REBUTTAL

* EDITOR’S NOTE: The Concerned Citizens of Fountain Valley distributed

a flier earlier this month that questioned city government. Last week,

Councilman Chuck Conlosh, who wrote one of the letters in the flier, and

Councilman Larry Crandall faced off about the flier. The following letter

is from Mayor Guy Carrozzo.

As mayor of the city of Fountain Valley, I cannot sit back and have

irresponsible accusations made about the City Council, even if it is an

election year. People have the right to speak out even if the facts do

not support their accusations.

Accusation No. 1: There is a current effort within the council to pass

an ordinance that would force residents to park their vehicles inside

their garages.

Answer: I can assure you that there is no effort within the council to

pass an ordinance that would force residents to park their vehicles

inside their garage. I cannot imagine this council ever voting for

anything like that. It will never happen. This is a nonissue.

Accusation No. 2: The city refused to investigate possible wrongdoing

by high-level city officials.

Answer: An employee who thought that he was not treated fairly took

the city to court. The city was confident that we did everything possible

to be fair. A jury returned an unanimous verdict in favor of the city on

all four counts presented. If someone perceives that the council has done

something wrong, then I would challenge him or her to present the facts

and stop the innuendoes.

Accusation No. 3: The city has also refused to lift the ban on

changeable signs favored by many churches.

Answer: The council has been working for several months on a solution

for churches and synagogues in respect to changeable signs. The council

has instructed the staff to return to the council with guidelines that

would allow changeable signs. We just want to get the guidelines right.

Accusation No. 4: The City Council meetings are taped on special

recorders at a special speed, making it impossible for residents to

obtain copies of tapes to listen to what the council is doing.

Answer: The City Council meetings are taped on a recorder that is

special. But only in the fact that it records from eight different

microphones, and anyone who wants to find out what happened during any

City Council meeting can come into the city clerk’s office and listen to

the tape or make a copy of a tape with his or her own tape recorder.

Nothing is secret. Nothing is hidden.

Accusation No. 5: The city recently imposed a rule that residents

addressing the council may only address it as a whole, thus, limiting the

ability of residents to direct their comments or questions to a specific

statement or conduct of individual council members.

Answer: Council policy dating back to the 1960s directed that all

discussion go through the chair or the mayor. This was put into place to

allow the meetings to be conducted in an orderly fashion. Recently, when

I spoke to the Orange County Board of Supervisors, I noticed that in

their agenda they requested the same procedures be used at their

meetings. I have reaffirmed this practice as the policy at Fountain

Valley City Council meetings.

I can assure you that no one’s ability to be heard is restricted in

any way. In fact, residents can speak to any issue on the agenda, and

they can, under public comments, speak on other issues not on the agenda.

We allow each person to speak for five minutes. Huntington Beach and

other cities allow three minutes. I think the residents of our city are

intelligent and well-informed on what is happening in our community.

I also feel that the council has done a very good job for Fountain

Valley, and most of the residents are happy with our decisions. Just

remember, some people are very adept at manipulating information, thus

creating a smoke screen to conceal their own personal, hidden agendas.

GUY CARROZZO

Mayor of Fountain Valley