it unless you are a cynical propagandist

representing those moneyed interests and have a decidedly lopsided

concept of fairness.

Huntington Beach has become one of the best and safest cities in

Southern California in which to live. This was accomplished under an

elected-at-large form of city government with significant

accountability to and for its citizenry. Our city government, through

its leadership and resident participation, has created a city with

one of the finest school, park, library and public safety systems in

its region.

Measure E will change that. This change is what the proponents got

right -- the only thing they got right. What the proponents fail to

tell us is chopping Huntington Beach into districts will not be a

change for the better. Why would carving the city into five discrete

districts make the City Council more accountable to voters than it

already is?

Vote for what is honestly fair. Vote no on Measure E.

DAVID E. HAMILTON

Huntington Beach

So the big-business, out-of-towners claim we’ll have better

neighborhoods with passage of Measure E (“Council district battle is

on,” Feb. 5)? Balderdash. Are neighborhoods better off when they have

no real say in the overall direction of the city? And have just one

voice for their own nearby streets? If we really care about

Huntington Beach, we must care beyond some legislatively limited

residential region where we reside. We must protect our coastal

resources, our city services, improve our infrastructure citywide and

monitor general policy, including such critical issues as Downtown,

future development, the tax base and the general budget. These are

complicated issues that need team efforts -- good heads working

together, not single issue council people beholden to business or

out-of-town interests.

How does reducing everyone’s seven votes to just one vote, based

on where you live, result in a better city? Obviously it doesn’t. It

suits that power plant eyesore on Pacific Coast Highway, AES, and

that’s why they put their guns behind it. Please don’t be fooled.

GAYLE WAYNE

Huntington Beach

Five works for schools, why not city

I don’t understand all the griping I’ve read about Measure E

reducing the number of city council members to five.

Five-member boards serve all seven school districts that overlap

with the territory of the city of Huntington Beach.

When have these Measure E critics ever called for an increase in

the membership of our local school boards?

The Orange County Board of Supervisors even has five members!

Until the Measure E critics make a formal proposal to increase our

other local boards, this argument should be dismissed as another one

of their red herrings.

MATTHEW HARPER

Huntington Beach

Measure E will bind residents’ hands

I want everyone to know what Measure E will do to us.

It will put each of us in a straight jacket! Why do I say that? I

say that because Measure E will allow us only one vote for a City

Council person. We will be allowed to vote only every four years for

one council person.

Now, of course, we vote for seven council persons, three in one

year and four in the next two years.

Vote no on Measure E.

NANCY DONAVEN

Huntington Beach

Districts would be back to bad old days

Measure E is a well-planned and heavily funded attempt by special

interests to take over City Hall. Passage of Measure E by the voters

of Huntington Beach will be a major step backward to the bad-old-days

when the oil barons and developers ruled Huntington Beach. It has

only been in the last few decades that Huntington Beach has been able

to escape the grasp of these overbearing special interests and elect

representatives that are truly of, by and for the people. Now along

comes Scott Baugh and his supporters who represent only special

interests and definitely do not represent the residents in Huntington

Beach. And ask yourself why is Rep. Dana Rohrabacher involved in this

seemingly local issue? The answer is that he gets his support from

these same special interests and could care less about the concerns

of the residents. Voters in Huntington Beach need to vote no on

Measure E, and at the same time dump Rohrabacher. Keep Huntington

Beach a community of which we can all be proud.

GEORGE MASON

Huntington Beach

Golden Bear was a true city treasure

Although I didn’t move to Huntington Beach until 1983, I

appreciated the Golden Bear during the late 1970s as the best venue

for new or little known rock acts in Orange County.

I remember seeing a Welsh hard rock act called Budgie at the

Golden Bear (their signature song was “Breadfan,” a U.S. hit when

covered by another band years later.) I had all of the group’s albums

but never saw them play anywhere else. I’ll always be grateful to the

Golden Bear for booking them. I was sad to see the Golden Bear go,

and I am chagrined that the city didn’t relocate the club to another

local site to keep this niche music venue serving a great

entertainment need in this part of Orange County.

TIM GEDDES

Huntington Beach

County water district better than Poseidon

I feel as though I would prefer the Orange County Water District

running the desalination plant because there would be a little more

jurisdiction in the city, but I would rather not have the water

desalination plant in that area at all.

MEG WATSON

Huntington Beach

No desalination plan is a good one

The Orange County Water District building desalination plant is

another ridiculous idea, and I don’t want that. I don’t want the

Poseidon, and if it could happen we don’t need the AES plant either.

But we’re stuck with them, and we don’t need anything more in the

Southeast end of Huntington Beach.

MARILYN ELLISON

Huntington Beach

Higher altitude a great solution

The proposal by Jet Blue Airways Pilot Chief Charlie

Andrews,(“Planes soar higher over city” Feb. 5) to increase the

planes approach to 3,000 feet is an excellent solution to noise

abatement for Huntington Beach residents. It should be instituted

across the board for all aircraft using the Long Beach Airport as a

permanent standard approach requirement.

FRED N. BARBOUR

Huntington Beach

Fireworks at the beach a great idea

I think we should have fireworks at the beach. I think it’s one of

the best ideas I’ve ever heard of. I don’t think that there will be

real threat for riots since we have one of the best police forces in

Orange County. I think with all the money that we pour into the

police, I think they should be able to do their job and keep the

crowd down and not have any riots. So, I think that’s a great idea.

AARON BAUGH

Huntington Beach

I was reading an article on Fourth of July fireworks at the

beach(“Fireworks at beach denied” Jan. 22), I think that would be an

outstanding idea. With the parade and all, it’s an excellent time

down here, and I think it’s a very good idea. You got my vote.

CALVIN YOUNGBERG

Huntington Beach

Beach fireworks lousy, costly idea

My opinion regarding the Fourth of July fireworks is that it is a

very bad idea. The residents of Huntington Beach will wind up paying

an exorbitant amount of money to have that display. Then we will have

to pay for police services. Then we will have to pay money for

cleanup crews that clean up the mess that people from outside cities

and even the people from our city will be making on the beach. So all

in all, what it will do is cost the citizens of Huntington Beach a

large amount for a small amount of profit. So, I think the City

Council should look to ways to save us money instead of looking for

ways to spend money.

ROSEMARY COWELL

Huntington Beach

Fireworks better off at high school

I think that fireworks at the beach is too risky. I think we’re

better off sticking with it at the high school, then we have much

better control over everything. I don’t think it is our people that

we have to worry about, I think it’s out-of-towners, people coming

from other areas. And I just don’t think the Police Department has

the man power to have a good enough hold on it. And I don’t think

it’s worth taking a chance. I think at the high school people pay a

few dollars to get in, and it’s local residents and they’re more

interested in it and I think it’s just better to keep it at the high

school or somewhere else like that where we can keep a good eye on

it.

HERB ROSENTHAL

Huntington Beach

Fireworks at

beach are not risky

I think that having fireworks in Huntington, whether it’s at the

high school or the beach, is not risky at all. I believe that it

detracts from the family atmosphere that we had here in Huntington

not to have fireworks, and its sad that cities like Seal Beach have

more of than we do because we’re concentrating on building the big

hotels for the city. I would appreciate it if we could get back to

the basics and take care of the families that have been here. We are

a family group community.

RICK PARKER

Huntington Beach

Residents deserve a fireworks show

It’s a big disappointment that the city of Huntington Beach is

turning away a fireworks display for the second year in a row. I

think this is a shame, I’m a father of five, our kids look forward to

the fireworks every year. And for fear of a riot? That’s almost as

bad as living in fear of terrorists. Come on, Huntington Beach. We

deserve it, and we’ve got a proper police force to handle anything.

STEVE IZABAL

Huntington Beach

Scott Baugh an odd choice for newsmaker

It was a surprise to me that you selected Scott Baugh as the

“Newsmaker of the Year.” There are at least 6,000 to 8,000 other

Huntington Beach residents who have been more positive newsmakers for

the city than Baugh. As a Republican since 1952 I found Baugh to be

an embarrassment to the party.

I do not disagree with his comment that citizens were not being

represented, but he has since left office. His position with Rep.

Dana Rohrabacher will make me hesitate to support Rohrabacher in the

future. I am sure he is good with finances and that the AES plant has

been responsive.

I enjoyed the rest of your paper on Jan. 1.

GEORGE ERBER

Huntington Beach