Have you voted yet? In the few days left to vote, I hope you’ll join me in answering the following question:
“Shall [the Charter] be amended to provide for the direct election of the Mayor, who would be nominated by residents and registered voters of the City of Newport Beach and elected by the voters of the City at-large?”
That’s it. That’s the question. Should the charter be changed so that we – the voters – can choose our Mayor.
My answer is YES on B.
Have you ever seen the opposition to this question talk directly to what is on our ballot? Or to the City Attorney’s impartial analysis? I haven’t.
Instead, they want you to answer completely different questions. They have run mail pieces asking if you want an “elected King” or to spend “hundreds of thousands of dollars” on the Mayor position. They’ve sent out mail asking if you want a “Republican power grab” and even invoked Donald Trump’s name as a boogeyman. None of that is on our ballot.
So, look past the clutter, the irrational fear mongering, the made up stories and the bitterness. Answer the question in front of us. If we do that, we’ll have a Mayor that is directly accountable to us for the first time.
Ruth Kobayashi / Newport Beach
