Filling That Vacancy in Huntington Beach
Regarding Dana Parsons’ Dec. 9 column: A professor of statistics at a local university has been consulted about the validity of selecting the fourth-place finisher in the Huntington Beach City Council election in a race for only three spots.
He explained that it was statistically invalid to conclude that the fourth-place finisher would have won a seat. He pointed out that no one had a fourth vote; one could not determine how the 62,842 people, who did not pick Mrs. Newman, would have voted in a race for four seats.
I feel that the City Council has acted wisely and fairly in following precedent and the City Charter by opening an application and interview process. This is the procedure that past Huntington Beach city councils have followed in filling a vacancy.
BOB BIDDLE
Huntington Beach
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