Editor,
I have recently become interested at the process in which our city selects individuals for a committee. For example, let’s take the recently formed “View Equity Committee”. My understanding is these individuals were hand-selected by our mayor. It appears that they were not asked to fill out applications and explain why they were right for this very important committee. There was also no review and voting process conducted by the City Council, which makes me wonder what was the “vetting” process.
Can all of the “View Equity Committee” members selected answer a definitive “no” to the following questions? 1) Do you gain personally or financially based upon the outcome of the view ordinance? 2) Have you been in a dispute with a neighbor(s) with regards to a view? 3) Have you been actively involved in a neighborhood controversy regarding the elimination of trees and or hedges? 4) Do you have a view that is currently blocked by trees and or hedges? 5) Do you have trees and or hedges that are currently blocking a view?
The word “equity” means “the quality of being fair and impartial”. Is it possible to be fair and impartial if the answer was “yes” to any of the above questions? Have the right individuals been selected to serve on this committee? I believe as residents of Laguna Beach we are entitled to a committee that can withstand scrutiny and meets the definition of “equity”.
Ellen McKessar, Laguna Beach
