August 20, 2008

"Response to the city manager"

By Danielle Seckler

   We received a letter to the editor from the Big Bear Lake city manager Jeff Mathieu and city attorney Steven Deitsch in which they took exception to our editorial of July 19, 2008.To see the letter to the editor, click on the button above and look for Aug. 13th.
   Mathieu, as any good manager would do, defended city clerk Kathy Jefferies. We do not disagree with Mathieu regarding Jefferies: She is an exceptional person and dedicate public servant, nor can she dispense legal advice. However our editorial was not about Jefferies personally; it was about responsibility and accountability, and the lack of confidence in city government that such instances as the PHR Initiative breeds among the voters.
   Under the election code and case law, there are requirements setting forth a specific format for initiatives, such as requirements relating to ballot title and summary, and signature pages. If such requirements are not satisfied, the city has the legal duty to reject the petition outright; it did not. Had Jefferies, city staff and the city attorney review it before letting it go to the city council, had they acted properly and rejected the petition, it would have given the proponents an opportunity to correct their mistake in time for the November 2008 election, or likely forced a court challenge by the proponents against the city. But by letting CPRPRO challenge the initiative, the city was able to cover-up its own incompetence and wrongly place all the blame on the initiative proponents.  
   It is a fact that Jefferies "certified the Initiative as valid and in compliance with the law, and submitted it to the City Council," and thereby "failed to act in the manner required by law and exceeded her authority by certifying the Initiative." Those are the words from CPRPRO's own Verified Petition for Writ of Mandate; the arguments which the court agreed with and which the city, by it refusal to defend the lawsuit, acknowledged as correct.

   The voters of Big Bear Lake want to believe that their government is neutral and would help guide the lay person through the complex federal, state, and local laws when it comes to participating in the democratic process. While the city is not required to dole out legal advice to ballot initiative proponents, or their opponents, a procedure should be in place that explains the laws. If the City was smart, they would provide a packet with what the City is allowed to do and not allowed to do, and offer specific guidelines (with examples) that initiative proponents should follow. In this fashion the City would help themselves reestablish some faith in government and its neutrality, and perhaps change the current perception that it acts in the interest of a few. Whether that perception is correct or not, unfortunately in politics perception is the name of the game.

Would you like to comment on this article? Just send us an email to PR@bearvalleynews.com. Let us know if you would like us to put it in a letter to the editor and if you want your name printed.

Back to Front Page