Council
struggles with fairness on town center talk
Jim Drummond Political Perspectives
Yorba Linda Star -March 03, 2005 -
Viewpoints Section
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Excerpts:
Sometimes
good sense is an early casualty when Yorba Lindans gather
to discuss new development projects.
That’s been the case at recent City Council meetings,
as residents and council members have wrangled over council actions affecting
the historic Old Towne area.
Current council members earned well-deserved praise for
ending the poisonous atmosphere of the mid-to-late ’90s, when residents
regularly tuned into the city’s cable television channel to catch the antics
of their elected leaders and their not-so-gracious supporters and opponents.
But now, as the Town Center debate becomes more contentious,
council members are again struggling in their efforts to provide a fair forum
for public comment during meetings.
Recently, a Town Center supporter was allowed to express
opinions and criticisms of others during the council meeting’s oral presentations,
but several opponents were forced to hold their comments until a Redevelopment
Agency meeting convened much later in the evening.
Although City Council members also serve as Redevelopment
Agency members, the two public bodies have separate meetings and agendas.
Council members should follow their own rules, which
allow the public to speak for five minutes on non-agenda items at the council
meetings.
Also, rules require speakers to address the entire council,
not specific individuals. Yet council members often single out people in the
audience by name for various comments or criticisms.
Certainly, it’s easy for council members to allow
more time and greater latitude to speakers who endorse their actions or
who make non-controversial announcements.
It’s much more difficult — but just as necessary — to
give equal time and consideration to those who express contrary views.
On the other hand, some critics of high-density, low-income
Town Center housing wrongly refer to proposed units as "tenements."
Moving hundreds of new residents into the Old Towne area
is essential for the project’s financial success, but they certainly won’t
be living in tenements.
Also, opponents shouldn’t suggest that council
members aren’t representing the public’s interests because they don’t
agree with the dozen or so speakers who oppose their votes.
Although the city’s own survey shows that most
residents don’t know much about the council’s Town Center plans,
that doesn’t mean the citizenry opposes the multi-million dollar undertaking.
Council members think a large majority of residents will
support their Town Center project, and only a successful referendum vote against
their current policies would prove them wrong.
A FINAL NOTE — Whenever council members
purchase an Old Towne commercial
or residential property, they always say the transaction involves a "willing
seller" and a "willing buyer."
But would the seller be so willing if the city didn’t
have eminent domain authority in the area for the next eight years, a power one
councilman compared to a "sledgehammer?"
And does the city’s Town Center Master Plan effectively
limit the number of willing buyers to one — the city?
Yorba Lindans deserve more straightforward talk from
all parties involved in the redevelopment process.
Jim Drummond
is a longtime Yorba Linda resident.
JIM DRUMMOND POLITICAL PERSPECTIVES
Yorba Linda Star - March 03, 2005
- Viewpoints Section
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