Measure V

To the hundreds of thousands of...

No wait.  For the tens of people around the world who follow my every word with baited breath (there are mints for that), this posting isn't for you.

Rather, it's for the nice folks who live in the fair city of Costa Mesa, California.

We have an election coming up on November 6th.  One of the issues to be decided by that election is whether or not Costa Mesa should turn its back on sixty years of following the Sacramento-preferred (yecch!) "general law" format, and decide to adopt a charter (constitution) to govern its future activities.

A "Yes" vote on "Measure V" will make the charter a go.  I'm for it.  I'm for it because, although not perfect, it's a definite improvement over the system that permitted previous councils to blow through $33 million of savings, run up more than $200 million in unfunded pension obligations, pay 75% of every dollar that came in to the city in salary and benefits to our employees (!), and kowtow to the unions and associations that seem to think they own this town.

They don't.

There are many very positive aspects of the proposed charter.  I'm not going to go into them in this posting.  You can check on line if you'd like more information about it by going to www.passthecharter.com.  Or, you can go to our local paper, www.dailypilot.com, and look for my column on the subject.  I think I covered it pretty well.  If you remain objective, I'm guessing you'll agree it's worth a try, especially knowing that it can be unwound at anytime by a vote of the people.    

Of course, some oppose it.  They have honest differences with the way it was developed and what it covers, and doesn't cover.  I believe those concerns can be addressed and met at a later date, once we're well on our way to fixing the city's problems.  Waiting for the sake of waiting just doesn't feed the bulldog. 

Maybe one way you can decide whether or not to support it is to learn what constitutes the primary forces against it.  The three people running against the charter and the slate of candidates dedicated to implementing it are all supported big-time by the unions: national, state and local.  They're scared to death the trap door to their piggy bank will slam shut.  On their fingers.

What else do you need to know?