Anaheim Councilwoman Lucille Kring

Anaheim Councilwoman Lucille Kring

Anaheim Councilwoman Lucille Kring sent out this e-mail yesterday evening to her list of Anaheim voters and residents:

To Anaheim Residents and Voters:

I want to talk about the issue of districts which will be discussed at tomorrow night’s council meeting.  For 156 years Anaheim has been effectively governed by a five member council elected- at-large. It was only as a result of a change in our charter in the late 1990s that Anaheim voted for a directly elected mayor.

With the at-large system anyone can e-mail, call or otherwise contact any or all 5 members of the council.   We all represent you and have a vested interest in helping you.  Unfortunately, with districts, no matter how many members there are on council, the only one who represents you has a vested interest in helping you.

Currently, you have a very responsive council working for the benefit of the entire city.  District council- members would only be interested in their districts.

The mayor would like to hold a special election in June 2014 to decide if the voters want to support districts.  This election will cost the taxpayers a minimum of $250,000.  If the same items were placed on the November 2014 election, it would cost almost nothing.

Additionally, if the number of council members were to be increased, each new member would cost the taxpayer a minimum of $150,000.  That is the cost of one police officer on our streets reducing response time when you call 911.

At tomorrow’s meeting we will be inundated with people who have been led to believe that districts will give them a bigger voice in the city.  If you do not support districts and support the system that gives you the ability to vote for the candidate of your choice no matter where you live, please join us at council and voice your concerns.  If you don’t feel comfortable attending the meeting, please e-mail the mayor and council or call at 714-765- 5237

Thank you for reading this.

Sincerely,

Lucille Kring
Council Woman

 

 

These are all common sense points. I would also point out regarding placing these questions on the June v. November ballot: the November and June electorates are different. It is the November electorate that elects the mayor and city council, and is the one that ought to be decide whether and how the city council should be re-structured.