LETTER OF THE WEEK

I am not surprised Ron Davis was so easily persuaded to believe

taxpayers will benefit from the $50,000 expenditure for security

improvements to the Huntington Beach council chamber (“Security

improvements one expenditure worth approving,” Aug. 31).

If city staff were not proficient in justifying expenditures, their

projects would never be approved.

There is no question the staff proposals for security enhancements

will increase security. The question is: Why do taxpayers need increased

security? Where is the problem?

I am confident the armed police officer on the floor of the council

chamber offers more than adequate protection during meetings.

Apparently the council members have less faith in our skilled officers

than I. Perhaps they know something the rest of us do not? Adding

surveillance cameras connected to an unmanned videotape recorder offers

absolutely no increase in real protection to citizens.

Cameras can never protect anyone from being assaulted. They create a

false sense of security. How much more protection do we need? The police

station is only 200 feet away. Do taxpayers really need an expensive

keyless entry system so employees can come and go during off hours? How

many employees actually need to come and go during off hours anyway? Are

there other alternatives to this expensive proposal -- like using

existing keys?

I would not be opposed to these proposals if a real problem could be

demonstrated. Where is the violence? Where is the need? Show me the

numbers.

I cannot for the life of me ever recall any violence in City Hall,

except of course for the time a few weeks ago when Mayor Dave Garofalo

and Mayor Pro Tem Tom Harman traded words and almost went to fisticuffs.

Perhaps it is the public who should be protected from the council?

I, for one, am tired of government creating a problem and then running

in to save the day while reaching into taxpayers’ pockets to pay for it.

There is no question the city would like to have the latest gadgets and

gizmos, but expenditures like these are exactly why our city cannot

afford to maintain the basics, like infrastructure.

Council members are experts at delaying projects. I suggest we delay

this one for at least a year to reevaluate this security “problem.”

I am glad Davis finds comfort in the city staff’s spin on the need for

these “security enhancements.” His view of appropriate spending, however,

is quite different from mine.

While I respect Davis’ opinion, I do not believe the sky is falling

and will continue to question the need for expensive, unnecessary,

taxpayer-funded expenditures such as this.

NORM WESTWELL

Huntington Beach

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Norm Westwell is a candidate for the Huntington Beach

City Council.