Gale “Morrie” Granger (“Can’t Support Uninformed Candidate” Indy Oct. 11) and Tom Osborne (“When Ideology Trumps Fact” Indy Oct. 11) falsely accuse candidate Michele Hall of being a “global warming” heretic. This Halloween week witch-hunt comes as support for Hall surges.
That’s because Hall has the energy and ideas to forge new solutions for homelessness, show our youth we care about them too by finally building a skateboarding park, and ensure more predictable and equitable treatment of citizens by City Hall. Michele stood with Democrats and Independents opposing a $60 million village entrance. No one called her an “ideological conservative” then.
Hall also wants to revisit upgrading downtown storm drains to reduce ocean pollution if climate change causes more frequent flooding. Hall’s opponent Toni Iseman voted to give back $10 million federal grant for flood control. Iseman enlisted scientists to create misdirected environmental fear, lacking Hall’s proven ability to unite community, mitigate environmental threats, and manage change for the better – as she did when Village Laguna tried to kill the Montage.
Never met Granger or Osborne, but I was told Morrie was the boorish belligerent harassing Hall after last candidate forum. Then came Osborne’s column boasting about getting in Hall’s face that night. I apologized to Granger for being misinformed and attributing Osborne’s obnoxious behavior to the professor.
When Hall shared folksy comments by a local weatherman about our inability to change weather, Granger and Osborne denounced her, the latter labeling further “skepticism” as “unhealthy” thought. He also demanded Hall read the city’s Climate Protection Action Plan, for which Osborne claims credit.
Does someone need attention, maybe a hug, since his plan largely has been ignored? I read the plan in 2009, when I already had a carbon footprint smaller than Osborne or Granger, found it incomplete and inaccurate.
Since Village Laguna accuses others of paving paradise, and Osborne calls for the city to disallow cement surfaces to reduce run off, we have one question for our climate crusader.
Why do City Hall holdovers Zur Schmeide and Iseman impose building code fines on others, but not a political supporter who poured a 7,000 square foot cement slab that paves over an environmentally sensitive site without any city permits?
We support the developer’s right to a lawful project, but Toni and Rob’s discriminatory use of power is another reason to vote for new leadership in City Hall.
Howard Hills, Laguna Beach
The author is president of Laguna Beach Republicans.
