EDITORIAL

We can say, with a fair degree of confidence, that we agree with the

Huntington Beach mayor on at least one thing: It was an act of cowardice

to anonymously put up anti-Dave Garofalo posters all over Downtown during

the Fourth of July celebration.

The posters were certainly in bad taste and may have fallen on the

wrong side of the libel fence. But the biggest problem with the posters

was that the author chose to be anonymous. It was a hit-and-run political

act and not worthy of Independence Day in Huntington Beach, or any place

else.

Any reader knows that we’ve found Garofalo’s panache for mixing

personal and city business distasteful -- from his double-sided business

card (city seal on one side, his private business on the other) to voting

at least 87 times in favor of advertisers in his publications.

We’ll see after investigations by the city attorney and state

officials if Garofalo violated any conflict of interest laws. Certainly

he’s at least guilty of running afoul of simple common sense.

These are serious allegations. And contrary to the mayor’s assertions,

this hasn’t been merely a result of a smear campaign by “hatemongering

tabloids.”

The revelations carry weight because of what’s at stake: the public

trust. That’s why the journalists at the Independent have spent the past

months poring over public documents, interviewing scores of people and

faxing the mayor questions, most of which -- by the way -- have gone

unanswered.

We’ve worked long into the night writing and editing the stories,

taking great care to get everything right. Our attorneys have read over

each article before it was published, ensuring all the facts were in

order.

This is all to say that there’s room in this town for government

watchdogs. There has to be if this 225-year American experiment in

representative democracy is going to keep working. We at the Independent

are proud of the work that we’ve done unknotting Garofalo’s tangled

business dealings. We attach our name to it and allow Huntington Beach

residents to judge for themselves.

The poster’s author -- operating in the shadows of the night -- took a

different route. He or she chose to hide behind the cowardly mask of

anonymity.

And that’s no way to celebrate our freedom on Independence Day.