2 Councilmen Taken to Task for Votes on Water-Rate Increases

The recent no votes by Councilmen Christopher Houseman and Barry Hatch on the Monterey Park water-rate hike illustrate their lack of responsibility toward the community for the sake of scoring a few political points.

When you brush away the inflammatory rhetoric these two gush and consider the consequences of their vote, it is quite alarming. If another council member had voted as irresponsibly, the city would not be able to pay for the water we consume. Therefore, we would’ve had no water from our faucets, been placed on strict rationing, or money would have had to have been taken from another vital city service, such as police or fire, to pay for the water.

Houseman and Hatch are not dummies. They know how the Water Department is financed, and they know the city’s financial condition is unhealthy, yet they put us all in jeopardy for a moment in the spotlight or a line in a newspaper.

This same mentality applies to other recent votes of theirs. By voting no on final tract maps, Houseman and Hatch are not only inviting, but virtually insuring, litigation against the city. In essence, they are telling a builder that he can’t build, even though he has complied with all our city’s ordinances, building codes and standards. That’s a denial of an individual’s right to use his property. That’s the act of a tyrant.

The voluminous number of words, fierce protests and irresponsible votes of these two councilmen could cost our city--and that is spelled T-A-X-P-A-Y-E-R--a bundle of money. Politics for the sake of politics should take a back seat to the welfare of the people of Monterey Park.

IRV GILMAN

Monterey Park