Ruiz election case of voter stupidity

As a liberal Orange County voter, I am accustomed to “post-election

blues,” but one particular district election has drawn my ire. The

Coast Community College District Trustee election result, reported in

the Daily Pilot on Nov. 3, appears to be the result of either voter

ignorance or the popular acceptance of greed as an acceptable

personality trait.

The Daily Pilot, and other newspapers, all published articles

depicting how Armando Ruiz resigned from the district so he could

increase his retirement pension from $5,000 per year to $50,000 per

year. Already set to receive a pension of $65,000 per year from the

Irvine Valley College District, resigning from Coast -- and then

running again -- allowed Ruiz to almost double his existing total

pension. Had his intention been to retire now, perhaps this would

have been a reasonably ethical maneuver; after all, this allowed him

to increase his yearly retirement pension from $70,000 to $115,000

per year.

But, this was not his intention. Clearly, by resigning and then

running for reelection, his intention was to take advantage of a

loophole that lined his pockets at the expense of an already

overextended Coast budget. This is greedy, avaricious and unethical

behavior. Entwined in his actions is a grand statement about where

Ruiz places education within his list of priorities.

In our voter guidebook, Bonnie Castrey invited voters to telephone

her, and she left her phone number at the end of her written

candidate statement. I called her, and we had a pleasant conversation

during which she explained why she would be an excellent trustee --

never uttering a disparaging word about the other candidates. Castrey

let Ruiz’s actions speak for his intentions; and, for this ethical

tactic, she lost the election.

We heard much about voter turnout during this election year.

Conventional wisdom tells us that increased voter turnout is great.

But if the voters turning out are uninformed, maybe they ought to

stay at home. And, in this instance, if they were informed of Ruiz’s

actions and voted for him in spite or because of them, then maybe I

ought to stay at home.

JAY B. LITVAK

Costa Mesa