Council's name-calling must stop

(Note: This is my first column for the Yorba Linda Star, published on May 21, 1998.)

As a longtime reader of the Yorba Linda Star, it gives me great pleasure to begin writing a column for a newspaper that's been a part of my life for more than two decades.

My wife and I have been Yorba Linda residents since 1975, and I've been a Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District teacher for 31 years.

I'm sure that the issues that concern my family--which includes a computer science student at the University of California, Irvine, and a high school sophomore--also concern many other Yorba Linda families.

I plan to write about a wide range of topics, including local politics, education and lifestyle. I pledge to keep my columns on the issues and avoid negative name-calling and debates over personalities.

One of the issues that should concern all of us is our city's low level of political discourse.

What is accomplished by constantly calling some of our elected City Council members the "Gang of Three"? What positive good comes from publicly labeling an official a "dim bulb"? What problem is solved by calling into question the intellectual qualifications of a fellow citizen?

Some citizens believe the Yorba Linda lifestyle will be diminished for us and for our children because of more homes, wider highways and greater traffic. That may or may not be true, depending on how future development is handled. However, it is certain that the legacy we leave our children will be a city diminished by an unending barrage of negativism and name-calling.

The method we use to approach the issues that concern us is our most lasting legacy to our children. Do our public meetings consist of a constant stream of innuendos, personal attacks and political posturing, or do they exhibit honest efforts by citizens with different views to build a city and a future of which we can all be proud?

Occasionally, youths of our community are honored for their achievements at City Council meetings. The purpose of taking a few minutes of televised time to present awards to successful youth sports teams and other groups is to publicize and reward the accomplishments of our young people and perhaps motivate other youth to engage in positive activities.

But what message are we really sending our young people who examine their plaques and certificates, as adults approach the microphone to attack and ridicule others in the most relentless and negative manner?

We are not asking that city officials and community leaders be immune from criticism. Taking criticism is part of the nature of public debate in a democracy at all levels--national, state and local. We've learned from early civics lessons in school that "If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen."

However, we want good cooks in the kitchen who concentrate on the ingredients, and who do not needlessly fight and squabble so that there is no substantial meal at the end of the day.

Let's eliminate the negative, name-calling attacks as well as the innuendos and political posturing and replace these unproductive activities with genuine, honest efforts to discuss differences and present potential solutions to issues that concern us as citizens of Yorba Linda.