Leaders look past party politics

Tim Geddes

For far too long, the political landscape in Orange County has been

dominated by partisan warriors who go off to Sacramento or

Washington, D.C., not to represent their diverse constituencies

effectively but to do ideological battle with their opponents. Bob

Dornan used to be the poster boy for this type of misrepresentation.

Lately, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher tried to cast Measure E in partisan

terms with his unsuccessful attempt to rally Republicans around

support for Scott Baugh’s initiative. Therefore, it is refreshing to

hear when a legislator representing us actually is trying to foster

bipartisan solutions to statewide issues that are affecting us

locally.

State Assemblyman Tom Harman is doing just that in working with a

group of both Republicans and Democrats in Sacramento to help address

our pressing problems and concerns in a variety of areas.

Good ideas and sound thinking don’t necessarily carry an R or D

behind it, and Independents can make valuable contributions, also. Of

course, Harman, a former Huntington Beach mayor and co-founder of

Huntington Beach Tomorrow, has enough experience in good government

and collaborative leadership to understand that solutions must enjoy

enough common ground politically to be implemented.

Another good government effort is the circulation of a petition to

place a statewide measure on the November ballot to protect local

funds that help finance our citywide services from being ripped off

by our rapacious state government.

The League of California Cities-backed effort is being spearheaded

locally by City Council Member Debbie Cook, is supported by Tom

Harman and our city officials and should be embraced by every

registered voter in Huntington Beach.

Again, another example of the type of bipartisan spirit necessary

to move our government forward. We need more public servants like

Harman and Cook here in Orange County and I hope we get them in the

November elections.

* TIM GEDDES is a Huntington Beach resident. To contribute to

“Sounding Off” e-mail us at hbindy@latimes.com or fax us at (714)

965-7174.