Editorial

Our first reaction to the request by some members of the Newport Beach

City Council to take a break by canceling a few summer meetings was

typical: Typical government leaders who just want to relax at the

taxpayers’ expense.

And our first response was, “No way do they deserve a break.”

But then we gave it more than typical thought.

Council members work long and hard for little pay to perform their

civic duty. They tackle complex development and fiscal issues, often

working late into the night.

The thanks they get is usually a hefty distrust of their actions and a

sense that they don’t do enough.

So we changed our minds.

Maybe our esteemed council members on both the Newport and Costa Mesa

councils and the trustees on the Newport-Mesa Unified School District

board deserve a short seasonal hiatus after all.

There certainly is precedent for it. Other elected bodies, including

Congress and the Legislature, take recess during the summer months. Heck,

even the Supreme Court, which gets its share of barbs for the decisions

it makes, takes a break about the same time the mercury levels climb.

Just as most working people find a way to escape the office in June,

July or August, so too should our elected leaders.

And we don’t really believe the time off would be detrimental to the

cities’ or district’s progress.

To go dark for a month or even two during the summer would serve only

to give our elected leaders time to reinvigorate their minds and, we

hope, make sounder decisions.

And the first sound decision we suggest for Newport Beach council

members is to give themselves a break from meetings.