Mayor right in resignation request I believe...

Mayor right in resignation request

I believe that the mayor acted appropriately by accepting the

resignation from [Planning Commission Chair Randy] Kokal. It was

clear that it is important that the Planning Commission follow the

guidelines that it created.

FLOSSIE HORGAN

Huntington Beach

I am so thankful to Mayor Connie Boardman for taking the steps she

did to make sure our public officials follow the laws enacted to keep

our government corruption free and open to the public. The Brown Act

ensures that the public knows when and where official meetings takes

place, and when a public official doesn’t follow those rules, one has

to be suspicious as to why.

What is it that Randy Kokal wanted to hide from the public? What

ever it is, keep up the good work Mayor Boardman and lets make sure

this city never has another corrupt public official working for it,

like our previous mayor, convicted felon, Dave Garafalo.

MEGAN RODRIGUEZ

Huntington Beach

Kokal was a good community servant

A citizen of a neighboring city recently displayed a sign at an

environmental impact report hearing that read, “Mitigated to a level

of insignificance,” referring to the importance given to residents

and taxpayers at that meeting. During the time that Randy Kokal

served on the Planning Commission, I always had the feeling that no

one who appeared before the Planning Commission was ever

insignificant in his eyes, including his confreres on the commission.

Kokal brought to the commission many outstanding qualities needed

for public service. First and foremost was his was his willingness to

listen to the public. In addition, his intelligence, even demeanor,

conscientiousness and willingness to question the assumptions of

special interest with their parade of paid expert witnesses made him

an outstanding advocate for the public’s interest.

Kokal is young, energetic and willing to serve the public’s

interest. He is no lackey. He is the type of person so needed for

public service. My hope is that he will not let others influence him

and change to be just another one of the “good old boys.” I also hope

that he will again have the opportunity of using his great qualities

for the benefit of the public here in Huntington Beach. When his

voice on the Planning Commission was silenced, residents lost a

public servant truly concerned about the public’s interest.

JOHN F. SCOTT

Huntington Beach

Sullivan kind of councilman we need

Tod Minato (“Council didn’t properly justify fees” Mailbag, Sept.

11) has missed the mark, when he says that it’s “ridiculous” that

Councilman Dave Sullivan refused to take part in a preliminary straw

vote on the budget because it was not presented by staff in an

understandable way. I’ve worked with the type of Huntington Beach

staff documentation Councilman Sullivan had to deal with and I

certainly can understand his reservation.

Frankly, I wish more on the council would refuse to vote on issues

that have not been presented in an intelligible form. If city staff

cannot explain an issue in a way that the public can understand,

probably it should not be approved. My observations are that Sullivan

thinks for himself and is not afraid to ask probing questions before

he will vote. Isn’t that the kind of representation we want from our

officials?

FLOYD PHILLIPS

Huntington Beach

Commission is an embarrassment

The Huntington Beach Planning Commission has made a tremendous

scientific discovery. It has found that salt water is bad for our

beaches and wetlands. In a finding that is being considered to

justify denying a conditional use permit for the proposed Poseidon

desalination plant, the commission asserts that the brine (salt

water) from the plant will have a negative effect on our beaches. In

addition, it claims the brine will be released into the ocean in

close proximity to a salt water wetland. The closest wetland that has

a connection to the ocean is 1 1/2 miles away, while the brine will

be diluted to a near undetectable level within a few hundred feet of

the outfall.

Any marine biologists reading this will have a good laugh. Too bad

it is such an embarrassment for the city.

DAVID CARLBERG

Huntington Beach

Cabrillo folks should cooperate not sue

The bottom line is that the Mills Land and Water Co. has first

right of refusal for this property, that’s the law. The state took it

from them over 40 years ago so the Mills Co. should be able to

purchase this land if they chose to do so. If the “Cabrillo Wetland

Village” chooses to purchase the property from Mills then that’s

where their energies should be directed. Lawsuits can be costly and

time consuming so these funds can be better used toward purchasing

this land or to continue improvements to it. We would all like to

live a few hundred feet from the beach at low cost rent but the

sweetheart deal the Cabrillo folks had with the state is coming to a

close. Do the right thing and work with the new property owners and

not against them.

STEVE ENGEL

Huntington Beach

Lenning’s reasons are example of waste

I read, with a great deal of interest, Diane Lenning’s article

(Sounding Off “Police helicopter has been invaluable” Sept. 18) on

the value of the police helicopter in Huntington Beach. Citing

“overwhelming” statistics such as “12 felony arrests, 65 misdemeanor

arrests and 12 arrests for DUI” as a reason to continue this

deployment is, frankly, one of the reasons the city is broke.

Each and every time we have a comparatively minor incident we roll

a pumper, hook and ladder, paramedics, three or four police cars and

a helicopter. I recently witnessed this display on a woman who

fainted on a bench Downtown. Lenning may sleep easy with this waste,

but I am kept awake with the constant rattle of this circling fiscal

black hole.

One might think Lenning is running for office again.

WILLIAM WINTERROWD

Huntington Beach

Sorry Diane [Lenning], your column (Sounding Off “Police

helicopter has been invaluable” Sept. 18) on the police helicopters

did not convince me that they are cost effective, or even practical.

You say that during June 2003 our fleet of three helicopters resulted

in 12 felony arrests, 65 misdemeanor arrests, and 78 traffic

citations. Well, to be honest, the helicopter pilot did not land and

perform these arrests. A vehicle on the ground carried a policeman

that performed that function. Actually, I find the use of the

helicopter force to perform traffic related policing a little

trivial. Apparently the pilot observed another 171 traffic

violations, but could not do anything about them.

It is not like we are such a large place that a patrol car can’t

get to us in a matter of minutes. I have heard that we could add 12

additional patrol cars and officers for what we spend for our

helicopters.

So, instead of feeling safe and secure when I hear the helicopter

flying overhead, I feel safe and secure when I see a policeman in his

patrol car in my neighborhood. I know that if I needed a policeman it

would not be the helicopter pilot that saves the day, but rather the

officer who shows up in person, ready and able to handle things.

I cannot help but wonder if our helicopters are not being used for

other purposes, like transporting city officials to and fro.

JACK REDMAN

Huntington Beach

Schwarzenegger a Republican puppet

To answer Mark Cohen’s letter in Mailbag, (“We should support

Schwarzenegger” Sept. 11) the Republican Party feel they needs to

have a republican as governor of California ready for the 2004

election. To this aim they found a wealthy republican Mr. Issa to

bankroll the gathering of signatures to force a recall of Gov. Gray

Davis, the cost $1.7 million. They then looked for wealthy,

high-profile republican to run for Governor -- Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Unfortunately for Californians, the recall election will cost $60

million. What does Schwarzenegger know about running the

fifth-largest economy in the world? If Cohen is really concerned

about tax and spend he should look no further than our current

administration who are spending $4 billion a month on the illegal

occupation of Iraq. George W. Bush has recently asked for an

additional $87 billion to continue the occupation. This amount does

not cover the untold billions it will cost taxpayers to rebuild a

country that we devastated and destroyed.

Cohen this is “tax and spend” you should be concerned about.

MIKE SHRUBSOLE

Huntington Beach