Diamond Bar: Recall Petitions, Finance Meetings

I want to complain a little about Kevin Uhrich’s article “Diamond Bar in the Rough” (Aug. 11). Technically the article is basically correct, but its attempt to be sardonically whimsical casts the same light on all players.

We have worked hard and long to change our city’s pro-growth leadership. We are the regular, normal citizens--”the little guys.” Of course we argue, debate and “squabble,” but so would you in order to expose special interests who have been detrimentally running your community.

To cast Councilwoman Eileen Ansari and me in the same recall light as Councilman Gary Miller is wrong. Over 6,000 residents signed his petition, which is still pending in court, while the recall against Ansari and me was signed by 23 people and never filed. Ansari’s would not have qualified anyway, since six of the signers were Walnut residents.

Diamond Bar is a great city, and incorporation has meant improved public services from law enforcement to street maintenance because we have redirected millions of dollars back to local use. But creating a smaller mud puddle shouldn’t mean we have to put up with smaller-minded politicians.

CLAIR W. HARMONY Mayor Pro-Tem Diamond Bar

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It was very disappointing to me when my friend Clair Harmony, Diamond Bar’s mayor pro-tem, felt it necessary to resign from the Finance Committee (Aug. 11). I have attended three finance meetings and find them most interesting, and since these meetings are open sessions to the public I think more Diamond Bar citizens should sit in and learn how their taxpayer monies are spent.

There does not seem to be a consistent format to these meetings. The current council members arrive late and leave early, which doesn’t leave enough time to study the several-page warrant register. It seems that when Clair Harmony was on the committee, he probed into discrepancies that he found. Since his departure, the emphasis seems to be more toward speeding the meeting along.

LEE SCHAD Diamond Bar