Mailbag: Criticism of governor's approach to pandemic by Newport councilwoman is unfounded

May 22, 2020 12:58 PM PT

Re “Commentary: Governor’s order to close Orange County beaches reflects his autocratic approach to leadership,” (May 20). Newport Beach Councilwoman Diane Dixon, a Republican candidate for state Assembly, used her commentary to attack Gov. Gavin Newsom and his actions to contain and mitigate the coronavirus pandemic in California.

I suggest substituting “Trump” for “Newsom” and readers would have a clear picture of why we are where we are today: nearly 96,000 deaths and more than 1.6 million cases of COVID-19 and a devastated economy.

California has far fewer cases and deaths than would be expected for a state as populous as ours, thanks to the early action by Newsom and the realization by Californians of the consequences of ignoring the science. Yes, it is hard, and no, we don’t like it, but we are smart enough to look beyond a day at the beach to save lives.

Judith Shenkman
Huntington Beach

Newport Beach Councilwoman Diane Dixon took jabs at the governor for doing things just because his office allows him to. I had to smile when I read this.

In 2016, when Dixon was mayor of Newport Beach, a controversial development came before the City Council. They knew there was major opposition to the project — we had submitted a petition signed by 2,000 residents — and that we would organize a referendum to challenge an approval.

The council not only gave the project a thumbs up over residents’ protests, they intentionally added 3,700 unnecessary pages to their ordinance, pages we had to attach to our referendum petitions.

The result: the petitions cost $47,000 to print and weighed ten pounds each. Dixon voted to saddle project opponents with all that extra cost and weight, just because she could.

Fortunately for Newport Beach, the story has a happy ending. Despite the size of the petitions, we gathered 14,000 signatures in two weeks, and the council ended up rescinding its approval.

Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law SB 359. It allows referendum proponents to attach just a summary of the ordinance they are challenging.

Never again will a city council be able to punish citizens like we were punished in 2016. The bill flew through both chambers of the Legislature with no opposition. It was co-sponsored by Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris, Dixon’s opponent in November.

Dorothy Kraus
Newport Beach

Huntington Beach deserves better leaders

In a week that saw American’s COVID-19 death toll exceeded 90,000, the Huntington Beach City Council was forced to endure hours of public comments over an utterly absurd agenda item opposing the recommendations of state public health officials and medical professionals.

Of course by largely following these recommendations, our community and much of Orange County has been spared the mass outbreaks seen in other areas, but that didn’t seem to matter.

Nope. To a political opportunist, Monday’s City Council meeting was just another opportunity to hijack local government for use as a personal platform to further ideology. Nothing more, nothing less.

So with summer quickly approaching and thousands of tourists likely to inundate our community, Huntington Beach’s elected officials, city staff, and police officers were forced to waste hours of their precious time, energy and emotion accommodating an agenda item so ridiculously pointless that it ultimately didn’t even garner enough support for a full vote by the council.

Time well spent to benefit our community?

Nope. It’s well past time for the residents of Huntington Beach to demand our City Council stay focused on practical forward-thinking solutions rather than trying to message like ideological show ponies.

COVID-19 has impacted everyone and remains a threat to our community both in terms of public health and local economics. While at this point, the best approach to dealing with the impacts of the pandemic remains unclear, the sooner our elected leaders focus on the common-sense solutions and reject ideological signaling, the better.

Steve Shepherd
Huntington Beach

O.C. Board of Supervisors’ Michelle Steel misses point

The hubris of the Republican Party leaves me incredulous almost daily, especially the president and his well-documented habit of lying, blaming others, and projecting his own shortcomings and evil-doings onto his critics and rivals. If only it was limited to the federal government, but once again the chairperson of the Orange County Board of Supervisors reveals that she is just as bad.

In her commentary “Orange County is ready to lead the way to a sensible, safe reopening,” Michelle Steel claimed that she will “… always fight for the citizens of Orange County” and that our county is ready to take the lead as the state begins a process of reopening.

If that was truly the case, why has the county experienced it highest count of new COVID-19 cases for the last three days leading up to publication of her commentary? Why have only 2% of the county’s residents been tested to date and why is testing not available to everyone, regardless of having symptoms or being a frontline worker? And why was Steel one of the two votes against requiring masks to be worn by food-industry workers on April 21?

It seems that Steel is just another mouthpiece for the county GOP “machine” that favors business over people and investment return to shareholders over the health of her constituents. As someone who is directly connected to the Trump administration and guided by her husband, an executive on the Republican National Committee, she echoes the dogma of their misguided values. She also argued in favor of Measure A in the March 2020 primary election which passed and now requires a two-thirds vote by the supervisors to impose any new taxes, knowing full well that the result would actually require an 80% majority or four out of the five.

All of this — the deception, the misinformation, the contempt for the state’s authority, and any heart-felt compassion for her constituents leaves me anxiously waiting for the expiration of Steel’s term with the county and the end of her political career. And it also leaves me hoping that, when we cast votes in November, we will get some balance on the Board of Supervisors and re-elect representatives like Harley Rouda to Congress, who will serve his constituents admirably as he has done in his first term.

Jeff Rokos
Huntington Beach

Michelle Steel’s commentary was designed to play both offense and defense at the same time. I get that she is defending the small business community, and that is fine. I get that she is mouthing the politically correct lines about doing the right thing regarding citizens being diligent. I get that she feels the need to stand up to state government (controlled as it is by Democrats).

However, one gratuitous dig really stuck in my craw. When Steel says “unfortunately, not all of our elected officials are quick to defend our home.” Who did she have in mind? Certainly not those officials who are putting profits over people by demanding that businesses open up regardless of the impact on our residents. Certainly not those officials who gin up demonstrations that flaunt liberties over lives.

I think she had in mind her political opponents, specifically Democrats, who are keeping us safe and who are dedicated to protecting the very constituents she is seeking to represent in running for Congress. Posturing is fine, backbiting is less becoming.

Tim Geddes
Huntington Beach

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Mailbag: Criticism of governor’s approach to pandemic by Newport councilwoman is unfounded

Huntington Beach deserves better leaders

O.C. Board of Supervisors’ Michelle Steel misses point

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