Editor,
The truth seems to not mean very much lately to a few in Laguna Beach especially during this campaign season and I would like to take Howard Hills to task for his latest letter-to-the-editor where he states that Village Laguna spent “10 times over the opposition in 2012”.
Is he really serious? Because if he is, I hope his profession is not accounting. If it is, he should find another day job. It’s a matter of public record that Village Laguna spent $30,553.81 during the 2012 election campaign (look it up). According to Mr. Hills’ calculation, that would mean that Steve Dicterow, Bob Whalen, and Jane Egly had each spent no more the $3,055.38 on each of their campaigns. How ridiculous is that? Or did he mean the opposition collectively? That would be even more ridiculous especially in light of the current campaign.
By the end of September Robert Zur Schmiede and Jon Madison had over $50,000 in contributions and two others had over $30,000 and all had already spent between $20,000 and $30,000.
And just to keep the record straight, Mr. Hills, though Village Laguna was supportive of the Yes on Measure CC campaign, it was financed and carried out by the Committee for Measure CC, not Village Laguna.
It appears that in Hills’ desperate attempt to influence this upcoming City Council election, his fast and furious pen is running out of credible ink.
Voters should be leery of Hills’ advice on who to vote for City Council and instead vote for Toni Iseman and Rob Zur Schmiede.
Johanna Felder , Laguna Beach
I was referring to money spent on parcel tax. This splitting of hairs interests no one and does not merit a reply but let’s put it this way, we spent $3,000 and did one super accurate mailer that educated voters, not one disputable statement. In contrast, the Measure CC supporters in whatever incarnation did somewhere between 5 and 10 mailers and spent actually a lot more than $30,000, so my “10 times” estimate was conservative, and the Indy had to print a formal retraction for printing false information that Tom Osborne and the Canyon Conservancy or someone produced on the proMeasure CC website misleading voters to believe there were parcel size specifications in the ballot measure that did not actually exist under the language of the ballot measure. Come to think of it, maybe this is worth a reply, but then I would hate to seem “desperate.” People get the government they deserve. Desperate?