Some Yorba Lindans don't appreciate election
Judging by anecdotal evidence--comments at public meetings, letters to the editor and a few e-mails to this columnist--some Yorba Lindans aren’t appreciating the opportunity they’ll have to select a fifth City Council member on the June 5 special election ballot.
Last year was pretty busy politically: petitioners gathering signatures to convince council members to rescind two Town Center zoning ordinances, legal efforts to keep the citizen-sponsored Right-to-Vote initiative off the ballot, the measure’s narrow victory at the polls and finally the election of two new low-density advocates to the city’s governing body.
So understandably, many citizens are tired of a fusty political process that includes expensive campaign mailers, paid-for endorsements on phony voter guides, recorded phone calls and way too many signs cluttering public thoroughfares.
Complaints about the ubiquitous street signs seem to symbolize the weariness that overcomes many residents during a long campaign season, and they’re not ready to see the entire process repeated just a few months later to select a single council member.
The signs also cause a great deal of bitterness among the candidates themselves as they fight for optimum placement of their placards and sulkily grumble that other candidates apparently enjoy preferential treatment from the city’s code enforcement officials.
Many contenders don’t follow the few simple rules adopted by past councils for posting signs on public and private property, even though the regulations are easily accessed on the city’s Web site. Perhaps the ability to read and understand city ordinances should be a requirement for holding office.
Residents are concerned about an estimated $160,000 election price tag, so some trot out the clichéd police-service comparison--“that’ll pay for an additional street cop”--but nobody will be hired or fired because the expenditure will come from the city’s hefty reserve account.
Very unsettling are comments that Yorba Lindans will have to “endure” another election. Most of the world’s citizens don’t have the privilege of “enduring” a democratic system, so we shouldn’t be so quick to give up our responsibilities under our form of government.
Maybe voter turnout will be low. Maybe that’ll be due to people turned off by politics. Maybe people won’t vote because there’re too busy and can’t be bothered. Or maybe, as a speaker said at a recent council meeting, “uninformed” voters make “stupid” choices.
But we should remember to rejoice that we have the opportunity to select our leaders in an open election forum. Otherwise, our representatives will be chosen for us in the political backrooms through a process kept hidden from public scrutiny.
A FINAL NOTE
Several of the 48 citizens attending the first “town hall gathering” featuring City Council members John Anderson and Jan Horton on Jan. 2 expressed fears that developers will “buy” the crucial fifth council seat by pouring thousands of dollars into the upcoming campaign.
But voters supported the Right-to-Vote on Land-Use Amendments initiative in the face of a $174,150 opposition campaign financed entirely by building industry and real estate-related interests last June.
And voters relegated two council candidates who accepted money from the California Real Estate Political Action Committee to third- and fourth-place finishes in November.
So maybe Yorba Lindans are following the issues and, yes, even reading the newspaper, as they analyze what they think is best for the city’s future and cast ballots accordingly.
Last year was pretty busy politically: petitioners gathering signatures to convince council members to rescind two Town Center zoning ordinances, legal efforts to keep the citizen-sponsored Right-to-Vote initiative off the ballot, the measure’s narrow victory at the polls and finally the election of two new low-density advocates to the city’s governing body.
So understandably, many citizens are tired of a fusty political process that includes expensive campaign mailers, paid-for endorsements on phony voter guides, recorded phone calls and way too many signs cluttering public thoroughfares.
Complaints about the ubiquitous street signs seem to symbolize the weariness that overcomes many residents during a long campaign season, and they’re not ready to see the entire process repeated just a few months later to select a single council member.
The signs also cause a great deal of bitterness among the candidates themselves as they fight for optimum placement of their placards and sulkily grumble that other candidates apparently enjoy preferential treatment from the city’s code enforcement officials.
Many contenders don’t follow the few simple rules adopted by past councils for posting signs on public and private property, even though the regulations are easily accessed on the city’s Web site. Perhaps the ability to read and understand city ordinances should be a requirement for holding office.
Residents are concerned about an estimated $160,000 election price tag, so some trot out the clichéd police-service comparison--“that’ll pay for an additional street cop”--but nobody will be hired or fired because the expenditure will come from the city’s hefty reserve account.
Very unsettling are comments that Yorba Lindans will have to “endure” another election. Most of the world’s citizens don’t have the privilege of “enduring” a democratic system, so we shouldn’t be so quick to give up our responsibilities under our form of government.
Maybe voter turnout will be low. Maybe that’ll be due to people turned off by politics. Maybe people won’t vote because there’re too busy and can’t be bothered. Or maybe, as a speaker said at a recent council meeting, “uninformed” voters make “stupid” choices.
But we should remember to rejoice that we have the opportunity to select our leaders in an open election forum. Otherwise, our representatives will be chosen for us in the political backrooms through a process kept hidden from public scrutiny.
A FINAL NOTE
Several of the 48 citizens attending the first “town hall gathering” featuring City Council members John Anderson and Jan Horton on Jan. 2 expressed fears that developers will “buy” the crucial fifth council seat by pouring thousands of dollars into the upcoming campaign.
But voters supported the Right-to-Vote on Land-Use Amendments initiative in the face of a $174,150 opposition campaign financed entirely by building industry and real estate-related interests last June.
And voters relegated two council candidates who accepted money from the California Real Estate Political Action Committee to third- and fourth-place finishes in November.
So maybe Yorba Lindans are following the issues and, yes, even reading the newspaper, as they analyze what they think is best for the city’s future and cast ballots accordingly.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 AM
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