Mailbag: Voters need to get up to speed on water district races

Please don’t ignore the water district races this election cycle: Mesa Water District, Municipal Water District of Orange County and the Orange County Water District.

Even though water has been a hot topic all year, it’s not likely that people know the candidates running for these boards. A little Googling of names can turn up information that may inform their decisions.

Do the incumbents or other candidates have a checkered financial history? If they can’t take care of their own finances, how carefully will they spend public money? Have there been audits of board members regarding stipends and expenses? Does the agency they lead spend excessively on public relations and celebrations? Do they conduct their meetings and business openly and transparently? Are board decisions resulting in unnecessary litigation?

All is not healthy in the water world. People should be aware of the potential for Brown Act violations, conflicts of interest, public record retention failures, cozy contractor relationships, misuse of public funds and arrogance. Voters can make a difference, but only if they are informed.

Debbie Cook

Huntington Beach

The writer is the former mayor of Huntington Beach.

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Measure Y is built on half-truths

What disturbs me most about Newport Beach’s Measure Y is the seemingly cynical deception by the city and its promoters.

A truly ethical City Council would respect public opinion rather than work around it to achieve its own aims. It would disavow the claim that Measure Y will reduce traffic.

Oh, that’s true, just like any half-truth. But the reduction would be in traffic growth only, and it would be minuscule at that. The real substance of Measure Y is development in an already-traffic-choked area. About 100,000 square feet of mixed development in Newport Center and Fashion Island will not occur without a massive increase in traffic in what is already the most congested part of the city.

There can be no doubt that the residents of Newport Beach would reject the substance of Measure Y but for the deliberate obfuscation. Those who did understand flooded the public hearings and condemned it virtually unanimously (the few supporters being business interests).

The council turned a tin ear to these voices, and one cannot easily accept that the ballot is being presented in good faith. Most residents don’t understand the sleight of hand, and Yes on Y publicity exploits this fact, part of the trickery being the label Y, which connects with Yes.

The Y is patently designed to influence the uninformed and would be unacceptable to a reputable survey organization.

Tom Moulson

Corona del Mar