EDITORIAL:

When “Jersey” Joe Carchio came to the City Council after his victory in 2006 he had a lot of big and little ideas.

The New Jersey native who has lived in Huntington Beach for more than 25 years got it right the second time he ran for the council. The Italian restaurant owner credited his years of coaching kids in football and baseball for his success winning over voters.

But it seems like he may have lost touch with the little people (pardon the pun) since then.

One of his central campaign themes was to reduce or eliminate city fees for home remodeling. When the council dunked that initiative, Carchio decided the city ought to instead give discounts to hybrid car owners. This grand idea to issue free downtown and beach parking permits — a $150 value annually — stalled when he insisted the council vote on it and it ended up defeated in a 3-3 tie.

The one council member who might have gotten it across the finish line belonged to Mayor Debbie Cook, who is among the city’s most vocal and ardent environmentalists. In fact, she asked the council to postpone the vote so she could add her voice to the debate.

But Carchio apparently thought the $150 discounts for people wealthy enough to own a hybrid vehicle couldn’t wait — as if the savings would lead to a run on the environmentally friendly cars — so his proposal fizzled.

The most recent miscalculation wasn’t so much a sin of impetuousness as it was just sloppy.

Carchio thought it would be a good idea for city officials to consider what to do with sex offenders who live in Huntington. Maybe they could establish some policy that puts their residences farther away from day-care centers or prohibits too many of them living in one building. The council ought to follow the lead of Long Beach and direct staff to look into that. Sounds reasonable.

Only one problem with that: City officials are already doing that.

“We were in the process of working with Long Beach and monitoring the situation before I spoke to Council member Carchio about it,” Police Chief Kenneth Small told the council last week.

Naturally, that irritated his council colleagues.

“The point is our police department is already doing this,” Cook said. “They don’t need further direction to do more of it. That’s really what’s before us. I don’t want to set this precedent.”

Never mind the precedent. We see a trend. While Carchio might have his heart in the right place, his head too often keeps hitting the snooze button. Consider this an alarm clock, Joe, and spend a little more time listening and learning before you put your ambition in gear.

You, like your colleagues on the council, deserve our thanks and praise for your public service. Just make sure you do a little more homework the next time you get a bright idea.