Ronald Reagan’s first inaugural address as CA’s Governor reminded his audience that the most meaningful words of CA’s Constitution were its first three: “We the People.”
(Then-)Governor Reagan went on to say that “we are chosen by the people to see that no permanent structure of government ever encroaches on the people’s freedom or assumes a power beyond that which has freely been granted to us by the people.”
As voters, we have choices in every election cycle. Do we trust power with people who believe those words (assuming they even know the words or principles behind them)?
And occasionally we have the ability to take back power granted by previous generations whose times were different.
For the first time since the early 1950s (when 50,000 Boy Scouts held a national Jamboree where Fashion Island now sits), Newport Beach voters have the chance to take back the power to elect their Mayor from the hands of a city council that now rotates it amongst themselves every year.
And look, things have clearly changed since 1950 in incredibly complicated ways. Agency after agency have been created that directly impact our city. Agencies like the FAA, the California Coastal Commission, Homeland Security, the California Air Resources Board, and on and on. The city’s population has grown by nearly 7 times. Our budget now exceeds a quarter of a billion dollars.
But we still treat our city’s leadership like an HOA board where we reset complicated relationships every year – to the detriment of our city’s future.
But we don’t need to. For the first time, a majority of city council has been willing to give up its power to choose the Mayor and give that power back to the people.
If Measure B passes, you would elect your Mayor and your Mayor would be directly accountable to you.
And you would have a consistent voice to advocate on your behalf to agencies affecting our quality of life.
We the people can make this choice. We can take back a power given away. We can and should elect our Mayor. If you agree, vote Yes on B.
