RON DAVIS -- Through My Eyes

Since Huntington Beach Mayor Dave Garofalo issued a public apology to

yours truly at the last City Council meeting, several readers have asked

me about the incident that prompted the apology.

First, let me say that it takes a lot of courage to publicly apologize

to anyone, let alone to someone you know writes a newspaper column and

who hasn’t been particularly favorable to you.

I won’t discuss the specifics of the incident that gave rise to the

apology. Suffice it to say that the mayor exercised his 1st Amendment

right of free speech regarding the Independent and me -- a constitutional

right I completely and fully support.

I suspect the mayor’s apology had much more to do with the delivery of

his opinion rather than the opinion itself. (So that you don’t suspect

the worst, the conversation was merely heated, not physical.)

I find it ironic that we -- and that includes me -- expect more from

our elected representatives than we do ourselves. Whereas we often

forgive ourselves for losing our tempers, we’re not so inclined to

forgive elected officials when they lose theirs -- particularly when they

do so expressing a negative opinion.

The mayor has every right to disagree with the coverage by this

newspaper. It has certainly been less than flattering. He also has every

right to take me to task for the things I have written in this column. I

recognize that when I write a critical column -- or as Garofalo might

feel, a negative column -- that that column may not be embraced by the

object of the criticism and some members of the community. But, I don’t

think it is my role to tell this community that every thing, every one

and every act is hunky-dory. I see my responsibility as forming my own

opinions, positive or negative, popular or unpopular, on community

subjects and expressing them in this column.

I don’t expect the mayor to have thicker skin than I have. I don’t

expect the mayor and others not to react and form negative opinions about

the newspaper and me as a result of what I and others at the paper have

written. Politicians aren’t superhuman, and they’re entitled to display

honest emotions.

I don’t intend by this column to rehash and repeat my previous columns

regarding the mayor. The “discussion” we were involved in is not and will

not be used as an excuse to further beat him up or demand a recall. In

fact, on the subject of recall, what I will or will not do will not be

predicated by this incident. It also won’t be based on the mayor’s

position on any political issue.

I don’t think it is appropriate to ever recall anyone from office

simply because he or she has a different political agenda.

In fact, I want to publicly acknowledge that which I’ve acknowledged

to Garofalo privately, and that is that I believe he has been a tireless

worker for a great number of very worthwhile charities in the community

that have benefited by his leadership and participation. I also believe

that during his six-year term, no one on the City Council has been better

at effectuating political compromises and, to the extent possible,

developing consensus.

I also share much of the mayor’s vision for rehabilitating Huntington

Center, the redevelopment of Downtown, the expansion of the sales tax

base, and, yes, even the expansion of the Waterfront Hilton and the

conference center, although I might be more inclined to approach these

issues a little differently and with greater regard to some environmental

concerns.

And I know he will hate to read this, but I have real reservations

about certain conflict-of-interest issues surrounding the mayor, and I’m

unwilling to simply dismiss those concerns just because I like some

aspects of his political agenda and charitable contributions.

In the final analysis, I know I respect the mayor’s right, and the

right of anyone else, to express an opinion -- even one I’d rather not

hear. I hope the feeling is mutual.

* RON DAVIS is a private attorney who lives in Huntington Beach. He

can be reached by e-mail at o7 [email protected]