Editorial

How do you divide 20 into three?

Well, it isn’t easy, we have found, but we sharpened our pencils,

figured out the math and now have our three choices from the field of 20

candidates running for the Huntington Beach City Council -- Debbie Cook,

Connie Boardman and Gerald Chapman.

Huntington Beach city government has always been known for its raucous

brand of politics, sometimes more closely resembling a Wild West show.

This year has been a bit different, though. The bruising, name-calling

battles seem to have faded away, and the debate has hinged more on the

issues than on personalities.

And those issues are no small matters -- an end to polluted beaches

and urban runoff, eminent domain at the mall and Downtown, cleanup of the

Ascon toxic waste dump site, a vision for the Downtown, a lack of parking

and, of course, the purchase of the Bolsa Chica mesa to save it as open

space for generations to come.

All three of these candidates have strong views on these matters that

will best serve the residents of Huntington Beach into this new

millennium.

All three support the purchase of the mesa from the landowner. All

three are against using eminent domain to take private property and give

it to other developers.

All three believe cleaning the beaches and fixing the city’s

infrastructure should be given high priority.

Cook is an attorney and former planning commissioner who fought side

by side with Councilman Dave Sullivan to get Measure C passed in the

early 1990s. That measure ensured that no construction would ever take

place on county beaches or parkland without a majority vote of the

people.

Cook has earned our respect as a strident community activist.

Sometimes too strident, we would admit, but in the long run we’re

confident she does what she believes is best for the residents of this

town, and her voice on the council will be needed even more with Sullivan

and Councilman Tom Harman’s departures.

Boardman also has a history of community activism, most closely

associated with the Bolsa Chica Land Trust and the progress that group

has made to save the wetlands and now the mesa.

But Boardman, a college biology professor, is not just a one-issue

candidate. She offers solutions to the urban runoff problems, the Ascon

dump site, parking issues and the revitalization of the Huntington

Center.

She’s thoughtful, intelligent, well-spoken and a solid leader.

A nice complement to Boardman and Cook would be Gerald Chapman.

Aside from incumbent Pam Julien, Chapman, who like Cook is a longtime

member of Huntington Beach Tomorrow, the group that was behind Measure C,

is probably the most experienced of the candidates running.

He’s been a planning commissioner for three years and has been part of

the city’s master plan, transportation, public works and infrastructure

committees. He’s also been involved with the Huntington Beach Art Center,

and his crowning achievement has been his years of involvement with the

Summer Classic Equestrian Event at Central Park, which raises money for

the Art Center.

Chapman, above all else, believes the city’s infrastructure problems

need to be addressed immediately. His concern and long-standing

commitment to this town should be rewarded on election day.

As you can see, we are not endorsing the incumbent in this race, Pam

Julien. We didn’t come to that conclusion easily. But we believe that

after unseating incumbent Vic Leipzig in a bruising campaign in 1996, we

and the public should have seen more from her. There are several things

worth noting in that regard. Julien lost her husband to cancer just as

she was taking office and wound up devoting large portions of her time to

her career.

She has since remarried, resigned from her job and is offering a new

commitment to her constituents and her town. Additionally, Julien has

shown she is able to find common ground on many of the issues that

Huntington Beach residents find important, including buying the Bolsa

Chica mesa, an end to urban runoff and revitalization of the mall.

Unfortunately, we believe it’s too little and too late for us to back

her in this election.

In summary, we’d like to point out that we are impressed by many of

the 20 candidates who have thrown their hat in the ring this year.

Gil Coerper, James Young, Dianne Lenning, James Carchio, J. Devin

Dwyer, Chuck Downing, Norman Westwell and Steve Garcia have great ideas

and are voices to be heard in the future. We encourage city leaders to

bring some of their ideas to the table.

But for now, there are three people who we think can get the job done

right away.

And we urge you to vote for those three -- Cook, Boardman and Chapman

on Tuesday.