REBUTTAL

Claudia Owen’s letter implies that acceptance of the Greenlight

initiative by the City Council confirms the Greenlight petition’s

conformance with State Election Code (Readers Respond -- “Most favor

Greenlight initiative,” Jan. 20).

This is not correct; from my understanding, the council felt that

evaluation was more appropriately made by others -- either the clerk’s

office or upon a legal challenge following the election. (As a small

correction to her letter, the error was not in the drafting of

Greenlight, but in the lack of disclosure to those signing the petition

of the changes Greenlight essentially makes to the city charter.)

Contrary to her letter, the Greenlight supporters have no intention to

“fold their tent and disappear” if the initiative is found to be invalid.

The quote at the time by its proponents was “they would make it tougher”

which was part of the reason for my original letter. The initiative as

drafted either was tough enough, or not -- punishment should not be part

of the agenda.

The next issue for Greenlight is a drafting issue -- Greenlight has a

“fatal” flaw in how a project is reviewed in the context of its region.

The intention appears to be that 10 years from now, a higher level of

project and traffic impact review would be required. The flaw is the

initiative doesn’t say that. There is simply a 10-year time frame, which

would start 10 years prior to passage of the initiative and would subject

many unintended projects to a Greenlight vote.

The supporters’ response? The City Council should overlook the actual

written initiative and interpret the words as the supporters want them

to. This is a recipe for disaster and was the second theme of my original

letter: If you want to apply rules to others, live by the rules yourself

-- don’t bend them. “Do as I say, not as I do” is not a good motto for

would-be civic leaders.

Aside from the hypocrisy, I support the underlying theme of Greenlight --

preserving our quality of life. The method is the problem. Already,

Greenlight is casting a shadow on projects almost everyone will support.

The proposed Arts Center is a good example.

There are many hurdles for the Arts Center, and one very large one may

become Greenlight -- another unintended consequence of trying to govern

by initiative, rather than by representative.

There is an alternative to Greenlight -- vote for council members that

reflect your views. But don’t handcuff the city with a law that

eliminates a review process and the compromises that are achieved therein

from future planning.

CHRIS WELSH

Newport Beach