Council Deserves ‘Long, Hard Look’

Azusa’s mayor, Gene Moses, knows what Rodney Dangerfield means when he says: “I just don’t get no respect.”

The mayor has had to endure a resolution passed a year ago that has weakened his authority, undermined his ability to lead, caused dissension on the City Council and effectively stifled a cohesive effort to improve the lot of his fellow Azusans. Then, to have to also endure the comment from Councilman Bruce Latta, the author of that resolution, that the mayor portrays himself as a “poor martyr.”

I consider this statement almost hypocritical, since the mayor was not involved in proposing the resolution or instrumental in seeing it rescinded recently. The fact remains that, as Latta stated: “Our city does not need continuous fighting, and the repeal (of the resolution) is an effort to put a stop to the dissension and bickering in town.”

It is my belief that we, as voting citizens, have to look hard and long at where the responsibility lay for this resolution and to the council members whose votes created an almost unproductive year of city government.

Councilmen Lucio Cruz and James Cook should also bear the responsibility for the council’s inability to perform as a team. All three must share the disappointment of Azusa’s citizens, whose properly elected mayor was weakened in his efforts to achieve the goals on which he had previously campaigned.

When we go to the polls in April, I believe we have to take a strong stand on electing city officials who will be conciliatory and cooperative in facing city problems and put the interest of the people ahead of personal vendetta.

RICK PHIPPS

Azusa