Republicans should stay out of city races...

Republicans should stay out of city races

City and county political races have always been nonpartisan. Why

then did the Republican party of Orange County decide to launch an

attack on Councilwoman Debbie Cook using the mayor as their willing

surrogate over issues that have no relevance to the major problems

facing the city? If the inflated egos of the small-minded Republican

committee think they have the power to influence our city elections

they misread the voters of Huntington Beach and made Mayor Cathy

Green look ridiculous. Let them go celebrate W’s victory and leave us

alone to decide our council races.

PETER CLARK

Huntington Beach

Party affiliation should not play into it

The last election for Huntington Beach City Council was supposed

to be nonpartisan. The result of a partisan election was best stated

by former Mayor Ralph Bauer, “Running the city is generally finding

enough money to pay for needed services and has nothing to do with

partisan politics” (“Party ends up down the street,” Nov. 18). Bauer

went on to say, “The minute you identify yourself as a Republican or

Democrat, you have a polarizing situation, and reaching decisions in

a polarized situation is very difficult.”

Mayor Cathy Green put out a very partisan letter from the

Republican party in a nonpartisan election with her name at the top

and the city logo along with the Republican logo. One of the

candidates supported in the letter was Don Hansen and he wrote in

last week’s Independent, “It shows that I represent the core values

that Republicans share and clearly identifies me and my philosophy to

the voters.” The article goes on to say, “As for complaints about the

party’s involvement in local elections, Hansen said those comments

were themselves partisan.” Hansen’s last quote was: “Anyone who

usually opposed the fact that the Republicans were making these

statements, I very much doubt they are registered Republicans.” I

would submit that Bauer is a Republican in very good standing and he

has the status, respect, and stature in the Republican party that

Hansen can only dream of in his lifetime

Green and her derogatory comments about the Democrats and not

having an invocation at the beginning of the council meeting should

look in the past. Bauer did not have an invocation either. The

precedent was set long ago and not just by the previous two mayors. I

don’t see her haranguing former nonpartisan Republican mayors for no

invocation.

TOPPER HORACK

Huntington Beach

Verizon customer service lacking

If you’re like me, you’ve awakened the last few months to

construction trucks rumbling up and down your street and men in hard

hats wielding shovels and jack-hammers making a mess of your lawn.

The sidewalks, curbs and streets on your block have been torn up,

hastily repaired and torn up again; while an ominous orange thing

called a Ditch Witch has crawled corner to corner doing

who-knows-what.

Before you jump at the $42.95 Verizon wants for this fancy

fiber-optic experiment causing all the grief, we should ask our city

fathers if Verizon intends to spend an equal amount of manpower

servicing subscribers once the system is up. If my recent experience

with Verizon residential DSL is any indication, our easily-duped city

is headed toward another infamous boondoggle once the dump trucks

pull out.

For weeks I’ve been trying to resolve several technical issues

with the website hosting service that Verizon touts when selling its

residential customers DSL service. I’ve been transferred all over

the place and received no help. I guess customer doesn’t come first

any more.

PAUL MCLEOD

Huntington Beach

Good for council approving fireworks

I think the decision to have the fireworks off the pier this

fourth of July, is awesome. For one day we can have a little fun,

it’s not gonna kill the cops and the Fire Department for one day. I

think it’s awesome that we’re doing it. Yay to the City Council.

ROBERT APONTE

Huntington Beach

In regards to the council’s decision to have fireworks off of the

pier: Yahoo for the City Council to vote in the right direction,

finally. Thank you for supporting what you all know the Huntington

Beach residents would really want. We attended the fireworks display

last year, we were actually on the beach, it was a phenomenal show.

It was great to be back on the beach again after all these years.

We’ve been attending the Fourth of July parade since 20 years ago and

it’s great to have the fireworks back and you know, boo hoo to the

Police Department and the firemen for having to work that night. You

know they do a great job, and yes there could be gridlock, but you

know what -- there’s gridlock after an Angel’s game, there’s gridlock

after the Rose Bowl parade, and you know what, you just make do and

do the best that you can. I’m fully supportive of the fireworks

display, so thank you very much for supporting that.

LAURIE HICKS

Huntington Beach

I live here in Huntington Beach and I went to the fireworks show

last year and I thought it was fabulous. I absolutely would enjoy

having the fireworks at the pier. You know we all live here by the

beach, I live walking distance to the beach, and it makes it much

more like a community, like a small town feeling, rather than going

to the high school like it has been in the past. You know, I think

it’s a great idea. If the city needs to receive revenue from this

event to help pay for it, I think it was great that you sold more

expensive seats for those people who wanted a dinner and to sit out

on the pier to watch. Just walk from the house down to the beach,

watch the fireworks. It was just wonderful. Thank you very much for

that decision, I think you’re going in the right direction.

DEBORAH GALLINGER

Huntington Beach