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A double standardon election rules
How pathetic is it that concerned residents in Chula Vista are reduced to filing Fair Political Practices Commission complaints in response to the city's misconduct in commissioning a biased economic study of Proposition E in the final weeks of the election, while opponents of the Cox family get targeted by professional prosecutors for similar offenses?
Neither the “Ethics” Commission nor the FPPC are going to stop the questionable practices taking place at City Hall. For example, three individuals in the South Bay have been criminally charged with using public funds for political purposes in the past five years even though the FPPC had ruled that there was no misuse of public funds.
In one example, a political consultant and a former president of Southwestern College were convicted of using public funds to benefit a college board bond election, despite the FPPC having ruled that public funds had not been used for political purposes.
In another case, a former Chula Vista City Hall staffer was charged with several felonies in connection with campaigning on public time and eventually pled guilty to a misdemeanor. In that case also, the FPPC ruled that no violations had occurred. Undoubtedly, the FPPC and the Ethics Commission will conclude the same in the current case of the city using public funds to commission a “no on Proposition E” economic study outside the statutory timeframe in which only a fair and unbiased report would have been permitted.
For these reasons, it is up to the federal, state and local prosecutors who so aggressively pursued these three prior cases to demonstrate that our justice system is truly blind by prosecuting the mayor's misconduct in the same manner that they pursue the misconduct of her political opponents.
ROBERT GARCIA
Chula Vista
Chula Vista councildefied by Cox, Rindone
Recently, the city of Chula Vista under Mayor Cheryl Cox refused to accept about 15,000 initiative signatures from contractors who wanted a fair chance to bid on city contracts. The petitions were rejected because of a technicality about presenting timely proof that legal notice had been given of the initiative effort. The contractors published in the right newspaper at the right time but returned the proof of publication after the required 10 day period stated in election law.
Last year, also under Mayor Cox, the city sued to void over 20,000 initiative signatures on a forerunner to Prop. E that was published in the legal section of the wrong newspaper. It also rejected more than 20,000 signatures for another initiative calling for an elected city attorney for the same reason.
You could say that it was important that election law be followed exactly, but then how do you explain how Mayor Cox, Councilman Jerry Rindone and City Manager David Garcia could hire an outside consultant at taxpayer expense for a Prop. E study that was released just before the election. They were told by deputy City Attorney Joan Dawson at a City Council meeting on Jan. 22 that according to election code sections 9212, 9214 and 9215 that if they wanted to do a study they had to use city staff and complete the study within 30 days.
Further, the City Council had three options according to Dawson. It could adopt the initiative as an ordinance, place the initiative on the ballot for the June 3 election, or ask staff to prepare a report within 30 days and then vote to adopt the initiative or place it on the ballot. The City Council voted 5-0 to place it on the ballot and did not choose the option of asking for a report.
The City Council did not vote again to authorize a report, particularly that late and by an outside consultant instead of city staff. How does this happen? Are the other City Council members going to let this stand? It sets a very bad precedent.
SAM LONGANECKER
Chula Vista
Do political candidatesreally feel our pain?
I have a question for those running for political office.
If you are informed by your respective campaign staff that individuals and/or families that made a monetary donation to your respective campaigns are struggling to make ends meet, can you do the right thing by returning that monetary donation to those individuals and/or families and that all you request is their vote?
When I watch the news, read the newspapers, read the political fliers I receive in the mail, the one common theme I hear is “I understand and feel your pain that you are struggling to make ends meet because of high gas prices, high food prices, job layoffs, high health care costs, high college tuition, etc.”
ELROY K. KIHANO
Chula Vista
