Originally posted at www.liberaloc.com
Last night the Costa Mesa City Council voted to place Righeimer’s Folly, a Charter Initiative to grant unrestrained power to the current Council majority, on the ballot in June. Immediately following the council meeting, the opposition launched its campaign to fight back for the residents of Costa Mesa. The community group Costa Mesans for Responsible Government issued the following press release last night denouncing the initiative and announcing their campaign to stop it.
Costa Mesans for Responsible Government (CM4RG.org) is a grassroots organization of city residents formed in early 2011 to return Costa Mesa to an open, responsible, transparent government that is responsive and accountable to its people. CM4RG finds the provisions of the proposed charter a step in the wrong direction and is committed to the defeat of the charter proposal placed on the ballot this evening by the Costa Mesa City Council.
According to President Robin Leffler, “This charter is a critical issue for everyone in Costa Mesa. Their proposal is a poison pill that we are being asked to swallow. It takes power from the people in Costa Mesa and puts it in the hands of the few…a city council that seems heavily influenced by outside interests.” Mrs. Leffler went on to say, “A good charter can minimize state control and protect the voters rights at the same time, what this charter actually does is take away a lot of our general law protections, and concentrates the power in the city council, taking power away from the voters. Many of the things they claim this charter will help Costa Mesa do, we are able to do right now under current law. I don’t trust what their charter could do to our city.”
The organization has launched its website, CM4RG.ORG to provide detailed information on the failures of this Charter proposal and why it is dangerous for the city’s future.
Sandy Genis, a spokesperson for the group added, “The city council has chosen to proceed headlong with the bare minimum of public input required by law, which they ignored anyway. Why not take a thoughtful, measured approach on something so critical?” She expressed her disappointment that Council Member Eric Bever had commented “If you don’t like what we’re doing, tough luck.”
Ms. Genis explains, “CM4RG volunteers will take this fight to the streets. We will be working hard to get the truth about the charter out to the whole community.”
For more information about Costa Mesans for Responsible Government and how you can support this effort, go to www.CM4RG.org. Join us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/cmforrg and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/CM4RG
