Another election to write home about
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First thing’s first.
We would like to extend hearty congratulations to those candidates
who came out on the winning side of a long, hard election campaign.
In some cases, the candidates were not our picks for the job. But
endorsement or not, we want to make it clear that we believe it’s
time for all parties to set aside differences and get to work.
While the winners are clear cut, we need also to pay homage to the
losers -- the anti-growth Greenlight movement in Newport Beach, Mayor
Linda Dixon in Costa Mesa, Wendy Leece in Newport-Mesa Unified and,
last but not least, voters who want and deserve a clean campaign free
of dirty politics.
Many believed that Allan Beek, the son of the Balboa Ferry
pioneer, would ride the popularity of the anti-growth Greenlight
movement and finally win a seat on the council.
Not only did that not happen, but with the exception of Dick
Nichols in District 6, the Greenlight candidates did not fare well at
all in Tuesday’s election.
The next major defeat comes in Costa Mesa, where incumbent Linda
Dixon lost to newcomer Allan Mansoor. Mansoor, an Orange County
sheriff’s deputy, hammered on the same Westside issues that carried
Councilman Chris Steel to victory two years ago -- crime, charities,
illegal immigration and the Job Center.
The other major loss came for Wendy Leece. The firebrand school
board trustee has never been afraid to go out on a limb and risk
criticism to fight for her convictions and beliefs. For that, we are
sure, she became a target, and newly elected trustee Tom Egan was the
beneficiary of those who successfully orchestrated her demise.
Finally, to the voters, who were treated to the now-typical name
calling, charges of sign stealing and character assassination that
would be far more fitting in an elementary school playground than in
elections:
We acknowledge that sometimes we become convenient vehicles for
these sometimes nasty messages, but, as we like to point out, we are
only the messenger.
And as that messenger, we at least do our best to balance out the
charges and bring some middle ground.
But for those who don’t want to play fair, they have learned they
can inundate mailboxes with hit pieces, call voters with last-minute,
unfair allegations or use television or even the Internet to sling
their mud.
It’s unbecoming and cowardly to resort to such tactics, but we
guess the candidates believe the results are worth it.
Still, we have to believe that clear discussions of the issues
will always be better because voters will know where a candidate
stands and the candidates can still look themselves in the mirror.
In the end, though, the ballots have been cast and the results are
in. The winners deserve their day in the sun because, as those who
were on the losing side can attest, the clouds can gather on the
horizon very fast.
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